A mixed bag of results this week work wise as many companies are sticking to the working from home protocol. The workers are working, but the office staff who I need to see are nowhere to be found.
I mentioned in a previous post about a buyer who I suspected on the take and was protecting the account. It turned out I was right after I raised my concerns to the powers that be. It helps knowing the owner who is hardly around these days as he has made an absolute fortune. He started this company delivering legal documents on his motorbike and now owns one of the biggest transport companies in South Africa.
I was asked to quote normally like I would do anyway copying the mail and forwarding it so they could see it without the buyer knowing. Our prices were way cheaper than what he was currently buying and after a few questions and another order from that old supplier he was given a thorough interrogation. They have found other items cheaper than what he was buying in other departments of the company and has now been removed from his post with immediate effect. Not my favorite way of picking up new accounts as it has wasted too much of my time already.
The one guy who I know informed me it wasn't as though it was a $1 difference as it was far more substantial. He couldn't justify his reasoning for going against his company's wishes looking to save on the budget. Unfortunately this behavior is something I have noticed and experienced more and more over the last few years.
The industry I am involved in is a small world with someone you know knowing someone else who can help. I have many contacts made through playing team sports which didn't seem important at the time, but now they are very useful. I just don't use them as much as I should as that is just who I am. I hate owing favors of any kind yet I will do anything for anyone without expecting anything in return.
Next week I have one more buyer to catch as it is most definitely another protected account. I detest this sort of behavior as if you think about it they are lining their pockets whilst work colleagues are being retrenched. These types have no scruples and it is not that they don't realise the damage they are doing, they just don't care. This account runs into the millions each month so I hate to estimate how much is being creamed off the top. I estimate a 20% back hander, but it could be far more which is rather sickening.
What is a common denominator amongst all these companies is the owner or manager is not hands on so it is in an around about way their own fault. I blame the managers or lack of managing skills as this kind of thing should be spotted fairly quickly. If I can pick this up within a few visits then surely anyone with a few brain cells could do the same.
