B2B Sales/Ethics Question

[Anonymous No.620304]

Hi /biz/

Got a questions for you.

I work as an account executive for one of the 'Big 4' copier manufactures, and also sell some IT services in addition to the copier thing.

This is my first job out of college and I've been in my current position about 9 months. Some green text about a deal I closed at the end of October. For reference my boss walked me through everything, he handled the contract, and I reviewed everything with order processing to make sure it was Kosher:
>sold 2 machines to small Engineering firm
>this is my first new customer
>owner was really cool, pushed him as hard as I could and got ink on paper
>also bought them out of a competitive contract on current copier
>cut customer a 10k check for remaining lease payments and picked up their old machine saying we would ship it back to competitor for them
>new printers take forever to deliver
>installation has some hiccups, have to smooth over the tech's ignorance
>customer finally gets buyout check
>okfinallydone.jpeg
>call from customer just after Xmas
>'anon the buyout check is $2000 less than what the bank says we owe'
>aww fugg...
>'ok mr customer please get a written quote from the bank and pass it to me, ill see what I can do'
>buyout to return is 12k, buyout to keep is 14.5k
>'OK mr. customer, looks like the bank is charging you an early payoff fee'
>'our check will cover remaining lease payments, we'll send the printer back to you and just stick the thing in storage and pay it off over time sounds like your easiest option to avoid any extra fees'
>go to order processing lady in our office to get their old printer anon
>'you did what anon?! im not getting involved in this mess. email the following information to this address and open up a ticket'

[Anonymous No.620306]

>>620304

>email the address and information given
>'I'm sorry anon but we picked this printer up a month ago and sent it straight to scrap'
>imgettingtooblackforthisSHIT.gif
>no more fucking printer to return...
>gonna have to pay the customer another 4.5k for the buyout to keep amount now
>my boss says he'll take full responsibility
>escalate the case and pass it on up to my boss's boss
>i doubt he'll do anything...
>customer is still asking when we're gonna fix the discrepancy
>says we need to fix it or else he's gonna cancel our contract because we are defaulting
>im doing my best to keep him happy, do damage control, and stall for time till somebody fixes this shit

What the fuck can I do here? I followed what my boss told me to do and reviewed the paperwork with multiple people to make sure it was good. The vibe I'm getting is that my company is just going to tell the customer 'lol sorry brah mixup in order processing, we sent your shit to scrap so you're just gonna have to pay the difference. k thx bye.'
Is there anything I can do to give my customer some sort of leverage to get this fixed? I owe it to my clients to do right by them, and a big selling point that I have when I go into deals is my own integrity and that I personally will care for them and provide better service.

>inb4 shit-posting accounting interns
>inb4 lol used carsalesman
>inb4 lehappymerchant

Also B2B Sales General Thread if any other Salesbros are out there.

[Anonymous No.620336]

Dayum.

Well first off, good on ya for wanting to look out for your customers. That's a good sign of a real good salesman. Those repeat sales and contacts pay off big time.

I dunno man, sounds like the system screwed you this time. Is there a way to give your customer credit with any future sales? Like even a discount on materials they may need and like real-time support with those machines and stuff.

As an engineer, I know printers are sometimes our worst enemies. I know also that depending on the size of the firm and especially if they are relatively new, $2000 can be a lot more than they were asking for. It's still not a huge amount and you'll make it back easy if you can keep them as your customer.

[Anonymous No.620346]

>first job out of college
>can't maths
>cost small buisiness 4.5k
>no accountability cus work for KM/canon/ricoh or whatever

OP is a Faggot

[Anonymous No.620392]

>>620304

>I got a job in telesales and they call me an "account executive" xxxDDDDDDD

[Anonymous No.620399]

>>620336

I have price discretion to knock $2000 off a future sales without even giving a former credit. All materials as well as onsite and help desk support/remote support are included in the customer's service agreement.

The reality though is that this customer is never going to do business with us again if we don't get this fixed. Offering them a credit isn't going to appease them.

They're about 35 employees and have been around a good 15 years or so. It's not going to kill them but its also not how I want to do business or treat my customers. Also the difference owed is $4500 as there is no machine to return (so $14,500 buyout to keep) after the nitwits in order processing scrapped it.

>>620346

>can't maths
14.5k-10k = 4.5k
>cost small business 4.5k
double checked that my paperwork was good with multiple superiors; order processing scrapped the machine not me
>no accountability cus work for KM/canon/ricoh or whatever
What part of this entire fucking thread about trying to get my company to take accountability for their shit don't you understand?

Anon confirmed for doubleniggerfaggot who can't read or maths.

[Anonymous No.620408]

>>620399
>double checked that my paperwork was good with multiple superiors
Biggest thing I learned in business; you think your superiors are supportive and looking over your stuff for you exactly like you asked with a critical eye, but unless they're a perfectionist nitpicker, they barely read the thing. You're flying on your own most of the time, because they barely have enough time to do their job, that they're not going to do yours, too. Even if you are under training. Even if they are very good and their job. They just care less about someone else's work if their name isn't directly on it, and won't detail it as closely.

I'm not saying this to dog on you. I'm saying it to complain about what I've noticed many places. Most people aren't as detail orientated as they seem, and when you are and you care about your customer, it fucking SUCKS waiting for your superiors to come through. And it sucks that they didn't come through in the first place. But people make mistakes, too. I dunno, I'm projecting a lot here.

[Anonymous No.620409]

>>620408

I've picked that up. We don't ever get formal training for the financial aspect of our jobs, that's just something we're supposed to learn from our boss. Unfortunately there's alot of stuff he doesn't even know and so I've had to learn the hard way on several deals where we forget a necessary part and so have to give it away to the customer for free. That shit comes out of my commission check.

[Anonymous No.620416]

>>620304
hey anon. sounds like a really good lesson to learn early in your job. GW. You always learn best and most efficiently by actually making mistakes. It when you keep making them that you gotta worry, cause it means your retarded,

[Anonymous No.620744]

>>620408
I work in medicine. Same shit with the double check.
>care about patients if I'm responsible
>no name, not my problem
>oh you'll fix it for me?
>thanks. I'll just drop. Your name anon if shtf
>mfw

People care mostly if they have something to lose

[Anonymous No.620745]

Have someone who has higher up function than you personally visit the client and make him apologize and inform the client that it will be shipped shortly or fixed.

[Anonymous No.620884]

>>620304

B2B sales fag here. our businesses are very similar.

This is a classic scenario:
> someone dropped the ball (looks like your company did)
> not your fault at all
> you feel guilty
> you are trying to fix it
> you are the one to blame, because the salesman is the face of the company

Please please listen to me on this, because I have dealt with it myself. You are the salesman, your job is to sell. So sell. DO NOT PUT ON SOMEONE ELSE'S HAT. That is not your job, that is not what you were paid to do, and trying to wear multiple hats will just make you miserable and fuck your life.

The thing about sales is, you have to stand by your product. And if your product sucks, you are going to keep get shit. How long have you been at this job? If this company sucks, talk to a few rivals and join their company. You can't sell a product that sucks, this will keep happening.

So here's what you should do:
1) Be honest with the customer, if someone fucked up, tell them who it was so he can call them and bite their ass off. Fuck that person for fucking up.
2) Move on

You can't get emotional about your clients. You have to to the right thing, but if your operations team is fucking up, then that is on them. Like I said above, if this is how your company does business I suggest you quit and join a rival company.

When I sell something I know my operations team will handle it properly. That's their job. It's not my job to fix their mistakes, nor would I feel guilty if they did fuck something up.

[Anonymous No.621028]

>>620399

>Can't calculate a buyout price properly
>Blames order processing
>Blames Bosses
>muh good salesman

Op still a faggot

Seriously though, they have every right to not do business with you or your company based solely on the mistake YOU made. Unless the big 4 can't afford 14.5k to buyout a lease.......LOL

Just be glad you did it to a company that won't be seriously fucked by it. Because in the future you will sell to even smaller businesses and they can die from the types of lending and agreements you can get them into.

My advice:
Don't be a bloodthirsty faggot
Do the work
Then do it again
Yes, you can make everyone happy
It is very difficult to do

[Anonymous No.621520]

>>620884

Thanks. I guess what I've run into is that other people don't fix things because there salaries are not tied to it, so I wind up trying to fix things for the customer while internally I'm doing everything I can to get this run up the ladder and light a fire under whoever ass is responsible.

Regarding this particular deal my boss has said he will take responsibility and get them the $4.5k since he was the one that told the customer during our proposal we can pick up the gear and instructed me to do the paperwork for that. As often as order processing fucks up though I have to think they carry some of the blame.

I've been with this company 9 months. I like my boss and co-workers. Our product is solid and I believe in it, though we are priced to the point where its difficult to be competitive in small account, like say sub 20 employees. Larger accounts are not problem and our advanced IT Solutions and production print gear are incredible. The biggest thing I run into is that order processing seems to fuck-up around the clock.

>>621028

Are you literally fucking retarded? Do you have any basic reading comprehension or are you just in the mood to shit on someone else?

The buyout on their remaining lease payments would not have been a problem if we hadn't scrapped their goddamn gear. I had them a check cut to cover the obligation for their remaining lease payments that was accurate to a T.

Obviously I'm never going to pick-up competitive equipment again. The fact of the matter is my boss told me we should do that, and he told the customer in person we would do that for them to make things easier for them.

[Anonymous No.622206]

>>621520
> their salries are not tied to it
this is a critical business issue. The management at your company MUST have a way to tie the customer relations stuff to their own success at their job, via bonuses, performance reviews, etc..
This is a critical issue that must be corrected or your company is going to see a lot more problems. Operations people should very very rarely drop the ball, and when they do they should accept full responsibilty and correct it immediately

> i try to fix it
don't. the more you do it, the worse you will be at your job, and this gives the impression to the ops people that you are willing to do part of their job for them.

> my boss is taking responsibility
sounds like a good guy. he should address the ops side though. Ops and sales have to work together, it is key.

> order processing keeps fucking up
yeah like i said man, that is no bueno. major changes need to happen on your ops side. You're not gonna be happy with yourself if you sold a bunch of people on bad service. A good ops team should have an error rate under 1%.