My friend is a distributor for a particular type of products - products he sources from various manufacturers. Now in this particular industry, some manufacturers sell directly, and some use distributors. Oftentimes it's a combination of both based on territory where, for example, the manufacturer sells directly in their home market and relies on distributors in remote markets.
So part of my friend job is to identify manufacturers that currently do not have distributors in the US Northeast or Eastern Canada. Given the popularity of this territory, these manufacturers would typically be smaller, or new, or perhaps overseas.
In the course of this identification process, my friend contacts Manufacturer X using the number provided on their web site. A receptionist answers. The conversation goes something like this:
FRIEND: Hi, I am wondering if I could speak to the person responsible for sales in the US Northeast or Canada.
X: Why?
FRIEND: I would like to explore the possibility of distributing your products in these territories.
X: We do not sell through distributors.
FRIEND: I see. So you must have a salesperson or salespeople handling this area already.
X: Yes, we have a gentleman that covers this territory.
FRIEND: Would it be possible to speak with this gentleman? Perhaps you could provide my contact info to him, or you could give me his number.
X: I'm sorry, but we do not sell to distributors who will resell our products.
FRIEND: But I am sure that you sell to customers, right? It would be great if you provide my contact info to him.
X grudgingly takes down my friend's email and phone number.
There is one thing I forgot to tell you: my friend has been working in the industry serviced by the manufacturer for years. Besides working with some of the largest companies, my friend is often asked by his existing customers to source products even when he is not selling them himself, because his customers rely on him for information and advice, not just sales. Even if he cannot represent Manufacturer X, he might like to refer his clients to their salesman if he had a knowledge of their products and a relationship with their salesman.
You would be right to say that you were not aware of this critical piece of information when you read the passage describing the conversation between my friend and Manufacturer X. But that's exactly the problem: either did the receptionist answering the phone. Surely the salesperson, whose job it is to sell would be the best person to qualify any contact that expresses a desire to speak with him! In this case, just speaking with my friend may have added the salesperson to my friend's network on people to call on when trying to source something my friend does not sell. The receptionist is part of a department that I see alive and well in many companies: the Order Prevention Department. Do you have any Order Prevention Department stories to share?
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