"The Partner" lie

[Dan Furman]

Note for you new businesspeople: We’re wise to the “partner” ruse.

Trust me, when I give you my price and you say “Hey, that sounds great. Let me bring it to my partner, and I’ll get back to you”, I know I’ll never hear from you again.

Not that I’m complaining - I know you don’t want to say “I can’t afford you”, and you’d also rather not say to me “your price is too high”. I get it - you’re just trying to be nice. Appreciate it. But I just thought I’d tell you that us experienced businesspeople are totally wise to the lie. We know there’s no partner. Most of us used this same line at one point as well.

And believe me, you’ll stop using it the minute it gets used on you. In fact, it’s kind of a right of passage. Once the partner line gets used on you, it’s one sign that you are truly in business. :)

[billbenson]

You mean every time I say "I need to get approval from my boss on a discount" the customer knows I'm in the back room of a house in Florida in my underwear with my trusty dog next to me and I'm the boss?

[Steve B]

Same thing goes for "let me check with my wife and I'll get back to you". This is the line we get when dealing with homeowners instead of business owners.

[Spider]

So, any business person who has a partner is not supposed to discuss major purchases with said partner, in your opinion? Likewise, homeowners are not supposed to discuss major purchases with their spouses?

Surely, the correct response should be, "Great! You should consider major purchases carefully. Look, why don't the three of us get together so I can answer any questions your partner/spouse has directly? Would tomorrow afternoon work for you both, or would Friday be better?"

Of course, this doesn't apply to every small purchase but I don't think you are referring to every small purchase.

[cbscreative]

You mean every time I say "I need to get approval from my boss on a discount" the customer knows I'm in the back room of a house in Florida in my underwear with my trusty dog next to me and I'm the boss?

Thanks for the laugh, bill.

[Dan Furman]

So, any business person who has a partner is not supposed to discuss major purchases with said partner, in your opinion? Likewise, homeowners are not supposed to discuss major purchases with their spouses?


C'mon, Spider - it's friggen' sarcasm. That was pretty evident. It's also why I put it in this forum. Of course if you truly have a partner you discuss stuff. Duh.

Man, do you have to nitpick/devil's advocate everything???

[Harold Mansfield]

With me it's usually people wanting me to work for the equivalent of what some Indian wemaster quoted them via email.

I want people to know that I make the decisions and if it's something that we can't agree on, then the conversation is over. I don't need to call anyone back that wants me to work for $8 an hour...there's no one to discuss that with.

I have dealt with Husband and Wife teams before and each time they each made decisions. No run around. Maybe they discussed them before speaking with me, but I haven't had that one yet.

Usually it was, one directed the project, and the other paid the invoices. Now that's teamwork !

[nealrm]

I'll post a comment as soon as I get with my partner and decide what we should say. Of course I'll need to check that it is OK with my wife also. I'll let you know when we are ready.