In the business world, most people will claim to appreciate the value of competition. Everybody understands how competition causes prices to trend downwards . And everybody has a basic grasp on the argument that monopoly domination of a market is ultimately stifling to innovation.  But despite this understanding of the merits of competition, people still try to get as close to monopoly as they are allowed. 

There are two sides to any business- the sell side and the buy side. The sell side hates competition and the buy side loves it. The sell side wants to eliminate competition and grab as much market share as it can.  The buy side wants to promote competition to drive down the cost of raw materials and services.  All businesses have this sort of left brain, right brain relationship with competition.

The sales folk know all too well the blinding power of competition.  I remember many meetings where I have made heartfelt and sincere presentations to reassure a customer that our company is there for them , but regrettably the product we had been supplying for years was going to suffer a minor price increase.  My Swiss Army knife of sales tools was wide open and all of the tools had gouge marks on them. The customer seemed pursuaded.  But this was the calm before the storm. 

At first, and with a hurt look on his face and an alligator tear running down his cheek, he’ll exclaim that it has come to his attention that there are two other vendors with substantially better pricing. Then, stiffening up noticeably, he’ll go on to say that apparently they had been paying far too much for far too long.  Some procurement people will even accuse you of making them look bad in front of their management. Others will just shrug and sit there staring at you silently, waiting for you to hack up a price concession.

This is the point where the skilled sales person gives a performance worthy of Lawrence Olivier. You regain your composure and put on the most cheerful face you can.  Here is where your collection of euphamisms comes in handy.  My personal favorite- “Well, we’ll have to go back and sharpen our pencils and see what we can do.  We’ll be in touch soon”.  Did you get that? Sharpen our pencils?  The really smooth purchasing people will use it first- “We think you need to sharpen your pencils on this pricing…”.

When a purchasing person says this to you, it is actually a gift. It is a graceful way of saying that you need to stop being stupid and requote a fair price. It is a gift because they haven’t disqualified you just yet. It is a last chance.  Some purchasing people are very haughty and take high prices personally. When you ship a quote to them that was out of line, they won’t even bother to reply or try to negotiate.  Like a fly, they just hop over to the next hot dung pile.