The Better Idea Portfolio

I have developed a stable of reliable, high quality vendor partners to work with over the years.  When I need nice silk screening, I know where to go. When I need digital printing, I call the same vendor I’ve used for over a decade.  Now and then, I need something new and that’s where it gets difficult.  I have some simple expectations for a vendor including timely and accurate quotations, perform the work as promised, honour the price as agreed. A couple weeks back, I meet “Connie” at a vehicle graphics company.

Connie started off by being 20 minutes late for our meeting and offered no apology – rude, but I could overlook it.  Connie then sent us some adjustments to our design before she sent us a quote.  I thought that was great at first – it was initiative and problem solving.  Although the design was not great, it had overcome a challenge we had with our original design.  She then sent the quotation which now included a cost for that design.  Since I sell design myself, I know it’s never a good idea to design something, then tell your client how much it costs.  When I questioned the design fee – as in “can we discuss this fee to clarify it?”, I got the most arrogant, condescending response I’ve ever read from a vendor that included insulting remarks about our current designs and a warning that we could not use the design. The note ended with the message of “good luck finding another vendor” type statement.  The carbon-copied recipients on the email were equally dumbfounded.  What had we done to elicit this type of response?

I called Connie, thinking that I must have misunderstood the tone of her email. After all, I was looking to find a vendor who could do vehicle graphics on a regular basis.  I wanted this partnership to start off on the right foot. But alas, I had not misunderstood at all.  Connie stood by her email on the phone.

Needless to say, we’re not working with Connie and I redesigned the graphics myself later that day in an entirely different way.   When I find a great vendor, I’m very loyal to them and that usually works well for both parties.  Vendors screw up, but so do clients.  It’s nice when you count on each other to resolve problems together.  Finding the right vendors is remarkably difficult.