In the world of sales, there are often no right answers. What would you do in this tough sales situation? Make the call below, and see instantly how your judgment compares. Final results will appear in LBM Journal. Be sure to check back next month for a fresh Tough Call.

Tough Call - A Bothersome Busy Bee

For more than 50 years, your company, Fair Shake Lumber, has been servicing builders and contractors from its same location. For the past few years, a small contractor who operates as Busy Bee Building has been buying most of his materials from you for the two or three homes he builds a year.

Problem is, Mr. Busy Bee isn’t only a contractor—he’s got several other business opportunities that he pursues on the side, including a small cabinet shop, and a few other part-time jobs, including teaching.

Your relationship with Busy Bee has always been good, and you appreciate his honesty and drive.

The problem is, lately Busy Bee has found another venture that he’s flitting around, and this one may put him into direct competition with you.

Busy Bee recently decided to open a door shop in your area, and he’s mentioned to you several times that he’d like to take on your door business. You’re uncertain about this for a few reasons: He doesn’t have a very large shop area, and he has little inventory, although he assures you that once the business is up and thriving, he’ll substantially increase his inventory.

You’ve been honest with Busy from the beginning about your reluctance to have him compete with you on your turf, but he’s said he has no intention of undercutting your business. You also already have another trusted door vendor, Open and Shut Inc., from whom you’ve always received great service and prices, so you don’t see any need to change vendors at this time. Added to that, Open and Shut has been in business almost as long as Fair Shake has, and you have to admit that you also have some doubts about how long Busy Bee will be around. You wonder if his attention will have wandered to something else by the time it comes to service possible callbacks and other customer issues.

Now, however, Busy Bee has forced the situation by stinging you where it hurts.

While you’ve been mulling over what to do about Busy Bee, one of your loyal regular contractors asked you for a hurry-up bid for some doors, which you supplied. (To be honest, you knew your contractor hadn’t been ready for the doors yet, so you’d been a little slow on getting the numbers to him.)

Much to your surprise, the reason your contractor needed your bid right now is that Busy Bee had already approached him with a competing bid. You also found out that, despite Busy Bee’s promises not to undercut you, he had bid very competitively on the job. Although you won the contract, your prices beat Busy Bee’s by only a couple percent—which wound up being less than $100.

With Busy Bee now starting to buzz aggressively over what you’ve long considered your turf, you’re afraid that your already thin margins will be stung even harder.

What would you do?

 

	Swat him:
	Busy Bee has just hatched this new business, but you’ve been the head-of-the-hive in this town for a long time. Compete with him head-to-head, reminding potential customers that staying power and the ability to service after the sale means more than
	Shoo him:
	Tell Busy Bee directly but kindly that if he intends to compete with you, you’ll be forced to take off the gloves. Tell him you’re also happy with your current door supplier, and that the new competition means the two of you will have to price
	Buzz off:
	Busy Bee is a minor annoyance, not a threat. Ignore him and he’ll eventually flit away to something else.
	Make Honey:
	Busy Bee has been a good customer of yours as a contractor over the years. Give him a chance, and invite him to pursue one or two of your jobs. If he does a good job, and if he does increase his inventory and his base, tell him there will be more honey to

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