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A Distributor’s Best Friend

Hidden gem or fool’s gold? The elusive search for a good vendor

by Rebecca Trela

They say not to mix business and pleasure, but there’s an accurate parallel to be drawn between business and romantic relationships. In both cases, intuition, first impressions and hard knocks are the only trustworthy indications.

“Your gut is your best barometer,” says Dan Hartlieb, CFC, CEO of Schoolcraft, Mich.-based Midwest Printing & Promotions. About 60 percent of his business is promotional products. “Virtually every time I’ve been burned or not paid, there has been a funny feeling. It’s not scientific but it’s generally accurate.”

According to some business veterans, the first impression will forever be the most important and memorable contact between partners. In the printing world, it might be the only contact—many distributors and vendors have never met, and sign deals from opposite coasts or even foreign countries. When they do get a chance to meet, the two size up one another thoroughly.

“A new distributor should ask a supplier about the key products that differentiate them,” recommends Tim Andrews, president of the Advertising Specialty Institute. “It’s important that he feels comfortable with the company right away, when you establish that personal rapport and understand what level of investment the supplier will make in his business.”

When Hartlieb meets a new vendor, which he usually does at trade shows, certain cues let him know what the company will be like. “It’s absolutely the responsive, good communication,” he says, which starts with eye contact and conversation but might continue with well-written follow-up emails. “You can tell by what they put out there: does their catalog look trashy? Do they have a web presence? What do their products look like?”

When partnering with an end user, Hartlieb says, most distributors ask a few key common questions: What direction are you going in this year? What’s your marketing push? What are the areas of your business you want to improve? “Take it a step further,” he says. “Do the same thing with your vendors. You have to keep them in the loop just like you want to be in the loop. There is never enough of that.”

“A lot of times we base our opinion of vendors on the trade show representation,” says Bob Burlow, co-owner of Burlow Promotions, Greensboro, N.C. “Big shows are too busy, but little shows give you a chance to talk, and you can tell whether they’re going to help you.”

The Online Measure
One crucial part of vendor-client relations is the feedback and ratings mechanism on online product search sites, such as ASI’s ESP online and SAGE Online. In many cases, distributors read reviews of completed jobs written by their peers, and make the decision to work with a vendor based on those words.
“There was quite a lot of fear among suppliers when we started that people would take the time only to leave a negative comment,” Andrews says of ASI’s three-year-old online offering, which has 28,000 registered users. “We found exactly the opposite was true.”

Most reviews, he says, are positive, but every situation must be evaluated on separate terms.

“If it’s just one or two reviews, I wouldn’t trust the advice,” Burlow says. “If it’s 30 or 40 or 50, then you get a clear idea.” Actually, Burlow says, if there’s a question about which of two or three vendors to use, he’ll present the situation to the end user and let him help decide. “We try not to look at problems as a negative thing,” he says, “but another way to show the client we’re taking care of him. Usually the vendors are good about taking care of our situation if there’s an imperfection or a mistake,” he says. The company parlays it into a “hero” situation with the end user.

Neil Van Malderghem, sales manager at Chesapeake Business Forms in Hanover, Md. used ESP years ago, but prefers SAGE’s online system today. “That’s so helpful to us,” he says. “Like our customers, we’d like to find fewer customers who supply quality items, and then just buy on relationships.”
Hartlieb also compares online ratings for vendors, but his ideal model is where five or more distributors have each reviewed a vendor a few times each. “When a vendor is consistently good, you can trust them.” With unfamiliar partners, he says, “I’ll go with the highest supplier ratings no matter the price. I’d rather not get the order than the headache. I’d rather sell on good product than cheaper price, and I sleep a lot better that way,” he laughs.

Navigating the Relationship
“There are a lot of hidden costs in the ad specialty world,” says Donna Weyh Roberts, president of Weyh Roberts & Associates, Vienna, Va. Many distributors grouse about proof and sample charges, set-up and run charges. Printing industry veterans have a chance to shine here for their clients because those reps are more likely to know about press-ready artwork and cost comparison. “If a client looks on a website and finds an item that’s 29 cents, then you have to clue him in on what’s involved,” Roberts says.

Roberts enjoys a special arrangement with some of her ad specialty suppliers, who partner in making a client presentation at the company’s office several times a year. It’s an “end user tabletop show,” she says, where she invites about 15 trusted suppliers to bring promo items to display. She serves appetizers and drinks, and the clients have a chance to discuss products with the manufacturers while making a connection with the distributor as expert. “I just did one with a few wearables vendors,” she says. “It does generate business and we did take orders. The clients come because its something new and different and they can see an entire product line.” Instead of questioning her clients to find out what they’re interested in, she can lay out the different options and see what’s intriguing her customers.

Is she afraid the manufacturers will sell direct? “There isn’t the same fear in the ad specialty world,” she says. “A lot of these manufacturers won’t do it because it’s a complex sale, and they don’t need a bunch of turkeys calling them up not knowing what they’re asking for.” Of course, Roberts says, she invites only the most trusted vendors to talk to her clients.

American Solutions for Business, a national distributor organization, has a codified vendor program called Partners for Progress, says Director of Vendor Relations Wayne Martin. In the program’s three levels—red, blue and patriot—suppliers have different opportunities to expose themselves to ASB’s sales reps and have a different array of options, from prompt pay discounts to rebates. “The revenue that generates feeds the employee stock options piggybank,” says Martin.
“The supply chain has historically looked at other ways to incentivize distributors, through trips, merchandise rebates or samples” says Craig McLain, COO of ASB. “Our business model is different, and when our associates started talking to suppliers about rebates based on accumulated purchases, it was a foreign concept for many of them when the program started.” The ESOP arrangement, Martin says, knits the two groups tightly together and maintains cordial relationships.

Gone Belly-Up
When a vendor-distributor relationship sours, some distributors assume they can find a different supplier among the industry’s 3,500. But if the partners have a history of orders, it makes sense to stay together.

“We have one wearables vendor that I should really reconsider,” Hartlieb admits. The company had a rep who was really helpful, but she moved on about nine months ago and the Midwest account has bounced from desk to desk at the vendor ever since. “You already know what the product looks like, you have the samples, you have customers ordering from the product lines that you’d have to switch. When there’s a problem, I always try to explain my point of view and work my way up the hierarchy. It’s difficult to cut bait and move on.”

In some situations, the souring comes not from a vendor’s misprint or customer disservice but from a subtler sleight—going direct to an import broker or even a foreign plant. “Truly, importing is not for the faint of heart,” says McLain. “There are ways you can benefit economically, but you have to dig down with import brokers and understand every step of the process,” he says.

Unsurprisingly, the company has found that higher-priced vendors have higher costs for a reason: convenience. “Importing is such a headache,” Martin says. “Sometimes you want your business partner on top of the project, wrapping their arms around it and managing the whole thing for you.”

Rebecca Trela is assistant editor at Print Solutions magazine. Email comments to rtrela@PSDA.org.