Should you give a vendor a second chance?

—LYNETTE ROGERS

After many years as a contractor, I’ve had my fair share of bad experiences with vendors. And even if you have a bad experience, it can be a difficult decision to end the relationship. But doing so, I’ve discovered, can be good for both you and your vendor.

For a long time, I worked with a local siding vendor. They distributed mostly vinyl siding but also delivered James Hardie products to us, as well. For some reason, they began to have a lot of turn over in sales reps. My phone calls went unanswered or they’d get answered too late. They would deliver broken materials. It was frustrating. I spoke with the sales rep and explained my issues. Why would I want to do business with them? Still, things didn’t improve. I finally had to stop working with them. But then, something surprising happened; the vendor made some serious changes.

They sought me out, admitted their faults, and asked for another chance. They told me they implemented changes based on the needs of contractors like me. After all, each of us works to improve our own business. Here they were admitting they were wrong; why couldn’t they improve their business? I decided to give them another chance.

Big Changes

The vendor was purchased by another company, and they implemented a new system to streamline communication and delivery. They even got rid of the unresponsive sales reps and replaced them with more efficient people. They’ve streamlined their systems, making it easier to place orders, track deliveries, and get quotes quickly. Their new system helps me set up templates for my orders, which I can easily modify. I can even put a PO to it, and it will automatically send it for order, and they call me as soon as they receive it. They have better buying power and pricing and access to the products I need. I am no longer waiting for days or weeks to get my materials.

As for the issue of broken materials? It turns out the original warehouse and delivery people only worked with vinyl and didn’t know how to properly handle fiber cement products, which was why I was receiving broken materials. They are now a James Hardie dealer and have trained their teams on how to handle the material.

I value good vendor relationships. I need my vendors to be responsive, provide quality products, and have excellent communication. When one vendor fails, it affects my business and reputation, which is why I’m careful in choosing the vendors I work with. I want to work with vendors who are willing to listen, understand my needs, and make changes when necessary. It shows me that the vendor values their customers and is willing to improve their services. A second chance can also be an opportunity to establish a better relationship and build trust. We contractors need vendors who can provide quality products, reliable services, and excellent communication. A good vendor relationship is a two-way street, and it requires both parties to make an effort to maintain it. I’m glad I gave my vendor a second chance. n

For nearly 25 years, the Renfros’ family-owned company has focused on residential and commercial roofing, skylights, and gutters throughout Western Oregon. They have about 15 employees, including field and in-house staff. In March, the Renfros attended a CCN Owners’ Roundtable. Described as an open mic for CCN member owners, Roundtables are held monthly via Zoom. Members determine the topic and get real-time feedback from other business owners and CCN’s expert facilitators.

What are the benefits of Owners’ Roundtable?

We’ve been members for five years and try to go to a Roundtable each month. You get feedback and some justification of your thoughts about running a business. There are a lot of others we can talk with who are doing the same things or who are farther along, and we can get pointers from them. There’s no reason to struggle through if someone else can give you a little bit of guidance. It’s not just the two of us figuring out the details of running a construction business.

What did you talk about in the March 29 meeting?

Lead generation and how to use prior customers to increase lead flow. Right now, it seems like leads are down, especially after covid. Various owners pitched out different ideas. And your big takeaway?

A roofer from GM Roth mentioned how you can send mailers directly to neighbors in the vicinity of a job site, maybe 150 to 200 mailers, to help generate leads. The mailer says something like, We’re in your neighborhood doing a job, and we have found a lot of homes the same age have the same problems and we can come out and take a look.”

This Winter With A

The GM Roth owner suggested a company called TheBestPostcards.com. You give them the job address, and they have a mailing list and will send postcards directly. For 150 pieces it cost $97.50 for the card and the mailing.

We’ve done direct mail before to a general list. But we like that this is more targeted, and we plan to implement it for every job. Plus, the company makes it easy with a text template, and we had Charlie Gindele [CCN coach/trainer] look it over and help guide us through the process. Since we just sent out the mailers we haven’t got any responses yet, but others who’d done it said they got good results. Charlie told us that 3,000 postcards should give us 1 to 3 leads (10,000 should get you 3 to 5 leads). We pair that with our average sales ticket to get our closing ratio. So far by Mid-May, we’ve gotten a few leads, but it’s a slower process. As Charlie says, it’s all about consistency, and re-mailing to the same customer list.

In general, what do you gain from your membership in CCN?

We immerse ourselves in CCN, gather data and put to use everything we can that will help in our business and our daily practice. We always get a little knowledge out of each Roundtable.

Last year we were focused on moving our business in a different direction. Production and sales were up. We went up 72% in growth last year and that all stems from the CCN processes we’ve put in place — everything from sales training to Owners Roundtable to the marketing mastery program. It’s really about watching our numbers every day and having the production team put goals on the board. All of these have helped turn the business. n