Do You Value Partnerships - Update

If you red my post Do You Value Partnerships? you may be interested in a quick little update about this situation.

To recap, we lost a deal when our prospect asked a competitor to bid on a project we already had a verbal approval on.  The prospect had a number of issues but the biggest was they wanted to get a better price.  Our supplier - quickly responded to them and gave them pricing. Their pricing was the same as ours but from my conversations with our prospect, our competitor bid way below retail to get the business.

I called our partner out for not truly valuing our partnership. I sent them an email that received absolutely no response.  It didn't matter to them who got the business, because ultimately they got the business either way right?


So we were just at a trade show for our industry.   We went in with absolutely no preconceived notions about this show.  When we walked by representatives from our partner, they did not say a word to us.  We were at a reception and they were there sitting at a table right behind us.  Nothing.  They looked right at us multiple times and walked right by.  Maybe they didn't see you, you might say.  Maybe once or even twice.  We saw them MANY times during the week, on the show floor, at receptions, in the lobby.  No one even said hello.  From the people with whom I have spoken they believe that they are embarrassed by what they did.  I don't know.  If it were me I would have made the effort to repair the relationship, not ignore it.

Needless to say, we found another well recommended supplier to replace them.  We talked to many people in the industry to find out who they were using and our new supplier came VERY highly recommended.  We even heard many negative comments about the service from our former supplier.  Today I am placing my first order with our new partner.

Lori Hanken has been in sales and marketing for over 30 years.  She is passionate about service and providing value to her vendors, prospects and clients.  Lori is currently co-owner of Total Displays with her husband David.  They help people look great at events, trade shows, in retail, museums and develop long partnerships with customers and suppliers.  If you would like to learn more, email her at lori@totaldisplays.com.  Connect with her on LinkedIn here.

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