Making Deals With the Devil

It's funny how business deals are made and broken these days. For some time now, one of our clients has been threatening to discontinue using our services. They're a fairly big client, so it should have made us shit our pants, except that we have been quite disappointed in the way this particular company deals in business. I swear, sometimes I think they will sink in a glass of water. We have been ready for this for a while, so really, I won't be too sad to see them go. If anything, it will give us more time to focus on our current clients and to invest in growing our company (I finally get an assistant-- woohoo!!!) as we had been planning to do for the last year.

The issue at hand is money... of course. We have specialized services that they need, but are reluctatn to pay for. We have been proven tried and true time and again, so it's not like they're going into business with us blindfolded. It is evident now that they are trying to get their own staff to become versed in the services that we have been providing through them to third parties. An absolutely great plan for them to put in place, as it would dissolve their need to hire outside consultants to save their asses every time something goes haywire, but something that takes time, patience, skill and lots, and lots, and lots of experience... and, for the sake of this forum, let's say that I don't think they have the resources to achieve this succesfully. I wouldn't be upset at the situation at all if it was being handled professionally and with integrity, after all they are obviously looking to better their bottom line, so I don't blame them for wanting to scale back. However, there are ways of doing things... and then there are *WAYS* of doing things, and today someone over at their office obviously had a brain fart and decided to do things this way:

Hey Ares:

I have a new opportunity for you... Can you provide me with your proposal template, you can leave the pricing blank? I just need the detailed specifics...You can leave your company info off so I can just plug (his company) logo.

What the fuck??!!! Do we have SUCKER tatooed on our foreheads. So let me get this straight: you are selling a product you're not fully versed in to a third party, looking for the specs for said product from our proposal to try to train yourself -and your staff- in said product and leave us out of the running? Hmmmmm... isn't that like going to a bakery and asking the pastry chef for the recipe for his best selling cake, so you can make it at home? To make matters worse, they are now calling with specific questions while at the job site! Sorry, but we're not going to troubleshoot your ass and then take the legal liability. I have no words to describe just how I feel towards these people... 'slimy' I guess would be a good place to start.