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Do you deal with Liars?
Here’s the Scenario.
Customer requests a quote on a 1000 items and ends up wanting a 100.
We apply our std policy , 1000 costs X per item , 100 costs 2x per item , so we charge you out and you pay the 2x price for the 100 and when you order the balance we credit you with the difference between the 100 and 1000 price.Customer moans , but complys , all good and well.
Customer moans bitterly , promises that he will be ordering the 900 shortly and walks out in "disgust" muttering about the huge order he was going to give us when we persist.
In my book , the last guy has not chanced his arm for a discount or tried to weasel a better price , I think its more serious than "normal business practice" , he started off the whole transaction lying to me and that’s a real bad sign for anything to come.
I never lose a wink over those type deals or am even tempted to budge from our policy.But now heres a dilemma , what if a customer gets a quote on a large vol order , accepts it , pays for it up front and you now find the order fragmented , like ordering a 1000 customised badges (or whatever) and paying for em and then ordering 20/50/70 at a time. Customer conveniently "forgot" to tell you this was the case. Now your economies of scale are screwed but you have the money in the bank?? How do you treat that one?
As an aside , when we do get an enquiry for a large volume order which we feel is serious , we often take it on ourselves to produce a sample for the customer and send it with a quote , or at least send a sample of something similar we have done , the success rate of getting the order increases hugely , and even if you dont , you are not forgotten for future enquries.
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7 Replies
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Rodney,
After the guy pays you and then places his order, even if he knocks the quantity down, can you not just tell him that you have to produce it in the quoted quantity anyway? I would just print the lot and even if he only takes them 100 at a time, you may well be left with a load of them in your workshop, but you completed the order and had the money, he might aswell take them all if you made them all.
If he is a bit of a chancer, i would imagine you might want that cheque to clear before commencing?!
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We would normally do that ,do em all and hold em in stock , problem is when they all not the same , IE have to be produced on demand and we werent told that. Its like someone orders 1000 post box nos , all different , and instead of getting em all , you get like 100 numbers a month , but they all been paid for – arrrgh!!
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Rodney can’t you tell him the quote was for all the labels/badges to be of the same colour size and design ? if he rucks about it offer a refund less appropriate costs for design and art work
Lynn
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Call his bluff – refund his money, and quote again for each job as it arises!
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quote Rodney Gold:But now heres a dilemma , what if a customer gets a quote on a large vol order , accepts it , pays for it up front and you now find the order fragmented , like ordering a 1000 customised badges (or whatever) and paying for em and then ordering 20/50/70 at a time. Customer conveniently “forgot” to tell you this was the case. Now your economies of scale are screwed but you have the money in the bank?? How do you treat that one?
If you put all your details in a quote or estimate, state that it applies for a full run of 1000 and that part-runs are not covered by that quote/estimate and should be quoted separately.
You’ve said yourself what the potential ‘what if’ pitfalls are; so if you include them in your quote or agreement then there can be no misunderstandings by the customer later on – because everything was on paper before the order.
If they change their mind after you’ve run the 1000 then – unfortunately for the customer – its their own fault for not reading your agreement and you can’t refund the money.
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Or tell him if they keep coming in dribs and drabs you will be wanting more money!Might kick him into gear to order the remainder in a oner.
Next quote you give make sure it says 1000 off in one production run (!) -
Hi, Next time you quote on a job like this give your customer a varying qty quote.
ie 100 @ 0.70p each
250 @ 0.50p each
500 @ 0.40p each
1000 @ 0.35p each
Customer can see that the more they order the cheaper it gets and there’s no way he can base 100 pieces on the 1000 rate.Cheers John
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