Vendor Ploy: Getting to Know You

The "Getting to Know You" is a starting ploy for vendors, meaning that it occurs at the onset of a new relationship between vendor and prospective customer. Just like the name of the ploy indicates, it’s all about vendors getting to know you so that they can gather information from you that benefits them and that can be used to influence you. The more personal the information, the better. They’ll use what they know in order to make them as appealing as possible to you and to befriend you.

To figure out how to spend quality time with you, vendors will scan your office for personal information. If you have a picture of yourself fly fishing on your desk at work and the vendor has been to visit you, don’t be surprised if the vendor calls you in a week and says that he or she “just so happens” to have an extra pass to a fly fishing tournament. If you have a model racecar on your desk, you can expect to be invited to a car race. One of the reasons that a vendor wants to meet you so badly at your office is so that they can gather information about you. It may sound a little paranoid, but that’s how vendors are trained. If you don’t believe me, try it—put something on your desk that relates to a hobby or an interest you have and I can practically guarantee that the vendor later contacts you and “just so happens” to have a ticket, pass, or what have you that relates to that something that is on your desk.

Sure, it's flattering that someone has taken so much interest in you, but just remember why... The vendor is there to sell to you, not really to become your new best buddy (even though that's what they want you to think). Recommendation: Always maintain an arm's-length relationship with vendors.