As part of its promotional efforts, an educational supply company offered pens and other merchandise to teachers in private schools$$their primary target market. However, teachers in most private schools were hesitant to accept the promotional material, as their organizational policy was against accepting gifts from suppliers. As a result, the company's promotional efforts failed. What lesson did these marketers learn?

Question $23$ options:

The needs of the customer company and the needs of its employees are complementary to each other.

The company should secretly deliver pens to its customers' homes.

The buying centers in private schools are ineffective.

Their marketing efforts must avoid conflicts of interest between the customer company and its employees who influence the purchase.

Their promotional samples should have been sent to the schools themselves, not the teachers.