A Death Bed Request Opened My Eyes to the Harsh Reality of a Wasted Life
What will you be thinking about when you approach the end?
Many years ago, I worked for a large corporation.
The company manufactured electrical control parts, and my job was to support the salespeople and engineers by reading blueprints, creating a list of components, and pricing out the jobs. The salespeople called on customers, negotiated volume pricing, and managed distributors’ inventory.
Our team had several large clients who were loyal to the brand and the local service we provided. And then there were the “other” kind of customers — those who were only interested in getting a deal.
The bargain-hunters made purchasing decisions based on the lowest price, without regard for quality, warranty, or level of service. One of those challenging clients had a purchasing agent named Russ. Diligent in squeezing every last cent out of suppliers, Russ was a bottom-line guy — and all business.
Whenever he sent over a bid request, he demanded we stop everything and concentrate on generating a price quote. This usually meant lengthy phone calls to corporate marketing managers to justify competitive discounts. Most of the time we were successful and awarded the…
