Your Behavior Is Not Permissible

(We have a pushy sales guy who works for Local Phone Book Company who has requested coming in to talk with my boss about the company ads. When he comes in for his appointment with my boss, he talks constantly to me, whether I’m on the phone with a client or doing my other work. As it is, I’m barely responding to him. He goes to his appointment only to come back 30 minutes later.)

Salesperson: “Hey, so your boss said he wants to get that website done up through us. Do you have permission to give your business information to me?”

(He means authorization, but didn’t ask that. I do have permission to give our business information out as is needed, but not authorization, as I’m the receptionist for the company)

Me: “Yes? However I’m busy. I’m sure [Boss] or his assistant can give you that information.”

Salesperson: “Oh, yeah, they had to deal with something and got busy. Can you give the information to my associate on the phone?”

Me: “I can’t. My job is to answer our phones.”

(He shoves his cell into my hand anyway, and I’m such a pushover that I talk with the person on the phone until our office phone rings.)

Me: “I need to take this. You need to take your phone back and wait for [Boss].”

(I have only just answered my phone and am talking to the client when the salesperson shoves his phone back into my hand yet again. I tell the same thing to the person on the phone that I do to him: I’m busy answering phones and he’ll have to wait for the boss. Again, he talks to the person on the other line and shoves the phone into my hand a third time.)

Me: “One moment, [Client]. I need to talk with the assistant.”

Salesperson: “Oh, she’s busy! She said she can’t talk.”

Me: *buzzing boss’s assistant* “I apologize, but are you busy? I’m trying to answer phones and [Salesperson] is needing information for the company’s new website?

Assistant: “WHAT?! He’s still here?” *she hurries to my office* “Hi, [Salesperson]. I hate to remind you of this, but [Boss] said he would think about it. He never confirmed he wanted to sign up.”

Sales: “When I talked to him, he said it sounded like a nice idea-”

Assistant: “Yes, he said it sounded nice, but not that he was signing up. Neither [My Name] or I have authorization to sign him up, either. Either he does the signing up, or it doesn’t happen. And since he didn’t sign up for it, he clearly doesn’t want it. Thank you.”

Salesperson: *throws his cell and some books into his briefcase, being as loud as he can be while I’m on the phone with my client; I finally put my client on hold until he leaves* “I wasted all that time! She could have told me she doesn’t have authorization!”

Me: “You didn’t ask if I had authorization. You asked if I had permission. That’s two very different things.”

Salesperson: “You won’t get as good of a deal next time for that website-”

Assistant: “I’m sure we won’t. However, our answer is still no. I’d apologize for wasting your time, but what you did was underhanded and you know it. We’ll be calling to have another sales rep handle our business.”

(Worst part is that he’d come in to have our boss sign the ad renewals for the phone books, and he’d never brought the ad print outs like requested.)