By Dave Fellman
Reciprocity is one of the guiding principles of commerce. As the old saying goes: “You scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours!” So the question is, have you been asking the people you do business with to reciprocate and do business with you?
If I were you, I’d start thinking about that, and making a list of all the people you buy anything from, both business and personal. If they buy what you sell, you have some leverage that can be applied to getting them to buy it from you.
Leverage
Having leverage means that you can give them at least a couple of good reasons to buy from you, starting with your value proposition and extending to the value of the business you do with them. You can’t make them buy from you, though, and that’s an important understanding—unless, of course, you do enough business with them to make you the proverbial 800 pound gorilla. (Where does an 800 pound gorilla sit? Anywhere he wants to!)
I would direct my first “reciprocity contact” to the person I have the most frequent dealings with, regardless of whether that person has anything to do with ordering printing. “I’d like to explore the possibility of doing the printing for your company,” I would say, “and I would appreciate it if you’d ask whoever I need to talk to about that to give me a call. Let me also ask you to call me after you’ve spoken with the right person, to tell me who that is, and when I might expect to hear from him/her.”
If a few days went by without a response, I would call my initial contact to communicate this message: “I’m surprised and disappointed that I haven’t heard back from you regarding my request to talk to the person who handles your printing. Let me make two things clear to you; first, I’m not saying that your company has to buy from me, but I think it’s fair to expect you to talk to me. Second, If that doesn’t happen, I might decide to stop buying from you!”
Don’t be unpleasant about this. Your attitude should suggest that you’re just stating a fact. But remember, you don’t really have any leverage without the threat of taking your business elsewhere. Hopefully you won’t have to play that card, but it’s there if you need it!
Valid Reason
Now, it may be that your supplier does have a reason—valid or otherwise—for not giving you at least some business. For example, the other printer might also be a customer, and maybe even a more important customer than you! If that’s the case, you may want to exercise your threat and take your business elsewhere.
On the other hand, I’m not suggesting that you cut off your nose to spite your face in a situation like this. Mostly what I want is for you to ask the people you do business with to consider a “reciprocity relationship” which could be a win-win situation for all concerned!
Dave Fellman is the president of David Fellman & Associates, Cary, NC, a sales and marketing consulting firm serving numerous segments of the graphic arts industry. Contact Dave by phone at 919-363-4068 or by e-mail at dmf@davefellman.com. Visit his website at www.davefellman.com.