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Hey guys I just hung up from an odd phone call. And I am not sure what to think of it.
I have a dealer signed up to carry sheds and furniture but he really wants to push sheds.
There is a dealer for another manufacturer of sheds a few miles away from him, my dealer told me how he tried to get this guy to partner with him to sell sheds (he is in an awesome traffic location) as sheds go well with his core business. The other guy turned him down several times, so when I started advertising the "econo shed" he called and wanted to be a dealer, we made a deal and there we go. Well initially the established guy calls the town pointing out my dealer did not get a building permit for the sample, knowing full well it`s a portable building and does not need a permit, but it tied my dealer up for a few weeks just before Christmas. So finally my dealer gets right with the town and building department and hangs some signs to offer sheds for sale. the same guy again calls the town and complains about the signs, so the town again ties up my dealer for another few weeks, finally compromising with changing the word "sheds" on his signs to "outbuildings", go figure (no idea). so My dealer now has to re-do his signage, it`s been a week or so since we talked but he was expecting the new signs this week.
Well I just got a phone call from the guy that has been causing all the hoopla, with no apparent reason other than to just chat. After a few minutes I realize who this is and the conversation is going nowhere, and I have a project that has to be done today, I excuse myself from the call, so he invites me up to his place next week to have a look around and see what I think. Now I am totally confused, so I agreed to go visit him next week just to see what is on his mind.
I am setting dealers up in territories so they don`t step on each others toes, most are at least 20 miles apart, so I can`t realistically get involved with this guy.
this guy is "in bed" with the owners of the shed market in the area, and has been doing business with them for years, I doubt he is leaving them for me.
I am thinking its a fishing trip, but I can`t reconcile why. any thoughts?

Seems simple to me .... he doesn`t want the competition of your dealer with your product against himself ... so he either makes your dealer go through a lot of hassle hoping he`ll just drop you, or if that doesn`t work he`ll befriend you so that you won`t keep on with your current dealer .... if you weren`t a threat to his sales, why else would he create the hassle in the first place?

Bottom line .... he`s probably scared that you and your dealer will outdo him in sales .... maybe you can string him along, find out what you can about him, then tell him you`re ( hopefully ) not dealing with people like himself .... keep your current dealer if you believe in him and his business, create the loyalty factor, and move on .... JMO



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M Hall
Website Critique Community
International Society of Curmudgeons

Completely agree with Webline. It looks like this guy is insecure about his sales being eaten away by this other dealer, so he is trying to create trouble for this other dealer and try to befriend you and stay on your good side. Perhaps he fears that maybe you would drop him for his anti-competitive practices (which could hurt your revenues) or maybe he just wants to cause any trouble with the other dealer that he can.



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Motivation for Entrepreneurs
Entre-Propel.com

Update; just talked with my dealer, his new signs Realtor style came in on Monday, he put them out on Tuesday the length of his frontage which is over 400 ft, Wednesday morning they were gone, someone had taken them but only the "outbuildings" they left the firewood, and other signs. whomever also destroyed his brochure box and took all his brochures.
It seems the other guy maybe a bit nervous. That is pretty cool as far as I`m concerned, this guy sells around 120 sheds per year at I estimate an average of 2500.00 each, and he is nervous.
My wife thinks he is also going to try to get all my dealers info and try to steer them to his suppliers.
I`m still going to meet the guy and see what he wants.
this could get interesting...

Personally, I`d say your dealer needs to set up some type of video system to monitor his lot, just in case something else happens .... maybe try to get a business background on this guy as well, and see if there is a history of business problems with other people. Maybe some background on his suppliers, as well.




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M Hall
Website Critique Community
International Society of Curmudgeons

I`d call your local newspaper and suggest an interview to discuss the way business is being "hassled" in your area. Explain the above story, and let the paper write up the story. Then see how much interest suddenly develops on your dealer as people come by to take a look at how unfairly he`s been treated.

It`s a "David & Goliath" story, with a lot of human interest. The boost in visibility to your guy should help sell a lot more product, and reduce the impact of the other guy`s "heavy traffic" area.

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The older we get, the more excuses we make for not chasing after our dreams. But truth is, goals are attainable at any age.