The Rude Arrogance of a Sales Manager Part III

Got a belated reply via a comment on our original post “The Rude Arrogance of a Sales Manager” (see also The Rude Arrogance of a Sales Manager Revisited), both of which have since been picked up by other blogs and forums. The reply is from a Kevin masquerading as Jason (or vice-versa) but most likely someone writing on behalf of Eric So, the sales manager involved in the incident.

Like the original Mr. So, the reply is so full of presumptuous assumptions. (Some guys just never learn.) Below are our responses to them.

“Before you guys comment further from an end user's point of view, please check the company profile of Exon. They are the ODM which means they will only do business with another company like Sony, HTC, etc, and these mega-deals will unlikely be completed by emails. They are not running a retail business. ..”

First of all, we are not end-users, as clearly indicated in our initial product inquiry via Alibaba to several companies. We never asked for the location of their retail stores, if any.

As to transacting purely based on email, whatever led you to that senseless assumption??? Pray tell, what would be a more cost-effective way to make an initial product inquiry than email? For your information, we routinely go to China and other places to finalize our deals. In the same token we have been routinely shipping products to several continents.

As for our deals, for more than 25 years now, our group has been dealing directly with Sumitomo, Samsung, Daewoo, Microsoft, Hyundai, Cyrix, Everex – all companies far, far bigger than Exon Technology – which is not exactly a household name.

“So if the complaint is really legitimate, I see no reason why Xujiren does not disclose its company profile. “

The complaint is as real and as clear as your friend Mr. So’s lack of breeding. Again, the facts are simple. We made an initial product inquiry to several companies via Alibaba. Several replied. Some replied to acknowledge receipt of our inquiry and to inform us politely that they can’t fill our needs for one reason or another. Others have provided quotations and we are in the middle of negotiations with two of them. Only ONE – Mr. Eric So replied in such an uncouth manner bereft of any civility.

As to Xujiren revealing its company profile – let me put it in simple terms. You got your facts wrong. Better conduct some intelligent research first before embarrassing yourself again.

“In fact a big and legitimate company will not complain another company on the internet - these are just some obvious defamatory posts by Exon's competitors. “

Again what led you to your conclusion that we (or the people commenting) are Exon’s competitors???

“Besides, from my experience working in a sourcing company, sending emails to ODM for price bargaining before any business relationship is built by formal meetings will likely end up in cold responses like these. “

And based on our experience dealing with good mannered smart company representatives, we often get what we want with our approach. In all of our more than 25 years in the business, it is our VERY FIRST time to encounter such a poor excuse for a human being in such a critical position as a sales manager.

“While the attitude of the sales manager in question can be improved, I did receive ruder responses from other ODMs due to my own inexperience. “

As stated, not us. This is the worst by far in more than 25 years.

“You guys should contact their distributors or retailers for small quantity orders. “

While “small quantity orders” is relative, tell me of a business model that recommends buying 1000 netbooks/month for 12 months at retail prices. Unfortunately your lack of business sense (which you yourself suggested may be due to your inexperience) clearly shows through on this one.

Unsolicited advice – Instead of trying to futilely defend Mr. So and in the process, revive a forgotten issue and subjecting him to more ridicule (as surely as this post will be circulated again in the Net), why not try to teach him some basic manners instead? There is certainly a lot of room for improvement. You also don't have to risk making yourself sound like a fool in front of everyone else. Because when you go up against the truth, that is what you end up being.

The Rude Arrogance of a Sales Manager Revisited

It seems news travel real fast with the Interenet. There are currently two forum discussions on our earlier post, The Rude Arrogance of a Sales Manager. One is in the tipidpc forum and another one is in Chikkada.

I guess the crass arrogance of the guy is shockingly unbelievable as quite a few members questioned the authenticity of the email messages. Trust me - as shocking as the incident is, it is real. There is simply no reason for us to fabricate such matters. We are as shocked as you are that is why we posted it here - to find out if we are overreacting. Judging from the feedback, it is obvious we are not.

In fact, here is Mr. Eric So's subsequent reply (which was also posted in the comments of the first post) -

"Our company did not lose any client. It is funny that an idiot and a beggar like you regards yourself "client". Before contacting any Chinese supplier check whether you have received any pocket money from your loser mother.

Yours sincerely,
Eric So
Sales Manager
Exon International Technology Co Ltd
www.exon-technology.com"

That is word for word. Trust me, we are not capable of writing (fabricating) such crass insults. It simply exhibits a lack of breeding and simple sensibility.

The Rude Arrogance of a Sales Manager

As is often with our projects, we recently started negotiations for procuring 7" laptops for a client's proposed campaign give-aways. We contacted several manufacturers and/or trading companies. As part of our further inquiry to a specific manufacturer, we asked "What is the lowest price for your PC701 LX with Wifi? Our target price is under USD100 FOB. Current negotiations with potential suppliers range from USD80 - USD97. While price is a primary consideration, we also factor in reliability and after-sales support."

Imagine our surprise and shock when we received this response (printed verbatim):

Dear Sir,

In case you are ignorant, there are only 2 manufacturers producing 7" laptops. We are one of the two and our only competitor is offering it at USD10 more expensive. All the rest suppliers are our middle agents or trading companies. If you think you can buy PC701-LX with WiFi at the price range you mentioned, try to do business with them and good luck. We have time cost and please contact us only if you seriously want to do business with quality manufacturer.

Yours sincerely,
Eric So
Sales Manager
Exon International Technology Co Ltd

Considering this is a reply for a pre-sales inquiry, we have to wonder how they treat clients with quality or tech support problems. And the guy is supposed to be the Sales Manager of a company that claims to be a major player. And quite frankly, we contacted them because they are supposed to be price competitive, not because they are known for quality. Boy oh boy.