salespeople

A short commentary on salespeople.

From time to time in the course of working in a research lab it may become necessary to order some expensive pieces of equipment. I don't relish the experience of talking to sales people but for the most part this is mitigated by the fact that they want to sell stuff to you. Something about commission, I'm sure. What baffles me is that when I need specific information from them, and they get all cagey, like all of a sudden they don't want this sale to continue if it means looking something up or doing a little math. Let me clue in all of the salespeople who I know must read this blog. (*cough*) Price is an object to a graduate student only to a certain extent, after that, the most important things in closing a deal is expediency and minimization of hassle. I don't work in the Purchasing and Acquisions office, I'm a grad student. My patience for paperwork is very thin and if there are two vendors offering nearly the same services, I will take the one that is fast and helps me through my paperwork over the one which is 10% cheaper. Valuable information for anyone trying to sell something to a chemist in my position.