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What Would You Do?
By: Sonya Castex, PPAI
Issue: 2003sep
A Printing Partner
A distributor writes: “The owner of the distributorship for which I sell is also a partner in a screenprinting operation. Although we are supposed to have independence in making decisions as to which screenprinter we use, there is a great deal of pressure on us to use the owner’s company. Normally, I wouldn’t have a problem with this—except that the general manager/owner/other partner of the screenprinting operation provides terrible customer service. He never accepts responsibility for the errors or omissions his company makes. I find this situation very disturbing. What can I do to get this man to stand by his work?”
Peter M. Scherr
Marketing Consultant
Superior Kanata Group—Adventures In Advertising
“If the second owner is taking issue with the fact that you want to take work to an outside screener, perhaps he should be asking you why this is occurring. I would clearly tell him that customer service must be addressed on by improving the in-house quality control, order status and ability to meet the final deadline.
“Your income relies on the ability to build the relationship not only with clients but also (and most importantly) on the ability to meet their needs. I would tell the screener/owner that he has to treat your business with the same high standards you have for your clients. Once he can do that, indicate you will be more than happy to schedule the business with the in-house shop.”
Jeff Lechtanski
Marketing Communications Manager
Concept Corner
“Is your boss aware of the screenprinting shop’s poor customer service? I doubt he would appreciate making money in one endeavor at the expense of another. Mistakes and poor customer service at the screenprinting shop drag you down and can create a misconception in your customers’ minds that you are the problem, leading them to move on to another distributor. When you add up your time spent on smoothing out an error, the potential damage to your distributorship’s reputation—along with the costs of reorders, refunds or discounts—the potential for lost dollars is strong.
“Show your boss the money. Prepare a summary of projects mishandled by the screenprinting shop that led to you being forced to give discounts, expedite shipping or redo an order. More than likely, the expense of your rectifying a situation with a customer was far greater than the profit gained by using the screenprinting shop.
This should get your boss to put a little heat on the general manager of the screenprinting shop to improve performance and customer service.
“Ultimately, the path chosen by your boss will determine his priorities. If your boss’ only concern is making money, whichever endeavor produces it, then you need to determine your own priorities. Do you want to support your boss’ wallet at your own expense and potentially cause harm to your reputation and relationship with your customers? Or do you want to move on to another employer (perhaps, yourself)?”
Kevin Flynn, CAS
Vice President
TBK Promotions, Inc.
“This is a very touchy situation for all of us without the added pressure of having a ‘preferred’ printer whom we should use. Since we are in the printed material business and, on the whole, don’t sell blank merchandise, one of the things distributor salespeople do is select the right vendor for the right job. If we do not, why do clients need us? If we are to prove our worth to our clients, we should make the decision that we are not going to use supplier A just because it is ‘preferred’—or even if the owner is a friend or business partner—if supplier B is clearly more qualified. We all have (I hope) good supplier relationships. Sometimes, we need to make business decisions based on the performance, quality, price and, in many cases, especially service. It’s what we do—and why we are worth the profit we make.”
Donald Lehnhoff
A&M Group, Inc.
“This is a no-brainer. Ask yourself this question: ‘Do I want to spend my time making sales or training the untrainable?’ Put your supposed independence to task and follow this simple two-step plan. First, document your poor experience with the affiliated screenprinter, tuck the file away for future reference and get back to work. And second, find yourself a screenprinter who serves your needs and works according to the standards you value.
“At some point, you will undoubtedly be approached regarding your choice of screenprinters. Tell the truth and pull out your file for support. If you sense a renewed commitment from the affiliated company to meet your standards, you may want to give it another try in the interest of peace, harmony and mutual concerns. If you find that nothing has changed, however, repeat steps one and two above and get back to work!”
Donna Call
National Sales Manager
T.Z. Case
“I have found through experience that most companies would like to do everything in house to increase profits. But if the quality of the imprint is not good or there is a mistake that is the imprinter’s fault, the company must take the responsibility and make it right. I would talk to the owners and tell them you would use the in-house silkscreener if they would improve the customer service and take responsibility for errors. But I would treat them as any other imprinter, too. If you constantly have problems with the service and mistakes, I say look for a new one.”
Question of the Month:
A supplier writes, “We are a large volume supplier, and the majority of our product is imported from overseas. One month, one of our distributors called to check the inventory on one of our products she intended to sell. Alas, we did not receive the order for the product until late the following month, and we were out of stock on the item. The distributor was furious and demanded we pay the air freight to complete and ship the order from our overseas factory. We explained that a phone call almost two months earlier was no guarantee we would have the same amount of inventory on that item at the time she submitted the order. She claimed we should have ‘held’ the order in anticipation of the purchase order. Now she refuses to do business with us. What should we do?”
Let’s Hear From You!
Do you have a solution or experienced advice that will help this peer with the above dilemma? Perhaps you have a question or situation you’d like presented to your counterparts. No matter what your contribution, your involvement is critical to fostering better relationships and sharing knowledge among suppliers, distributors and others in the industry. Please take a moment right now to submit your response to Sonya Castex, PPB’s associate editor, by fax at 972-258-3012 or e-mail SonyaC@ppa.org. Be sure to include your name, title and company name. The deadline is September 21. Thank you!
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