Your Relationship with Suppliers

You have contractual relationships with the equipment manufacturers you represent, the training organizations you certify through, your landlord, bank, insurance company, local utilities and others. These companies and organizations supply you with the things you must have to satisfy your customers’ needs. You can’t be in business without them.

Your relationship with these suppliers, however, goes well beyond the terms of your dealer agreement or other contracts. It hinges on factors such as:

• Loyalty When you support a particular supplier to the exclusion of others, you have a right to expect a certain degree of loyalty in return. For example, when you make a particular supplier your primary brand of equipment, it’s reasonable to expect they won’t open up the dive store down the block.

• Payment When you establish a record of paying as promised early in your relationship with a supplier, you can often expect a degree of flexibility later on, should circumstances dictate. This may come in the form of extended terms, or the company’s willingness to send you additional merchandise, even though you’ve explained that payment may be delayed.
• Service and Support In simple terms, do your suppliers pay attention to your needs? Do they ship promptly, resolve customer service issues quickly and fairly, and keep you fully informed when difficulties arise? Relationships with companies that score well in these areas add to the total value of your business.

Your relationship with sales reps »

The Dark Side of the Relationship

One reviewer said:

“This is nice — in theory. In reality, I don’t think there is a retailer out there who has not been royally screwed by some manufacturer or rep.”

Not all supplier/retailer relationships are beneficial. When the relationship is good, both parties benefit. When the relationship is one-sided, the retailer loses. In the end, retailers will tend to be loyal to those suppliers which are most loyal to them.

Your relationship with sales reps »

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