June, 2008

Survival of the Fittest

When you find a great vendor, hang onto that relationship.

By Bob Heidenreich

Last issue, I talked a little bit about some of the things that vendors do that can make it hard for us to sell their products.

This issue, I’d like to talk about what vendors can really do right that will help us, as lumber and building material dealers, move a lot of product and increase sales.

One of the best vendors we’ve worked with is absolutely there for us in all the right ways. They give us all of the product we need to build really attractive displays, and that in turn boosts sales. That obviously works to their credit, but some vendors don’t do that. And this vendor is very willing to give us the amount and type of product we need for home shows, when we’re out there actually talking to potential customers and showing them what we can offer them.

Another thing that our best vendors do is that any vendor credits we have with them are turned around in a week. That’s our money tied up with those credits, and yet, some vendors want to delay and delay turning around credits, even when they know that they’re going to have to do so eventually. It’s a big difference in philosophy.

We had one terrific vendor that brought a new product in to us, and they offered us a deal: They said that at the end of the year, they’d take back any piece of that new material that we didn’t sell. They were really trying to find ways to work with us.

When we find a vendor that’s really committed to us, other vendors that we’ve found more difficult to work with in the past tend to sort of fall by the side of the road.

We re-evaluate our vendors constantly, daily, in fact. We jokingly refer to this process as vendors “getting kicked off the island.” It’s not good to get kicked off the island, but they may be able to still come back if they keep swimming by shore. Getting kicked off the island gives them a chance to come back and change their ways in the future. There’s nothing wrong with being a second-place vendor, but you probably don’t want to fall any farther down than that.

A good vendor relationship is also about more than just product. We might buy the same kind of product from several vendors, and the best vendor relationship among those different groups may not just be the one where we get the very best price; instead, it’s about service, the relationship, the product, and a host of other things.

We have a few vendors that are our favorites, and they’re good about letting us know if the market’s coming up or down, or if there’s going to be an issue about getting some material, say 20-ft. cedar decking. They’ll let us know about supply issues so if we need to buy some of that now to carry us for the next two months, we can do that.

I think avoiding vendors who make it harder to do your job is important, but I also think that finding and nurturing vendors who really take an interest—and have a stake in—helping you sell product can be even more important.

BOB HEIDENREICH is the owner of the 30- employee Deck and Door Co., in Apple Valley, Minn. He has been selling decking and home improvement projects for 26 years.