As a university professor, I worked in an "office setting" for a few years before quitting to become a free-lance writer. I learned a lot about life, people, and the academic world through these few years, and quite a few things that surprised me.
Apparently, the competition out there for printer toner cartridges is stiff, and they will do anything to get you to buy them. For some reason, no one wanted to sell me paper or other office supplies, they were more interested in getting me to buy toner from them. Strange, I thought . . .
At one job I was the Office Manager, so to speak. It was a small office and I was in charge of supplies and the like. On my very first day, I got three phone calls from three different companies wanting to sell me their printer toner cartridges. I was polite to each of them but explained that I was new to the job, and I would have to see what was going on and what my options were before I could really talk to any of them.
When I talked to my boss about the printer toner cartridge situation, he actually rolled his eyes and told me that those people were relentless, but that I had to be firm with them. As far as he was concerned, he had a good supplier and would stick with them.
When the companies began to again call me about printer toner cartridges, I explained that we were happy with what we were getting from our current supplier and my boss simply was of no mind to consider switching.
Unbeknownst to me, this caused considerable agitation (enter, mi vida loca)! They apparently thought we were insane for not considering their offer, and apparently, they were not about to give up. They were so insistent that I talk business about printer toner cartridges that I found I had to start hanging up on people who would not take no for an answer.
I’ve had telemarketers and even people operating phone scams call me at home, but none of them can compare to those calling offices hoping to sell printer toner cartridges. I guess I don’t understand why this is where they place their preferences and why they don’t offer deals and incentives on all of their office supplies. The focus seems to be on the printer toner cartridges and for some reason, they act as if it were a matter of life or death. It’s just ink people, lighten up!
Published by Steven A. Maclin on March 7, 2007 07:18 AM
| TrackBack
