Reverse Mole...

In the business world, if you want to know what the competition is doing, you can resort to some low level espionage by sending a person to go around to your competitors pretending to be a real customer.
They can check out their office, showroom, factory and see how their sales staff operate, get prices and find out what negotiations they are able to make to get the best price.

The person elected to do the job could be family or a friend, most importantly that person must be savvy to the business and know the differences what the competition is pricing.

That person is called a Mole.

A place I worked at a few years ago had lots of local competition and the boss was lucky enough to have communication with one person he lost a sale to. That helped him refine his sales pitch by educating prospective clients BEFORE they went shopping elsewhere and to be suspicious of 'low ball' bids. Some companies call that 'comparing apples to apples' in that, price means little if the lower bid isn't equal to the other bids.

The lost sale customer went back to tell my boss he was sorry for making a bad decision. He signed with the other company mostly on price and confidence it was their best deal. After paying a deposit and seeing the drawings, many of the items were left out. Adding all what my boss included, the other company considered them as upgrades, brought the price higher than the bid my boss gave.

I had a situation with a possible client last week. He recently bought a home near the Intracoastal Waterway, complete with a dock and it wouldn't surprise me if he's investing $300,000 in the renovation. He and his wife came to my showroom to see samples and discuss their wants. They loved the tour of the factory. Although, they knew what they wanted, they had been to see 2 other local suppliers and had prices. One had a shop but (for some reason) wasn't happy with them. The other had a retail showroom, but no factory. Since that company is in an upscale neighborhood, I expected their price to be around the same as mine.

The client did mention good quality at a good price. I represented the sale would be what he was asking for.

Expecting to be able to submit prices on Monday, I found time to meet with my estimator and was able to submit a proposal Friday.
The guy replied on Saturday to tell me I was the highest bid and he was going with another company. I asked how much and he said $38,000 to my $44,500.
Repeating our track record and quality would be a waste of time. Price was the attachment for him.

Thanking him for the comeback. Yes, it was a loss, but I consider it a reverse mole where he told me something important about another vendor.
We recently changed our logo and added 'Luxury Cabinetry' to it.
Hopefully, it will make a difference with my cost conscience clients.
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Comments (2)

Had to laugh at first as i walk across a field every morning and the mole hills are manygrin Next morning across other side just as if they are reversing their tunnels doh

Yep but i see (moles) from different supermarkets by me pricing each other. I like to follow as there is always money off in competitiondancing teddybear
RED, is it true that moles have two holes in their tunnels?

Yes, grocery stores are notorious for sending moles around to check prices of competitors.
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created Mar 2022
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