Alex and the Difficult Purchasing Agent

When Alex was a young man selling industrial equipment in the Pittsburgh area, he had to call on a steel company executive  who had a reputation for being tough.  The previous salesman who handled the territory warned Alex that the man ate salespeople for lunch.  Others agreed that he was one of the most difficult people to deal with that they had ever run into.  The executive would see people only when he felt like it,  and he would not make appointments.  Nevertheless, every time Alex was in town he stopped by, chatted with the receptionist, spent 15 minutes waiting, and each time was sent away.  Eventually, after five or six months, the purchasing agent decided to see him. "Well," he said as he glared across the desk, "what do you want?"  Alex presented his case as well as he could.  While doing so he noticed a plastic model of some scaffolding on the back desk.  At the first opportunity he asked about it.  The purchasing agent picked it up, obviously delighted to have a chance to talk about something that interested him.  He demonstrated it to Alex and insisted that he take the plastic model home for his children.  Alex got more out of it than a plastic model.  He also won a customer whom he never had difficulty seeing again as long as he didn't waste his time and made a worthwhile presentation of useful merchandise.  One of the best ways to get to know someone, says Alex, is to allow him or her to do you a favor.  Of course, he says, it's important to reciprocate when the opportunity presents itself.