Tech team to salesman: Persistence isn’t always a virtue

In 2005, fresh out of college, I started working for a custom manufacturing company as the applications developer/help desk tech/network administrator. I developed an application that ran one of the manufacturing division’s inventory and job control systems; did time and attendance for the entire organization; and was the sole IT employee in the company. Therefore, a few years later when it came time to replace the company’s aging ERP system, as “the computer guy,” I was put in charge.

This meant not only writing business requirements, developing an implementation schedule, and managing meetings between warring department heads, but also researching different vendors’ products and handling many phone calls with salespeople.

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We were a custom manufacturer with some of our own product lines, which meant that we juggled a number of conflicting requirements and I had to consider vendors from every end of the ERP spectrum. The larger ERP vendor salespeople would fly in and take as many “stakeholders” and “decision makers” as they could out to lunch followed by a software demonstration, while the salespeople from smaller vendors would be relegated to making conference calls and balky Web demos.

One smaller ERP vendor had apparently assigned our account to a young, eager MBA type, “Jim,” who seemed to think that even though the company’s software didn’t meet two of our non-negotiable requirements, he could still win my business. When I explained this to him on the first call, he said they didn’t usually do customizations but offered to explore our needs. Knowing that a customization on the manufacturing requirements would probably lead to pricey complications with other areas like accounting or inventory, I politely told him that my company couldn’t use his product. I figured that was the end of it.

Busy with doing research on other vendors, as well as running help desk support, network administration, and software development, I filed that vendor out of my mind, so I didn’t remember Jim immediately when he called back two weeks later and asked if I had given his software some more consideration. We went over our requirements list again, and as expected, Jim’s vendor couldn’t meet two non-negotiable requirements. I told him yet again we couldn’t go with his product, and we weren’t going to consider the customization and tried to get off the call as politely but as quickly as possible.

Two weeks later, he called back, wondering what he could do to earn our business, and offered to let me talk to a programmer. I told him that unless he could give me a Web demo right then showing me that they could meet our two non-negotiables without customizations, we couldn’t go with his software and he didn’t need to call back.

Two weeks later, like clockwork, Jim called back, and now I was rather annoyed. I told him straight out that we were not going to go with his software, and I wasn’t going to speak with him again. He persistently asked if he could do anything to earn my business. In hopes of getting him off the phone, I told him that if they could meet all our non-negotiables without customizations and if I could control my home toaster from the office, I would consider his software. He laughed and said that he would see what he could do. I figured that Jim finally understood and I didn’t have to worry about him again.

So when I saw Jim’s number on my caller ID about a week later, I was surprised. When I answered, he greeted me and said that he had “Bill,” a senior developer with his company, on a conference call. Bill said they didn’t usually do customizations but asked if I could go over my criteria. I told Bill that I needed my two requirements in the base application without customization. Bill then quizzically asked Jim why he was on the call, since he was a developer and didn’t talk to customers about product road maps. Jim said, “You did have one other customization requirement, and I thought maybe you could talk to Bill about it?”

“Well, Bill,” I said, “I told Jim that I would consider your software if I could control my home toaster from the office.”

“What?” was Bill’s flat, slightly shocked reply.

“Bill, I can’t get Jim to understand that we aren’t going to consider your software because it needs to be customized to meet our requirements, and we aren’t going to go with customizations for these requirements.”

There was a pause before Bill replied: “I’m employee No. 2 here, and I can promise you, Jim’s not going to be calling you again. And he’s definitely going to have to tell a developer why they are on the call from now on. I’m sorry for wasting your time.”

We eventually went with another vendor, but unfortunately, I still can’t control my toaster from the office.

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