Laura started her meeting with Tom, the buyer for Hill ...

[Cooldude101]

Laura started her meeting with Tom, the buyer for Hill Enterprises. The purpose of this meeting was to review the fabrics for the sofas Laura's company would be producing for Hill Enterprises. Laura took out her design book, expecting to match material samples to the various designs and then close the sale.
 
  Laura opened the meeting, asking, What did you think of our material samples? I'll bet you were very impressed with our latest line of microfiber fabrics..
 
  Tom looked surprised when he replied, What samples? I haven't received anything
 
  Stunned, Laura said, Are you serious? My secretary was supposed to have sent those out two weeks ago. You should have received them by now..
 
  Laura then paused, realizing she could not close the sale without those material samples, and she said . . .
 
  Is there anything Laura could have done to confirm that the samples were received?

Question 2

Laura started her meeting with Tom, the buyer for Hill Enterprises. The purpose of this meeting was to review the fabrics for the sofas Laura's company would be producing for Hill Enterprises. Laura took out her design book, expecting to match material samples to the various designs and then close the sale.
 
  Laura opened the meeting, asking, What did you think of our material samples? I'll bet you were very impressed with our latest line of microfiber fabrics..
 
  Tom looked surprised when he replied, What samples? I haven't received anything
 
  Stunned, Laura said, Are you serious? My secretary was supposed to have sent those out two weeks ago. You should have received them by now..
 
  Laura then paused, realizing she could not close the sale without those material samples, and she said . . .
 
  What should Laura do now?

[SomethingSomething]

Answer to Question 1

At the very least, Laura or her associate could have contacted the shipper to confirm receipt of the samples and identify who signed to receive them. If Laura suspects the problem lies in the buyer's company, Laura may just want to bring the samples with her (as opposed to sending them ahead of time) when she calls on the customer. Given that it appears the samples are crucial to closing the sale, Laura should probably carry a set of samples with her for back up.

Answer to Question 2

Good question Depending upon her years of experience, Laura hopefully has some idea where the glitch lies. Is Laura's administrative assistant reliable? If so, then the samples were probably sent. Does she know anything about Tom's administrative assistant? Perhaps the samples were received but never forwarded to Tom. If Laura believes her administrative assistant sent the samples, she could call from Tom's office and begin the tracking process. If Laura believes her administrative assistant is unreliable, she may have to discontinue the sales call and re-schedule when the buyer has received samples.

[Cooldude101]

Thank you

[SomethingSomething]

No problemo