When an IBM sales representative made a sale, he or she would immediately call IBM Credit to obtain a financing quote. The call was received by a credit officer who would record the information on a request form. The form would then be sent to the credit department to check the customer’s credit status. This information would be recorded on the form, which was then sent to the business practices department, which would write a contract (sometimes reflecting changes requested by the customer). The form and the contract would then go to the pricing department, which used the credit information to
establish an interest rate and record it on the form. The form and contract was then sent to the clerical group, where an administrator would prepare a cover letter quoting the interest rate and send the letter and contract via Federal Express to the customer