When a Hinge match ends up being your prospect

Published: Wed, 04/15/26

Updated: Fri, 04/17/26

April 15, 2026

TOGETHER WITH

Good morning Quota readers from all across the world. Sales is a tough business, so think of this newsletter as a weekly trip to the spa—where memes and stories replace mud baths and massages, and tidbits of sales facts drip down on you like a heated waterfall. This week, we’ll look at photocopier sales wars of the 60s and 70s, and then, the usual fun. Enjoy!

NUMBER OF THE WEEK

U.S. sales reps earn 22% more on average than their European counterparts.

Source: Ebsta

SALES ROUNDUP

Here’s what’s happening in the sales world this week:

Can AI kiosks replace car salespeople? One South Korean tech company is making that bet. Epikar, a digital management solutions company based in South Korea, recently unveiled a product called the Pikar Genie. The device is designed to handle product questions and guide customers through the early stages of the car-buying process, stopping short of actually closing deals and processing paperwork. The concept is already gaining some traction overseas. Major automakers including Renault, BMW, and Volvo have incorporated Epikar technology at South Korean dealerships. You can read more about it here.
A man who posed as a salesman pleaded not guilty to the death of a California woman. Noel Treviño, 30, appeared in court wearing a blue prison jumpsuit and entered his not guilty plea to charges for killing Wanda Taylor. According to the District Attorney's Office, Treviño was posing as a salesperson with a clipboard and name tag when he first went to Taylor's home in National City. The two had a brief interaction before Treviño left. About an hour later, prosecutors said Treviño returned and circled the home for more than an hour, checking through multiple locked doors. When Taylor returned home from an errand, prosecutors say Treviño attacked her from behind in the driveway. YOu can read more about it here.

FEATURE

The Copier Sales Wars of the Xerox Era

In the 1960s and 70s, selling copiers became one of the most competitive jobs in business.

Before that, copying meant carbon paper or messy mimeograph machines. Then Xerox changed everything. In 1959, Xerox introduced the 914, the first plain-paper photocopier. It was expensive—around $25,000 to buy—but Xerox structured it as a lease, with a monthly fee and a per-copy charge. That model shaped how the product was sold. Each deal carried ongoing value tied directly to usage, which made every account more important over time.

Xerox built a field sales force to match. Reps were assigned territories and expected to know every office in them—law firms, insurance agencies, manufacturers, government buildings. They walked floors, introduced themselves, asked how documents were handled, and looked for inefficiencies. The pitch often centered on time. How long it took to produce copies, how often it happened, and what that time cost. From there, the numbers were straightforward. Faster output, less manual work, more consistency.

The process took time. Deals could stretch for months. Reps worked their way through gatekeepers, built relationships with managers, and made the case to executives who controlled budgets. Follow-up was constant. Inside the company, performance was tracked closely, rankings were visible, and expectations were high (sound familiar?).

As the market grew, competition followed. IBM, Canon, and Ricoh introduced smaller and more affordable machines. Their products improved quickly, and accounts that once defaulted to Xerox started to evaluate options.

This caused sales conversations to become more detailed. Reps needed to understand competing offers, pricing structures, and service terms. Reliability, maintenance, and total cost now became part of the discussion. Service contracts carried weight because machines required ongoing upkeep, and service quality influenced whether accounts stayed or switched.

By the 1980s, copiers were a standard part of office infrastructure. Pricing pressure increased, and procurement teams became more involved in decisions.

The job itself remained demanding. Reps spent their days in the field, managing territories, prospecting, running demos, negotiating contracts, and maintaining relationships after the sale. There were no inbound leads or automated systems. Progress depended on coverage, persistence, and follow-through.

For many, copier sales became a training ground. The work required discipline—managing a pipeline, handling objections, and staying organized across long sales cycles. A number of future sales leaders came out of that environment.

Over time, competitors reduced Xerox’s early dominance and turned the category into a sustained contest across companies and regions. Through it all, the core of the role stayed the same: understanding how people worked, identifying friction, and persuading them to adopt a different way of doing it.

TOGETHER WITH I HOPE THIS EMAIL FINDS YOU NEVER

I Hope This Email Finds You Never is what you get when someone finally writes about work without the corporate BS.

4 stars on Amazon and packed with the real advice you need:

• How long you can milk being "new" before someone expects you to actually work
• The art of fake apologies that preserve your honor
• Strategic camera angles for maximum Zoom intimidation
• Kitchen politics and why eating someone's yogurt is literally a crime
• Calendar management that includes adequate crying time
• Writing your resignation letter when you've been resigned since day one

From Orientation (aka The Descent) to Working Remotely (wink wink) to Coworkers (your fellow inmates), this book covers everything you need to survive the modern workplace.

Warning: This book will not make you successful. But it might keep you sane.

BUY NOW

MEME OF THE WEEK

Source: Instagram -- Sales Humor

QUIZ

What is the name of the 2000 sales movie starring Vince Vaughn and Ed Harris?

A. Closertown
B. The Prime Gig
C. One More Call
D. An Honest Day’s Work

SALES FAILS

Each week, we bring you the most cringe-worthy sales moments from across the web. To submit your sales fail story for consideration, click here. (Don't worry, you'll remain completely anonymous).

I’m an AE at a SaaS company, and, like most single people, I’ve spent some time on dating apps. About a year ago, I matched with a guy on Hinge. We messaged briefly, but I wasn’t that interested and let it fade. I didn’t ghost him or anything. I just didn’t respond to his last message. It wasn’t really a big deal.

A couple of months later, I was prepping for a discovery call and pulled up the prospect on LinkedIn. It was the same first name and the same face as the guy I matched with.

I debated saying something at the start of the call, but decided to keep it professional and ignore it instead. He joined, looked at me for a second, smiled and said, “Hey—I think we matched before.” He wasn’t weird about it at all. If anything, he was more composed than I was.

The call itself was solid. It probably should’ve moved forward, but I felt off the whole time. I kept thinking about how I came across before, whether he remembered the conversation, whether it was affecting how he saw me now, etc. After I sent the follow up, I never heard back. Hard not to wonder if he was getting “revenge.”

Anonymous

GRAPH OF THE WEEK

Source: LinkedIn Poll -- April 2026

WORTH A PEEK

What’s the most rounds of interviews you’ve gone through for a sales role? Back in the day, they were usually limited to 3, but these days, the numbers can be astronomical. A recent Reddit post asked the audience about their experiences. Check out the conversation here.

ASK THE QUOTA

Want to submit a question and be featured in our advice column? Click here. (Don't worry, you'll remain completely anonymous).

Dear Quota Team,

I’m 34 and have been in outside sales for about nine years, mostly in the same industry. Last year, our company got acquired by private equity. Since then, everything has changed.

All the targets went up along with our pricing. Discounts are basically gone at this point, and we’re getting pushed to log literally every activity, justify every deal, and explain anything that doesn’t close like 10 different ways. At this point, it feels like someone is always looking over your shoulder.

I’m still hitting my number, but barely, and it takes more out of me than it ever did before. I’ve thought about leaving, but the job market doesn’t feel great right now, or at least the way it looks from the outside. I also don’t want to walk away from a stable income and end up stuck somewhere worse. What do you think I should do?

Tired in Location Withheld

----

Dear Tired,

Start (quietly) looking for another role. Talk to people in your industry, see whether other companies are hiring, and get a real sense of what your options look like. That should give you a clearer baseline than just guessing from the outside.

If you find something better, you can move with confidence. If not, at least you’re choosing to stay with your eyes open. Good luck!

Quiz Answer: B. The Prime Gig is the name of the 2000 sale movie starring Vince Vaughn and Ed Harris (you can read the source article here)

How did you like today's story?

Today's email was written by Ken Kupchik and Steve Rado.

Was this email forwarded to you? Sign up here.

Advertise with us

Books

QUOTA MEDIA LLC

651 N. Broad Street., Suite 206
Middletown DELAWARE (DE) 19709
USA

Unsubscribe | Change Subscriber Options