what would you do

[CanuckSigns]

I have a customer that orders interior signage from me from time to time (wayfinding ada type stuff). He is a door company and I guess he sells the signs to his customers as a extra service.

2 weeks ago he came into the shop with a PO in hand and a list of signs he needed for a new building, about 100 signs in total, told us he needed them in a week. He never asked for a quote.

He sent one of his employees to pick them up a few days ago, today when we emailed him the invoice, we got an email back saying

"Scott, these signs are costing me more than I sold them for, is there anything you can do about the price?!?!"

Now keeping in mind that he didn't ask for a quote, I don't think we are in the wrong on this one, the signs are priced fairly (i won't post the price here but i will PM it to anyone interested)

I have the ability to offer a slight discount if I need to, but I wanted some input from some of you guys here first.

My first thought was "who gives their customer a quote without finding out what the signs will cost you first!!"

Thanks guys

 

[ProWraps]

my first thought was who makes signs for someone without making sure they sign an invoice with a price?

 

[Locals Find!]

You should have let him know what they were going to cost. At this point throw him the discount and try to make the best of this situation.

You were both in the wrong here. You both need to communicate better in the future.

 

[CanuckSigns]

fair points, it's not uncommon for customers to not ask us for a quote, But I can see how we may have dropped the ball on this as well.

 

[Pat Whatley]

I'll admit I do it all the time, too. Most of my repeat customers never ask for a price, they call in their order, I produce it, they rarely question it....maybe once a year somebody will question a price.

In this case if the door signs were the same as what he's ordered before and your pricing was the same as before then I don't see him getting much, if any, discount. If it was something different and significantly higher than his previous orders you probably should have called him. If he's a good customer work with him but whatever you do make sure he understands you're doing him a favor to bail him out. If you don't he'll ask for a lower price every time you do something from now on.

 

[Gino]

I agree with Pat. We get lotsa repeat work from middlemen and regular customers alike, without having to quote. However, it's much the same as going to the store and buying a quart of milk vs. buying a new suit.

If the person is buying the same ol... same ol, then no need to quote, but if they are getting something out of the ordinary, then I make sure no surprises will creep up later..... for either party.

A few months back, a good customer placed an order and it was within a few thousand dollars of their previous order. The store was basically the same size as previous stores, but had more signs going in it, so, I priced it accordingly. Called him and told him the price to be on the safe side and he questioned it, since it was still the same size store. After I pointed out all of his extra needs, he said, I didn't think of that ?? :Oops: Is there anything you can do because I already put a figure into the office based on the last store ?? Sure, we'll do it for your proposed numbers and you add a punch list for the extras. Hey, that sounds good. Thanks.

I don't know why he thanked me, he's still paying me what I want, but I guess he doesns't look bad to his superiors and is actually coming out good, cause he thought of extras to put into the store and has them accounted for, now.​

 

[Techman]

IT is not your fault he quotes his prices too low..

 

[visual800]

You should have let him know what they were going to cost. At this point throw him the discount and try to make the best of this situation.

You were both in the wrong here. You both need to communicate better in the future.

Yep I would do this and dont let it happen again....

 

[skyhigh]

I'm with Pat. I also have customers that order signs on a regular basis, that don't ask a price. I never get questioned. I don't think you need to share fault, if you can show on previous invoices (for identical items) that the price is the same.

Keep in mind....this guy is selling the MAIN product to his customers (a door), where as the sign is a small piece of the pie. I'm sure he is making alot more money than you, and has more room to play than you.

ie......$1500.00 door with a $25.00 sign attached.

If you wern't being unreasonable with your price, that should be easy to show. On the other hand, it may be in your best interest to throw him a small bone, in the way of a little discount.

 

[JimJenson]

Was the pricing consistent with what you had charged in the past?

 

[RobbyMac]

Right... You know your business, but he doesn't... so if the signs aren't comparable, then he's likely assuming they'd cost the same as before. (Which is perhaps what he based his costs on)
Was it 'little setup/large volume'? ie, 3 diff signs x qty 33 where a discount is easier to apply vs all different signs requiring a lot of labor and setup costs?

It's a tough call, because as a customer, I'd be asking 'Hey do I get a volume discount since there's 100 of them' which he apparently never did.

On the other hand, I'd be interested in letting a customer know if pricing was 'out of line, per unit' when compared to past orders... specifically because there was no quote requested. I'd prefer to let the customer know up front so there weren't any surprises after the job's done.

 

[Red Ball]

I agree with Pat. We get lotsa repeat work from middlemen and regular customers alike, without having to quote. However, it's much the same as going to the store and buying a quart of milk vs. buying a new suit.

If the person is buying the same ol... same ol, then no need to quote, but if they are getting something out of the ordinary, then I make sure no surprises will creep up later..... for either party.

A few months back, a good customer placed an order and it was within a few thousand dollars of their previous order. The store was basically the same size as previous stores, but had more signs going in it, so, I priced it accordingly. Called him and told him the price to be on the safe side and he questioned it, since it was still the same size store. After I pointed out all of his extra needs, he said, I didn't think of that ?? :Oops: Is there anything you can do because I already put a figure into the office based on the last store ?? Sure, we'll do it for your proposed numbers and you add a punch list for the extras. Hey, that sounds good. Thanks.

I don't know why he thanked me, he's still paying me what I want, but I guess he doesns't look bad to his superiors and is actually coming out good, cause he thought of extras to put into the store and has them accounted for, now.​

 

[David Wright]

Yep I would do this and dont let it happen again....

Amen.