November 15th, 2010
Pens & Stuff
…is probably the most common question I am asked by someone trying to compare my prices with a competitor.
The problem is, that it is also the most common question a competitor is asked which causes a huge vicious circle.
To explain…
Paper is notoriously expensive at the moment, mainly due to the fact that companies have been loss leading on paper products for years – with retailers always trying to source cheaper & cheaper – which has now caused my industry an almighty headache because it’s come back to bite them with huge increases because it was not sustainable!
Paper has always been sold below cost by our competition as a ‘grabber’ or an ‘in’ to a new client who is then fooled into thinking that every other product will be equally as low. Superb marketing but a terrible Purchasing decision.
For example…
- Joe Bloggs uses 100 reams of paper a year at £2.00 ream.
- John Doe Office Supplies (I hope this isn’t a real company!
) offers it at £1.50 ream.
- Therefore saving £50.00 per year.
- Result! Um….no…..because Joe Bloggs then buys 2 packs of laminating pouches at the catalogue price of £40.00 per pack.
- John Doe Office Supplies buy this at £10.00 therefore making £30.00 profit per pack.
- That’s Joe Blogg’s annual paper saving gone (and then some!) and they are left to pay full prices on all other products for the rest of the year, meaning they are massively overspending – but thinking they have a great deal!
The moral of my little tale is this – always think ‘bigger picture’ or the ‘shopping trolley’ mentality. By all means review what you pay but consider these points;
- Check your invoices to ensure what you think you pay is what you actually pay!
- Get a quote for all regularly used items
- Find out what discounts you get ‘off list’
- Get to know your supplier – increase communication & grow a working relationship
- Be fair – accept that not every single item necessarily will be the lowest price
- Never jeopardise quality, service or standards for price – it’s just not worth it
- Any savings made by calling 3 suppliers every time is wasted in time, cost & credibility
September 22nd, 2010
Pens & Stuff
The stationery and office supplies industry is chock full of large corporate companies all offering massive discounts and product catalogues that rival the yellow pages in terms of size and weight. In fact if you ever happen to be standing in front of your letterbox when the obligatory “Viking Direct” catalogue drops through it, you are likely to end up with a broken foot!
It’s easy, with the impressive corporate marketing machine and ever present “Special Offers” to get sucked in and never consider that the independent stationery retailers can match or even beat the deals that the larger corporates can offer. Well the good news is, we can. In this post I will aim to show you how independents can deliver the power of a corporate retailer yet still offer a personal service that you would expect from a local independent.
The Question Of Cost
Lets start by getting the question of cost and pricing out of the way. Bombarded with emails, flyer’s and brochures lately? All offering the absolutely best ever price on a ream of paper? I think pretty much every business have received these messages. They make it all look so easy, just pop along to their website, place the order and within a couple of days the “Unbelievably” priced paper gets delivered. You may think at the time that there is no way that an independent can get anywhere close to matching these deals, in fact you probably never even considered using an independent. The reality is, independents can often match if not better the promo prices that are often offered to business owners by the corporates. Many corporates often employ sliding scale methods that start of very cheap and then get progressively more expensive as time passes, not that you would notice as they are very subtle about it!
Many independents have access to the same range of suppliers as the corporates and can offer the same discounts/deals. The trick here is to simply ring your supplier up and ask for the best deal on that given product. I think you will be surprised at the savings you can make over the corporates
The Question Of Service
On a weekly basis I hear so many horror stories about the poor service delivered by the major suppliers. Call centre hell, incorrect deliveries and broken or damaged products to name but a few. Now I am not suggesting for one minute that the independent retailers are exempt from these problems, we are not, it happens. It’s more a question of how quickly these situations get resolved. In my case, my customers have direct contact with me through either Twitter (follow me!), email and phone. They get straight to me without having to wade through the endless phone options and then talking to someone who doesn’t really know anything about you. I make a point of getting to know my customers and their business. If we make a mistake I fix it, quickly and without fuss. This is where the personality of an independent really comes into play.
I have just realised that I was hoping to do this post in one hit, however I have rattled on for far to long. So stay tuned for part two of this post where I shall go through; well you have to check back to find out!
