Why Bother? Frustrations of a Copier Rep…

So, here we are in a struggling economy and we are dealing with people who don’t seem to care about finances…  Which seems crazy to us.  I wanted to attach an example(century_21_ll) of how we do our TCO (Total Cost of Ownership)comparisons so you can see we take saving you money seriously.  I was asked to consult on a deal a few weeks ago where “they are going to gring you hard on cost…” was what we heard.  I put together a proposal which would save this real estate company about $75,000 over 3 years (down from $150,000).

One would think this would be compelling.  Not so.  We presented the case and the numbers of why a smaller solution would be a more sound financial decision, but this real estate company decided that our qoute recommended copiers and printers which were far too small.  Nevermind that we have 100’s of customers using these devices for the same exact function!

Now, I have to re-quote “something bigger”…  which I will do, reluctantly… However, it is frustrating when you know a customer you want to help is absolutely hell bent of pissing away thousands upon thousands of dollars.  It is absolutely their right, but I prefer to work with people who buy machines APPROPRIATE for their needs and volumes.  Customers who are not so entrenched in an old way of working (where the sales rep can pad his pocket), that they will actually listen to a proposal… even if there are ultimately reasons they decide against it.  Be careful to not be so married to your current way of doing things that you, like this real estate company, piss away thousands or hundreds of thousands of dollars because something is “too small.”