"If you win the rat race you're still a rat." – Lily Tomlin
I love that observation. I don't love that many people engaged in the promotional marketing/specialty advertising industry tend to fit this characterization. First it is necessary to establish that, in general, our industry has three basic segments – suppliers that manufacturer and/or imprint goods, distributors that manage the movement of goods from supplier to end buyer, and sales professionals that establish customer contact and execute sales. We also understand that in many instances distributor and sales pros are one and the same.
Also making generalities, it would be realistic to state that most suppliers see distributors as their customers. But distributors don't buy promotional merchandise, they sell it; the relationship is not so simple that you can just follow the money. This is where the bad behavior starts! In reality, distributors and suppliers share a common customer with each party doing what they do best. It should be a real partnership with distributor and supplier looking out for the best interests of each other.
But what we see is an adversarial relationship with distributors taking advantage of suppliers at every opportunity. This is the result of distributors being able to choose their "partner" on each order. We ask for lower prices and other concessions like shipping discounts and faster delivery. But the worst behavior is seen when something doesn't go perfectly!
Recently a sales associate on behalf of her customer was demanding that the supplier give a 50 percent discount on some writing pads because the logo was 1/16” closer to the edge on some of the pads! We have had to deal with customers that use products (one distributed 1,500 pens) and then complained that the color match wasn’t perfect and didn't want to pay for them. We all have dozens of stories like these.
But when distributors align with their customer and try to force suppliers to take responsibility for issues that they know the supplier is not responsible for – when they behave like they just found a winning lottery ticket – they damage the long term profitable relationship with an enormous asset: their supplier. We all value our customers to be sure, but remember that without suppliers we have nothing to sell. When we need a favor we will have nobody to turn to. There are suppliers right now – today – that will not accept orders unless they are paid in advance from some distributors (some very large distributors!) because of many invented quality disputes seeking to get discounts together with payments that drag on for many weeks past terms. Eventually these distributors will have nothing to sell.
Rather than behaving badly ourselves and training our customers that it is profitable to do the same, we should have the professional business confidence to discuss issues with our customers and explain fair and equitable solutions when necessary.
Expectation of Perfection
From wood at the lumberyard to steaks at the meat counter, we are all guilty of picking through the offerings to select the perfect item. We may pick through many to find perfection. But when it comes to promotional products we have a similar expectation but without any picking or examination. We expect everything to be perfect – and that is unreasonable.
On many items distributors and their customers seem to tolerate the variations within acceptable industry standards. But several categories of promotional items seem to be held to a higher standard. Anything electronic, for example, is expected to be 100 percent perfect 100 percent of the time. Anyone who has ever seen the service line at the Apple Store or Best Buy should realize that is not possible. So if you have three phone chargers from you order of 500 that don't work or get too warm – don't expect your supplier to give you an 80 percent discount or to replace the whole order! You didn't just win the lottery. When your supplier's acknowledgment says they will deliver on Friday and your customer gets them on Monday and doesn't need them until Wednesday – don't beat up your supplier for a discount!
The vast majority of suppliers do an amazing job meeting the needs of distributors and their customers. They stand behind what they do and will make things right when they have problems. Even when the problem was caused by the customer, salesperson or distributor, many suppliers will do whatever they can do to make fixing things less painful. But if you operate every day trying to make your profit on the buy rather than on the sell, if you take undue advantage of suppliers at every opportunity, if you pay your suppliers beyond terms, then you will see your options for quality suppliers start to decline and eventually your business will suffer.
I’ve been on the distributor side of the business for more than 30 years and nearly a decade on the supplier side before that, so I know that not all suppliers are saints! But today's column is about what we distributors have control over, about our reactions and behavior on a daily basis and about how we can best build a prosperous business. Waiting for a supplier to slip up or give up their reasonable profit is not a sound business model. When your reputation is one of fair and honest dealings with your supplier partners you will get special pricing and consideration without asking for it. You will have suppliers pulling out all the stops to help you look like a miracle worker to your customer and you will see greater profits with less effort. Move up to a more professional level and stop racing around with the rats!
Gregg Emmer is chief marketing officer and vice president at Kaeser & Blair, Inc. He has more than 40 years experience in marketing and the promotional specialty advertising industry. His outside consultancy, providing marketing, public relations and business planning consulting to a wide range of other businesses, has been a useful knowledge base for K&B Dealers. Contact Gregg at gemmer@kaeser-blair.com.