Selling

In my garden I have a large pond. Since last summer there are algae in the pond. The water is troubled and you cannot even see the fish anymore. I have tried several solutions, but nothing worked properly.

Last week I entered a big pond store. They design ponds, dig them, fill them with water, plants, fish… And they also sell the necessary products to maintain it. The sales lady asked me four questions: 1° How big my pond was? 2° How many fish there are in the pound? 3° What kind of filtering system I have installed? 4° How many plants there are in the pond?

She proposed a natural product (as opposed to a chemical treatment) based on the natural enemies of algae. The box costed € 97,- as she mentioned “For ponds up to 6.000 litres of water”. She calculated the water content of my pond: “6m by 6m makes 36m² with a maximum depth of 1m so an average of 0,5m… This makes about 18.000 litres… You will need three boxes” she concluded firmly.

I opposed to her offer because a box costed about € 100,- a piece. I said that I thought it was too expensive and said that I had tried so many other solutions before, so I would try only one box to begin with.

She argued: “One box will do nothing, Sir. You have too big a pond. The one box will be diluted too much and you will get no result at all. You will literally be throwing your money in the water. If you really want to try out this natural product, you need at least three boxes and spread them out over the entire pond. Only then you can get any result at all. And I am convinced that you will.”

I have her phone number.

Next vacancy for a sales rep at van Steenis nv, I’m going to give her a call.

Patrick J.A. van Steenis, Ph.D.
CEO