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Since we are a manufacturer we often sell to resellers as well as the general public.
We have two types of resellers: Regular dealers and casual dealers.
A regular dealer has a decent discount and usually has Net-30 payment terms (which means that we ship, send a bill and give them 30 days to pay it). To become a regular dealer, you have to fill out a questionnaire to demonstrate that you are genuinely interested in representing us and willing to do some basics to support your customers. If you also want net-30 terms you have to fill out a credit application, complete with credit references.
A casual dealer is someone who is only reselling our product to fulfill a bid where the end user asked for our product. They aren't interested in a long-term relationship, they just need to make a sale. We don't have any problem with this.
All casual resellers need to do is just give us the name of the end user (so we can verify that they ARE reselling and not taking the discount for themselves) and they get a small discount (the discount is half what we give regular dealers, but we don't disclose that unless they ask). Since they don't expect to be doing business with us very often, we don't bother with the application and the credit check, etc. Casual dealers just pay up front. It's fair. They make some money, we make some money, the end user gets the product he wants. Win-win-win. And lots of casual resellers end up becoming regular resellers. Many of our best started out that way.
Enter the Entitled Potential Reseller (EPR). He called us, was referred to Mark (our director of Marketing and our reseller liaison) and told us he wanted to become a reseller. Mark asked him a few questions and determined that he trying to fulfill a single bid and probably wouldn't buy from us again unless he had to. So he told him his discount and that he would be on pre-pay terms.
The guy went off the deep end. Pre-pay terms were UNACCEPTABLE. How could we possibly expect him to pay up front? What kind of business does that and expects to stay in business? Do we treat all of our resellers like that?
Mark calmly explained that all of our casual resellers are on pre-pay and EPR was certainly free to reject those terms if he couldn't accept them. Of course, that meant he wouldn't be doing business with us.
EPR then asked if any of our resellers had Net-30 terms. Mark patiently explained that our relationship with other resellers was not something he was going to discuss. Was he going to buy under the terms Mark spelled out or not?
So the guy just went, "Fine! I guess I'll have to go to your competition."
Mark asked him who he had in mind. The guy names another product. It also happens to be a product we've been making since we merged with our biggest competitor about 8 years ago.
Mark decided to be a bit of a bastard. He just said, "Oh? That's OK," and finished the call without mentioning that we make the "competing" product.
Needless to say, the guy called back two days later and insisted we give him terms again. Mark didn't budge. The guy kept insisting. He tried the old "I need net-30 terms to stay in business. Why can't you help me out?" He told us that he needed our product to fulfill the terms of a bid. If he didn't buy it, he wouldn't win the bid or make any money. The problem here is that we don't care. Running EPR's business and making money at it is EPR's job, not ours. It's not up to us to make it easy for him. If he can't fulfill the terms of a bid, then he shouldn't submit it. There's someone else who can and will fulfill it and that someone else will buy from us. We won't lose a thing.
So EPR asked for the names of other resellers so he could buy from somebody "more reasonable." Mark gave him a few names. Of course our other resellers don't offer any discount; they're going to sell at retail so they can make money. So EPR was willing to pay full retail as long as he didn't have to pre-pay. If that sounds fishy to you, you're on the ball. The only way EPR wouldn't care about the price would be if he didn't plan to pay the bill. Mark was nice enough to warn the other resellers about this. It turns out it wasn't necessary. They figured it out for themselves.
What was truly funny was that one of the other resellers is Mark's wife. It turns out EPR gave her an earful about what a hardass Mark was. Mark thought that was great.
We have two types of resellers: Regular dealers and casual dealers.
A regular dealer has a decent discount and usually has Net-30 payment terms (which means that we ship, send a bill and give them 30 days to pay it). To become a regular dealer, you have to fill out a questionnaire to demonstrate that you are genuinely interested in representing us and willing to do some basics to support your customers. If you also want net-30 terms you have to fill out a credit application, complete with credit references.
A casual dealer is someone who is only reselling our product to fulfill a bid where the end user asked for our product. They aren't interested in a long-term relationship, they just need to make a sale. We don't have any problem with this.
All casual resellers need to do is just give us the name of the end user (so we can verify that they ARE reselling and not taking the discount for themselves) and they get a small discount (the discount is half what we give regular dealers, but we don't disclose that unless they ask). Since they don't expect to be doing business with us very often, we don't bother with the application and the credit check, etc. Casual dealers just pay up front. It's fair. They make some money, we make some money, the end user gets the product he wants. Win-win-win. And lots of casual resellers end up becoming regular resellers. Many of our best started out that way.
Enter the Entitled Potential Reseller (EPR). He called us, was referred to Mark (our director of Marketing and our reseller liaison) and told us he wanted to become a reseller. Mark asked him a few questions and determined that he trying to fulfill a single bid and probably wouldn't buy from us again unless he had to. So he told him his discount and that he would be on pre-pay terms.
The guy went off the deep end. Pre-pay terms were UNACCEPTABLE. How could we possibly expect him to pay up front? What kind of business does that and expects to stay in business? Do we treat all of our resellers like that?
Mark calmly explained that all of our casual resellers are on pre-pay and EPR was certainly free to reject those terms if he couldn't accept them. Of course, that meant he wouldn't be doing business with us.
EPR then asked if any of our resellers had Net-30 terms. Mark patiently explained that our relationship with other resellers was not something he was going to discuss. Was he going to buy under the terms Mark spelled out or not?
So the guy just went, "Fine! I guess I'll have to go to your competition."
Mark asked him who he had in mind. The guy names another product. It also happens to be a product we've been making since we merged with our biggest competitor about 8 years ago.
Mark decided to be a bit of a bastard. He just said, "Oh? That's OK," and finished the call without mentioning that we make the "competing" product.
Needless to say, the guy called back two days later and insisted we give him terms again. Mark didn't budge. The guy kept insisting. He tried the old "I need net-30 terms to stay in business. Why can't you help me out?" He told us that he needed our product to fulfill the terms of a bid. If he didn't buy it, he wouldn't win the bid or make any money. The problem here is that we don't care. Running EPR's business and making money at it is EPR's job, not ours. It's not up to us to make it easy for him. If he can't fulfill the terms of a bid, then he shouldn't submit it. There's someone else who can and will fulfill it and that someone else will buy from us. We won't lose a thing.
So EPR asked for the names of other resellers so he could buy from somebody "more reasonable." Mark gave him a few names. Of course our other resellers don't offer any discount; they're going to sell at retail so they can make money. So EPR was willing to pay full retail as long as he didn't have to pre-pay. If that sounds fishy to you, you're on the ball. The only way EPR wouldn't care about the price would be if he didn't plan to pay the bill. Mark was nice enough to warn the other resellers about this. It turns out it wasn't necessary. They figured it out for themselves.
What was truly funny was that one of the other resellers is Mark's wife. It turns out EPR gave her an earful about what a hardass Mark was. Mark thought that was great.