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Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!bonnie!akgua!whuxlm!harpo!decvax!tektronix!orca!mako!jans
From: jans@mako.UUCP (Jan Steinman)
Newsgroups: net.micro.16k,net.micro.68k
Subject: Re: data books
Message-ID: <839@mako.UUCP>
Date: Tue, 2-Jul-85 12:29:20 EDT
Article-I.D.: mako.839
Posted: Tue Jul  2 12:29:20 1985
Date-Received: Fri, 5-Jul-85 05:22:16 EDT
References: <214@sdcarl.UUCP> <1142@tekgvs.UUCP>
Reply-To: jans@mako.UUCP (Jan Steinman)
Organization: Tektronix, Wilsonville OR
Lines: 29
Xref: watmath net.micro.16k:346 net.micro.68k:987
Summary: 

In article <1142@tekgvs.UUCP> keithe@tekgvs.UUCP (Keith Ericson) writes:
>In article <214@sdcarl.UUCP> andy@sdcarl.UUCP (Andrew Voelkel) writes:
>>As far as you National folks are concerned, why does it seem that there is
>>an ironclad policy of charging for data books?
>
>Well, I've never paid for *ANY* National data books. I just call up the local
>rep and say "Hi, this is me at Tektronix and I need..."

Well, Keith, that's easy for you or I to say, being Tek employees, but the sad
truth is that many reps don't want to talk to anyone who's company they don't
recognize.  My last job was with a medium-sized consulting firm (300
employees).  If I identified myself as being with "Logical Technical Services"
and asked for literature, they usually referred me to a local distributor who
would be willing to sell me the books.  If, however, I identified myself as a
contractor to IBM, (which I was) I got all sorts of quick response!

My advice to Andrew: use an acronym -- I got better response using "LTS", go
out of your way to meet and remember reps at trade shows, etc, or even pretend
you know them -- if they think they *should* know you, they are more
conciliatory, exaggerate the number of units you may be using, etc.

Some of these tactics are not quite honest, but in the best tradition of
situation ethics, they often work.  (Often the measure of one's nerve is the
measure of one's success.)  I would not resort to such tactics unless the
company has demonstrated that they aren't interested in little fish, which is
unfair and probably illegal.
-- 
:::::: Jan Steinman		Box 1000, MS 61-161	(w)503/685-2843 ::::::
:::::: tektronix!tekecs!jans	Wilsonville, OR 97070	(h)503/657-7703 ::::::