A truckload of mistakes from your window/door vendor has seriously delayed several high-end homes and infuriated your affected builder customers. What would you do?
Having recently celebrated your 10th year as GM of Trusted Lumber, you’ve weathered challenges like product shortages and lumber price volatility. But today’s situation is different in that it directly impacts only you and your clients.
Since Trusted Lumber has earned a niche as the go-to LBM dealer for the custom home builders in your market, a healthy percentage of your business is comprised of special orders. One reason you’ve earned this business is because you and your team focus on tightly scheduling what materials need to be delivered when. With labor costs what they are, and with the backlog of projects in your market, downtime is not an option. And it hadn’t been a problem, until your latest delivery of custom windows and doors was riddled with mistakes.
The first angry phone call went something like this: “The homeowners were on site to watch my crew install the massive trapezoid windows on the wall facing the lake. The windows are not only the wrong size—they’re the wrong shape. This is going to delay my project by WEEKS! How can you explain this?”
As you hung up the phone, the next call came in. “After my team finished installing the windows and doors on that high-end custom home on the golf course, they discovered that some of the windows are antique bronze and some are black. We’re on a tight schedule with this house—now we’re going to have to wait for you to get us what we ordered, then push back our next project until we can fix YOUR PROBLEM! This is not acceptable!”
After three more calls from furious builders, it didn’t take long to isolate the issue to the latest delivery from your custom window and door supplier. “I’m so sorry about this. We’re not sure how it happened, but we’re going to find out. Then we’ll put new Standard Operating Procedures in place to make sure it doesn’t happen again. In the meantime, we’ll put a rush on the replacement products, and you should have them within the month.”
Thrust into full damage control mode, you’ve authorized your team to do whatever it takes to help your builders navigate this nightmare with their clients. Based on a couple of the calls, you know it’s very possible that you’ll lose some business due to your vendor’s mistake.
Your grandfather used to say, “Trust takes years to build, seconds to break, and forever to repair.” The trust you had with your longtime window/door manufacturer of choice is shattered. What would you do?
Second chance. Everybody makes mistakes. You’ve worked with the same vendor for years, and they’ve always nailed it. Tell them you trust that they’ll never do this again.
Just switch. Your vendor created massive problems for your builders—which they blame on you. You simply can’t afford to work with this vendor anymore.
Slow down. Once the crises pass, you’ll have a clearer picture of the damage. Then reach out and negotiate a fair outcome for you and your builders.
Add a vendor. Test drive another vendor with your next special order of windows and doors. Give them an opportunity to earn your trust—and your business.
