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Cheating, Sales, and the NE Patriots
September 17, 2007

This past week the New England Patriots were not only accused but also caught cheating.  The evidence is clear and damning, as Fox Sports put it.  Suddenly it is not as much fun to root, root, root for the home team.  A reader suggested that I write about cheating and sales….

A story I used to tell in my presentations:

A sales person walks into a Buyer's office to present his price. Pleasantries are exchanged and while the rep is looking around the Buyer's desk during the course of conversation, he notices that his competition's quote is lying right in front of him.  The Buyer glances away and the rep steals a closer look only to find that the actual price is covered up by a soda can.  "If only I could see what's under the can," he thinks, " If I am too low, I can raise my price to make more money.  If I am too high, I can lower my price to be the winner. Oh well." 

Just then the phone rings and the rep hears the Buyer say, "What? Now?  Well, I am with a vendor, but I guess if it will only take a minute I can be right there."  The Buyer then apologizes and excuses himself to attend to the chore.

The rep sits for a moment and thinks about the situation.  Unable to stand the pressure, he lifts up the soda can to see the price.  However, the can is bottomless and full of marbles.  The rep is horrified to hear the marbles roll all over the desk and across the floor.  As he turns around, he sees the Buyer behind him.  A trap had been set and the rep took the bait.  He would never see a nickel’s worth of business from that account again.

Posted by Bill Farquharson on September 17, 2007 | Comments (1)