Does a small shop have clout with suppliers?

Create a Post
JRB

JRB

PFG, Picture Framing God
Founding Member
Joined
Aug 12, 2000
Posts
7,107
Location
San Diego, CA
I think we do, now that we have The Grumble. We can complain about rude or inept suppliers. We can publicly explain what they have done to us etc. I think The Grumble, for the first time in our industries history, has given us real clout, we can fight back!

John
 
I got a small package from a supplier the other day with a hand written note on the outside that said, "good grumble..." (is that an oxymoron?)

Anyway, I had mentioned their name is a post a week or so before.

Betty
 
Wow Betty, does that mean if we post really good stuff about suppliers we'll begin receiving small packages? (Curiosity is killing me; what was in the package?)
 
Small shops have always had some clout. In any community with less than 50,000 someone making a stink can be sniffed out down wind by many.

Long before the Grumble, reps went to local PPFA meetings not only to keep their face out there, not only to look supportive, but to also to take any hits for the company.

If company APX misstreats a framer, lets say Sweet Little Mary, and Mary goes to the local PPFA meeting, and one of the 28 framers are there and one of them, (Careing Charleene) says "Gee Mary, you look down. What's wrong?"
APX gets a big black eye, because the rep wasn't there.

BUT, if the rep was there, they put their protective arm around her shoulders and listens real good, then says "OH. That is just WRONG! First thing tomorrow, I am going to gird my loins, don my mail and go do battle with that evil dragon!"

That means they can teh Customer Relations/Service person that answers or is a good friend, they shoot the stuff and then the rep says Oh, BTW, this happened and so make this problem go away by doing this for them.

So how is your relationship with your rep??

baer
 
What rep? Remember, those of us out in the boonies seldom ever see anyone. I do (did) have an Omega guy that used to come, but I haven't heard from him in a long time, so I don't know.

Janet, it was Southern Moulding and they had sent a floppy of their price changes. I had seen it in their newsletter (Power of the newsletter ya know!) and called to ask for it. When they sent it, the note was on the back.

"Hi, guys...!" (I feel like I'm on TV yelling "Hi Mom!")

Betty
 
I haven't posted a dog analogy for at least a couple of hours.

When you hang out at the dog park on a nice day, it's easy to imagine that every dog from miles around is there. You might even think that it's good to be a dog.

When you leave the park, you find out that most dogs never see the inside of the dog park. An awful lot of them never see beyond the end of a short chain.

I think it's easy to over-estimate the reach of The Grumble. Yes, I know for sure that lots of vendors monitor it with some regularity, but I also know of lots that are only vaguely aware of its existence. The same can be said of framers.

This becomes important when we make statements like, "How come XYZ Distributors doesn't come on here and respond to this problem? Don't they care?"

XYZ may have a policy preventing employees from posting to TG, or it's just as likely they've never looked at The Grumble.

It would be unkind of me to suggest that they never see beyond the length of a short chain.

Small framers develop clout with vendors by paying promptly, treating reps and employees with the same kind of consideration we expect from them, treating corner samples as the expensive commodities they are and other common-sense things.

None of that will earn you certain perks if you don't reach a certain volume level.
 
I am probably the smallest of the small right now. If there were a map of framers, I would probably be left off. Custom framing is just not my focus anymore, although I still do it when I can't say no to someone really nice.

I do use framing products in all aspects of my work but, still, if distributors relied on people like me to make their living, they would be in shelters.

I know that one day my purchasing needs will grow; the vendors don't know this though.

Yesterday, the head manager of one of our area's major local suppliers rang my doorbell (yes, I work at home and people don't just walk in). He had not seen me for a while and just wanted to see how I was and make sure that I knew of their current promotion. He did not realize that I had not been working this summer due to a family member being in a terrible accident. His visit meant a lot to me.

I also get visits from time to time from a rep. from another large local supplier. He comes not only to inform me of his new specials and new products but to also say hi and see how things are going for me both personally and business wise. I inquire about his family as well.

Maybe it is longevity that helps me. Relationships form over time. But I would like to think that we also care about each other as human beings...that the relationships go beyond what we gain from each other business wise.

When I am ordering, I try to remember that there is a person on the other end of the phone that has a life beyond the job. I appreciate and am loyal to the ones that reciprocate.

One day, I will need much, much more matboard. And my orders will not be placed based on price alone.

This grumble thing is addicting…I gotta go to work!!

Nancy
 
Baer, I also remember the pre Grumble days. If you had a problem with a supplier, the standard response was just about always, " You are the only person who is having this problem." This was used in machinery or equipment problems, finish problems, constantly out of stock problems, etc.

I also remember when I first started my business, having serious trouble getting reps to even come to my shop, just because it was such a sorry dinky little place.

Victor moulding so endeared themselves to me at that time that I never, ever, made a purchase from them. I know it is hard to believe, but not all shops are, or where, members of PPFA, I have never gone to a PPFA meeting in my life, even though I was a member back in 1964.

Even with Ron's disclaimer about the number of people logged onto The Grumble, it has given us the most powerful voice we have ever had. The Grumble can not only let us share the bad things, but the good things as well.

In the "good old days" a lot of framers where very isolated from their peers, especially if they where independent cusses like myself. At least now, there is a choice open to the small frame shop.

John
 
My point was that, if you go to a gathering of thousands of framers (say, the Decor Expo in Atlanta) you will find a smattering of Grumblers, some other people who are vaguely aware of it but never visited and a whole bunch of folks that never heard of it at all.

There's no denying it would be the nicest, friendliest smattering you'd encounter anywhere and that The Grumble is a force in the industry. I've had reps who never heard of me in 24 years drop by and say hello 'cause they "met" me on The Grumble.

(Another good reason to use a real name and location here, BTW.)
 
The Grumble, as Ron says, is a small drop in a big pond in an even bigger pond, but it is a microcosm of the industry, no matter how micro and it has some really good people who post here. It has some problems and veers off in the netherlands way more than maybe it should, but some good stuff gets talked about on here and because of the format, it’s easy to read or skip what you don’t want to read. I know a few people who discount it and think it’s a waste of time because of all the veering but I learn from it and sometimes I can help someone else. It’s power was illustrated to me when through TG and HH we reached almost 500 framers and raised $14,000 in a short period of time for something that was important.

Nona Powers, CPF
www.nonapowers.com
www.artfacts.org
 
What I like about the G so much is it is allowed to veer off, it gives it personality. I'm not talking about veering off on all subjects because that would be rude. But, sometimes conversations start and you feel like you know each other. At least that is what appeals to me.

See, I veered off. To answer JRB's question I know for sure with my numbers I have no clout whatsoever as I sit here in my tiny shop. But, I said it somewhere else yesterday that I think the G is a force to be reckoned with and the vendors see us as a pain in the behind. Unless we are singing their praises. So, even though the amount of framers using the G are relatively small I am willing to bet all the major vendors monitor us, which gives the G a certain amount of power.
 
Come on Nona, you can say it, you where raising money for FACTS. I am not a huge fan of FACTS, but a whole lot of Grumblers are big FACTS fans. Advertising FACTS just a little now and then can only help the FACTS cause. Even if by bringing up FACTS raises the possibility that a thread can be Frankenthreaded by FACTS. That is another of the wonderful things about The Grumble, you never know when you are getting the FACTS.


John
 
Create a Post
Back
Top