Major vendor contacted our customer...

[Bigdawg]

This story is not so much about the screwup.. although that plays into it... this is more about the response...

I answer the phone last week and it was one of our customers that we had done some routed acrylic for. We don't do routing inhouse, so it was done by a Major Vendor... most of you have probably done business with them at some point.

The customer says "Hi... I have Ralph in our shop and he says he's with Major Vendor and they made the sign you sold us and he needs to get a picture of it. I don't mind, but I wanted to make sure it was okay with you. And I thought you guys made the sign."

If I could have crawled through the phone and killed Ralph I probably would have at that very minute...

So I calmly say to the customer "Well yes, we did have that routing done elsewhere. If you want to let Ralph take the pictures, that's fine... but tell him he needs to clear that with me directly." Customer says okay and we hang up.

I pick up the phone and call Major Vendor. WTF??????? Why is one of your people at MY CUSTOMER'S SHOP telling them you produced that sign. Poor lil gal on the phone didn't know how to answer. Yes - they take pictures but only with permission ahead of time... and usually someone from the shop that produced the sign accompanies them to the sign location.

I thought I was mad. Then I told my boss what had happened (he walked in in the middle of my call to Major Vendor)... Major Vendor put me on the phone with someone else who could not explain why it was okay for someone to be contacting MY CUSTOMER!!!

So she said they'd get to the bottom of it. I think to myself "Yeah right... not sure what explanation she can give me that will make me NOT drop them as a vendor.

The next day I get a call from someone with Major Vendor. He apologizes deeply - and I can tell he means it. Explains why it happened (no excuses - just facts) and again reiterates how embarrassed he is that this happened. He apologizes to me and asks to speak to my boss so he can talk to him too. Boss isn't in... so the gentleman on the phone says - let me give you my cell phone number. I'm in between flights, so if I don't answer I will call your boss right back.

It's only then that I realize this is the president of Major Vendor. And he truly is upset that this happened... to the point he tried several time (they did finally talk) to contact my boss (they kept playing phone tag). My boss - who is not an easy-going guy when it comes to contacting our customers - accepted the heartfelt apology and we will continue to do business with Major Vendor.

But we wouldn't have if there hadn't been a personal outreach from president of the company, a reasonable explanation of what happened and why, and an offer to do whatever they could to make it right with our customer - luckily we have no issues with the customer.

IMHO this company did everything right when a mistake happened - and we ALL have mistakes. For our shop - it's always been about how you handle it afterwards. Hat's off to Major Vendor for stepping up and trying to make things right.

 

[d fleming]

I'd still be looking to polish my boots with Ralph's but.

 

[Pat Whatley]

I wouldn't trust them. That's not normal behavior, it's borderline crazy. You can't trust crazy.

 

[Gino]

Ralph must be a loony to pull a stunt like that. Yeah, that's crazy like a fox.

I'm not sure if Major Vendor's president knew about this or not, but I think I would take this up with some others and ask how many times this has happened. Besides being embarrassing for you with your customer...... this could've caused some future harm for you. Why didn't they just take a picture in their shop before they went out ??

Something smells very fishy here. There's no reason a wholesaler needs pictures of their finished product on a building if that's not something they do. They wholesale, so they only need examples of wholesale things.

Either this customer of yours was a prestigious customer and Major Vendor wanted recognition.... or they are trying to drum up business...... the wrong way.

 

[James Chrimes]

Something smells very fishy here. There's no reason a wholesaler needs pictures of their finished product on a building if that's not something they do. They wholesale, so they only need examples of wholesale things.

That is just what I was thinking. And why don't they take a photo before it leaves their shop?

 

[Letterbox Mike]

So who is this major vendor? I think they handled it about as well as they probably could given the circumstances. I don't know why it sounds fishy either, I fully understand wanting to get a photo of the finished product installed in it's final environment, makes sense to me. They still have a right and need to market their product, and a photo of a completed sign using their components looks better in a brochure than a photo of a pile of their components sitting on a shop table or floor.

 

[AUTO-FX]

Yes, but Staceys shop should have been the ones to provide a picture, since THEY are the major vendors customer, not the building owner !

 

[Gino]

So who is this major vendor? I think they handled it about as well as they probably could given the circumstances. I don't know why it sounds fishy either, I fully understand wanting to get a photo of the finished product installed in it's final environment, makes sense to me. They still have a right and need to market their product, and a photo of a completed sign using their components looks better in a brochure than a photo of a pile of their components sitting on a shop table or floor.

Being fair.... why would I want a finished picture of a brick house, if I was the brick maker ?? Seems I would want pictures of my different bricks, decorative, red, white and fake... so I could sell them to other people that needed bricks. Suppose I wanted to make a pillar or a retaining wall.... why do I need a picture in my resume of some 2 million dollar home ??

Let them take a picture of a house THEY built and had the customer in their facility.... not someone you don't even know.... or at least without getting permission first. Oops, maybe because they can't..... another reason not to post things that aren't theirs.

If they wholesale only, they don't need a finished picture, unless they ask you permission to do it and as AUTO said, let their customer get it for them. Don't go sneaking behind someone's back. There's more to this on her Major Vendor's plate then meets the eye. We'll probably never know, but I think Stacy should ask her boss if we PM will she make others aware of whom this is.

I respect her for not just blabbing it out on a public forum.... just in case it is on the up & up.

 

[Letterbox Mike]

Being fair.... why would I want a finished picture of a brick house, if I was the brick maker ?? Seems I would want pictures of my different bricks, decorative, red, white and fake... so I could sell them to other people that needed bricks. Suppose I wanted to make a pillar or a retaining wall.... why do I need a picture in my resume of some 2 million dollar home ??

Let them take a picture of a house THEY built and had the customer in their facility.... not someone you don't even know.... or at least without getting permission first. Oops, maybe because they can't..... another reason not to post things that aren't theirs.

If they wholesale only, they don't need a finished picture, unless they ask you permission to do it and as AUTO said, let their customer get it for them. Don't go sneaking behind someone's back. There's more to this on her Major Vendor's plate then meets the eye. We'll probably never know, but I think Stacy should ask her boss if we PM will she make others aware of whom this is.

I respect her for not just blabbing it out on a public forum.... just in case it is on the up & up.

Yes and no. Take Gemeni for example, or Direct Sign Wholesale. They're in business to sell their product, be it laser-cut acrylic letters or lighted channel letters. They both have excellent and well thought-out catalogs. IMO those catalogs are heavily aided not only by photos of raw products or semi-finished products, but also by photos of those products finished and installed in their final location. Just because they didn't install the completed sign doesn't mean there's not significant marketing value for them in the finished sign, nor does it mean they don't have the right to use a photo of it under the right circumstances and if that photo is obtained through proper channels.

That said, they have a responsibility to their clients to obtain their permission before using one of those photos, and to list them as the sign company that is responsible for that job. Certainly taking it upon yourself to approach the end customer in any way shape or form is not acceptable in any circumstance. We're 90% wholesale and never in a million years would we approach one of our client's clients like this. But salespeople are a funny breed, and it's not impossible to think that one could take it upon themselves to do this for whatever reason. I can see it happening, it's not right but it's also not entirely preventable. It's good that the president of the company recognized Ralph's error as a serious infringement on client-vendor trust and was legitimately apologetic, that's about the only course of action he could possibly take, the damage is done at that point, it can't be reversed, just atoned for.

 

[d fleming]

If you haven't figured out who it is by now you don't need to know. I bet a fish sammich we all know who it is without asking.

 

[Pat Whatley]

Being fair.... why would I want a finished picture of a brick house, if I was the brick maker ?? Seems I would want pictures of my different bricks, decorative, red, white and fake... so I could sell them to other people that needed bricks.

Gino, ummm.....I just checked our local brick makers site and it's covered in pictures of finished houses. The pool liner site I was just on sure as heck had 50 pictures of completed pools.

Most of my supplier catalogs for subcontracted work have pictures of finished products in use. I know I show customers sample displays straight out of the supplier catalog all the time that are obviously end product shots taken by somebody.

Pictures of finished products make visualizing the product they're trying to sell a whole lot easier. They also make it a lot easier for me to show my customer what the finished product looks like and helps me sell the manufacturers problem.

YES, they should have asked first, they know it, and they've apparently dealt with it well enough that Stacey wanted us to hear about it. My question would be is there ANYBODY who doesn't have an idea of who she's talking about? :Big Laugh

 

[Malkin]

If you haven't figured out who it is by now you don't need to know. I bet a fish sammich we all know who it is without asking.

Glad to hear that they handled the error in the best possible way, we all know mistakes can happen.

 

[Gino]

Yes and no. Take Gemeni for example, or Direct Sign Wholesale. They're in business to sell their product, be it laser-cut acrylic letters or lighted channel letters. They both have excellent and well thought-out catalogs. IMO those catalogs are heavily aided not only by photos of raw products or semi-finished products, but also by photos of those products finished and installed in their final location. Just because they didn't install the completed sign doesn't mean there's not significant marketing value for them in the finished sign, nor does it mean they don't have the right to use a photo of it under the right circumstances and if that photo is obtained through proper channels.

That said, they have a responsibility to their clients to obtain their permission before using one of those photos, and to list them as the sign company that is responsible for that job. Certainly taking it upon yourself to approach the end customer in any way shape or form is not acceptable in any circumstance. We're 90% wholesale and never in a million years would we approach one of our client's clients like this. But salespeople are a funny breed, and it's not impossible to think that one could take it upon themselves to do this for whatever reason. I can see it happening, it's not right but it's also not entirely preventable. It's good that the president of the company recognized Ralph's error as a serious infringement on client-vendor trust and was legitimately apologetic, that's about the only course of action he could possibly take, the damage is done at that point, it can't be reversed, just atoned for .

That's my point. They manner in which they went about it is entirely all wrong and very suspect.

Sure, someone selling wrap media.... it's nice to show a wrapped vehicle.... even if they don't own a printer, software, didn't do the printing, laminating, applying or any of the other steps to get to the end product, but I don't think it would be right to take photos by showing up on a strangers doorstep and tooting your own horn. Ba-a-a-a-ad practice.

No, following proper procedure would eliminate all of this, but for so many people in one company not knowing proper etiquette for this is just mind-boggling. Being the president and not knowing what's going on in his business is no excuse, unless Ralph was looking for a new job today. Being a different breed gives no one the right or authority to overstep business boundaries.... not for a second.

I just had a customer ask me this same question very recently about using something we're doing for them. I told them of course not.

 

[Letterbox Mike]

That's my point. They manner in which they went about it is entirely all wrong and very suspect.

Sure, someone selling wrap media.... it's nice to show a wrapped vehicle.... even if they don't own a printer, software, didn't do the printing, laminating, applying or any of the other steps to get to the end product, but I don't think it would be right to take photos by showing up on a strangers doorstep and tooting your own horn. Ba-a-a-a-ad practice.

No, following proper procedure would eliminate all of this, but for so many people in one company not knowing proper etiquette for this is just mid-boggling. Being the president and not knowing what's going on in his business is no excuse, unless Ralph was looking for a new job today. Being a different breed gives no one the right or authority to overstep business boundaries.... not for a second.

I just had a customer ask me this same question very recently about using something we're doing for them. I told them of course not.

Agreed, the way you wrote that made it sounds like you didn't think they had any right or any valuable need under any circumstance to use photos of the finished product, which I disagree with.

Also agree about Ralphie, he should have known better. But, having employees is like having children, you do you absolute best to keep an eye on them and know what they're doing every second of the day, but you cannot always be there and you cannot predict when they'll go off the reservation, and it doesn't matter how many safeguards or rules or procedures you put in place, it can and will still happen. That's why they're employees and you're the boss. All you can do is roll with it and make amends as best you can.

 

[HulkSmash]

talk about finding a new vendor.

The people who do my channel letters and specialty routing, i take pics for them and send it to them to prevent crap liek that from happening.

 

[Billct2]

Sounds like "Ralph" is the issue here.
Does he still have a job?

 

[Gino]

Actually, when I first wrote it, I was indicating their not having a need or right for it.

My point was anyone selling strictly wholesale, has no right to go behind someone's back to get finished jobs. I cut to the chase as to how the story unfolded from the OP's opening post. I didn't add any baggage of what if's or maybe's until it became the only way others would understand better.

Of course a picture is worth a thousand words, but they should be your pictures and obtained correctly.

So as like with Pat's examples.... I too know the importance of having these tools at your disposal, but I'm sure the companies you looked up, Pat, didn't have an employee going around taking pictures without the client's approval first, let alone the owner or president of the company.... unless Ralph is new and wants to have his butt inflamed.




:Oops: I honestly don't know who it is.

 

[CanuckSigns]

The proper way to goabout this would be for Major Vendor to contact Stacy's boss and ask them if they would mind submitting a photo of the finished job for their website/catalog etc.. We sub out a few things, but as far as our customers know, we produce it in house, if there is an issue, we handle it as such. If one of our vendors did this to us they would be dropped so fast their heads would spin.

But kudos for the President of the Major Vendor for owning up to it, luckily Stacy's customer is understanding, other's may not be.

 

[Bigdawg]

I'm pretty sure y'all do know who it is if you think hard enough. But I meant it when I said they would continue to be a vendor. In my opinion it was something that does NOT happen much for them and the photographer thought he could skirt the rules.

This company has been a damn good vendor for 2 years. They have gone above and beyond for us more than once. We are not a BIG customer by any means. But we do our fair share. My post was to say they screwed up. I don't think it was a common occurrence (my opinion) and I wanted to say they did their best to make it right. They really did. The first ladies I talked to on the phone were literally flabbergasted when I told them what happened. There was no canned response - I really felt like they had never had to deal with this before.

In my (and my bosses) opinion they did absolutely everything they could to make it right. And our problem didn't stop with a supervisor when we called. It went to the top and was addressed immediately. That deserves kudos.

I haven't seen anyone else popping up and saying it has happened to them - so that (I hope) reinforces my belief that this isn't their usual way of doing business... because I think part of my reason for posting was a desire to know if we were the only ones.

 

[Bigdawg]

Sounds like "Ralph" is the issue here.
Does he still have a job?

I very much doubt it.

 

[phototec]

I was told a long time ago, that everybody makes mistakes, amateurs and professionals alike, the difference between them is the professional knows how to fix the mistake in a way you can't tell the mistake was ever made, and the amateur doesn't.

In reading the original post, it's clear the Major Vendor is a professional, and has made every effort to make the mistake better by handling it in a professional manner.