What should I say to rude sales manager?

[Deleted85763]

About 2 weeks ago a sales manager of large company contacted me and said they had inventory they wanted to move. They asked if I knew anyone that might have interest. I told them I had a prospect, a small distributor. The distributor said yesterday they would buy the inventory and would issue a PO today. I let the sales manager of the large company know the good news. But today the owner of the distributor called me and said they had some additional questions before they issue a purchase order. I went back to the large company and told the sales manager. He said:

"We will not provide anything more unless we receive a PO by Monday morning. If one is not issued by then, then we will not do business with you. We are not going to be screwing around!".

So if there is no PO on Monday the sales manager is probably going to say something else very rude. What should I say or do? I was thinking about reporting it to his boss. The sales manager has been with the company for many years so it may or may not have an effect but I think I need to at least lodge a complaint. What do you think?

 

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[Andy Black]

I can’t tell if he was rude or just trying to push things along (possibly badly). Maybe some context is missing here.

What’s the purpose of going over his head and reporting him? I personally would just put them both in contact with each other and leave them to it.

 

[Stargazer]

I personally would just put them both in contact with each other and leave them to it.

Exactly what I would do.

The Sales Manager wouldn't be 'rude' then. He would simply answer the question the distributor asks.

He is probably stressed as he needs to shift the inventory out of the warehouse by end of month as a new delivery is coming in on Monday and he will be screwed for space.

Just a made up scenario but you have no idea why he was curt with you.

I would raise it with him so that it doesn't occur in future.

Dan

 

[Deleted85763]

Exactly what I would do.

The Sales Manager wouldn't be 'rude' then. He would simply answer the question the distributor asks.

He is probably stressed as he needs to shift the inventory out of the warehouse by end of month as a new delivery is coming in on Monday and he will be screwed for space.

Just a made up scenario but you have no idea why he was curt with you.

I would raise it with him so that it doesn't occur in future.

Dan

Thanks for the advice. I have been very helpful to this person and found him a potential buyer. I understand the disappointment of being told there would be an order but then the buyer needs additional questions answered that potentially indicates there may not be a sale. Saying that they will not be "screwing around" when the buyer simply wants some questions answered tells me this person has a bad character of sorts. Mature people don't answer like that. A mature person might say "You said there would be an order today and we prepared for it. We can address any questions you now have but we need an order Monday if we are to go forward. After this time the inventory will not be available."

My concern is that if anything goes wrong with the sale this sales manager will blame me or the distributor or at least not take any responsibility for themselves. So it may be best to let his boss know now so that if anything does go wrong, or the sale doesn't happen, the sales manager might think twice about doing the right thing and not causing trouble.

I have seen similar situations before and what happens is that that rude behavior often goes on a lot longer than it should because no one reports it or files a complaint because that's not a good thing to do. I think more people need to speak up.

 

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[Andy Black]

Thanks for the advice. I have been very helpful to this person and found him a potential buyer. I understand the disappointment of being told there would be an order but then the buyer needs additional questions answered that potentially indicates there may not be a sale. Saying that they will not be "screwing around" when the buyer simply wants some questions answered tells me this person has a bad character of sorts. Mature people don't answer like that. A mature person might say "You said there would be an order today and we prepared for it. We can address any questions you now have but we need an order Monday if we are to go forward. After this time the inventory will not be available."

My concern is that if anything goes wrong with the sale this sales manager will blame me or the distributor or at least not take any responsibility for themselves. So it may be best to let his boss know now so that if anything does go wrong, or the sale doesn't happen, the sales manager might think twice about doing the right thing and not causing trouble.

I have seen similar situations before and what happens is that that rude behavior often goes on a lot longer than it should because no one reports it or files a complaint because that's not a good thing to do. I think more people need to speak up.

If I wanted to maintain a relationship with someone who I perceived as rude (which I rarely do) then I’d politely pull them up.

I wouldn’t go over their head and complain to someone, I’d address it with them. Sometimes you can turn someone around and get things off on the right foot. That’s unlikely to happen if you put in a complaint to their manager.

Polite but not letting it slide. Something like:

“May I ask what you mean by “you won’t be screwing around” so I can pass that back to the prospect, or do you want me to tell him that?”

That’s my very English style. I call it the velvet glove, as I punch him in the face.
Make it a question so he can clarify.

 

[Deleted85763]

If I wanted to maintain a relationship with someone who I perceived as rude (which I rarely do) then I’d politely pull them up.

I wouldn’t go over their head and complain to someone, I’d address it with them. Sometimes you can turn someone around and get things off on the right foot. That’s unlikely to happen if you put in a complaint to their manager.

Polite but not letting it slide. Something like:

“May I ask what you mean by “you won’t be screwing around” so I can pass that back to the prospect, or do you want me to tell him that?”

That’s my very English style. I call it the velvet glove, as I punch him in the face.
Make it a question so he can clarify.

Thanks. I like the English style, I strive to be a gentleman every day, however I am learning, incredibility after many years, that some people need to be dealt with very sternly.

 

[Andy Black]

Thanks. I like the English style, I strive to be a gentleman every day, however I am learning, incredibility after many years, that some people need to be dealt with very sternly.

When I want to turn it up a notch I start conversations with “Can you please …?” or “Thanks for …” or similar.


Recently a client said something like “I don’t understand why your developer hasn’t contacted my developer after I gave him his email address two weeks ago.”

I was livid at that sniping comment.

I dug through the back history (and having to do this made me even more livid) and then replied with something like:

“Hi client,

Thanks for bringing this up.

In the screenshot below I asked you to send an email introducing our developers to each other so your developer knows it’s ok to work with my developer.

We find this the quickest route to getting communication started.

You replied with your developer’s email address instead of introducing them.

Can you please let me know if that was the right email address?”

I knew by this stage it wasn’t the correct email address but wanted to put the client’s feet to the fire and let them know they’ll be pulled up for sniping.

If you’re going to be rude then I’ll normally cut the chord. If I have to continue the engagement then I’ll be polite and put you on the spot. And then cut the chord at the earliest convenience.

 

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