You should give some discount buddy!

Oh Robert Robert Robert... you are man who knows how to conduct business like no other. You king of the office you. It is truly an honor to be in your presence.

I have two short, but related stories for you today.

Let me begin by saying that Mr. David has put me in charge of building another new machine (recall the last one that just shipped). Even though I am in charge, Bob, will be intimately involved, popping in at critical moments after a lot of work has been to redo, change or otherwise modify my work. I know I am not really good enough, but all I can do is try. Instead of giving me the project fully to screw up, Bob will be there every step of the way holding my hand and utilizing our time well.

I had planned to begin construction by giving young Erwin a chance to get his hands dirty. I created a plan and was ready to give instruction to Erwin. Bob came to me and told me the same plan. Then he told me again. I called young Erwin into the room and proceeded to explain the plan to him. Bob must have realized that I was incapable of explaining it correctly, or that Erwin was incapable of understanding me. So Bob proceeded to tell him the plan. Then he told him again.

Thanks Bob. Its better to "use" that time to explain the same thing 5 or 6 times, rather than begin working and potentially work incorrectly. Thanks.

Later in the day, Bob and I had a meeting to discuss purchasing for the new machine. I had printed out price quotes from companies and was prepared to order. "No!" Bob exclaimed, "those prices are only the suggested retail prices, we should use our time to call them and get discounts instead of actually ordering."

Reluctantly I agreed and we began to call. **For those from the States, you may not be familiar with the concept of haggling, but read on and learn** The first place we called already had us in their system for a discount. Cha-Ching! The second place was more stubborn, saying they only offer discounts on large quantity purchases and for OEM customers than purchase more than a certain amount per year.

Bob stood his ground and proclaimed to this lowly sales engineer that we have purchased in the past and we should be entitled to a discount. Again this sales engineer protested "claiming" that we are not meeting the minimum order or the minimum purchase amount to be considered an OEM client. "You should give some discount buddy!" Bob proceeded to say, at which point the sales engineer said he would ask his superiors and see what he could do. I could tell though that he was just trying to get us off the phone. Jerk.

Look, don't be a jerk, and don't be stubborn, in the end Bob will get his discount one way or another.

I will keep you all updated on the progress of this new machine.