Comments on: Distribution Dilemma http://www.uksmbgirl.co.uk/blog/archives/161 Comments on and within the UK SMB Community (Formerly 'UK SMB Girl') Wed, 07 Jan 2009 03:00:12 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.3.1 By: Susanne Dansey http://www.uksmbgirl.co.uk/blog/archives/161#comment-6564 Susanne Dansey Wed, 06 Jun 2007 19:32:13 +0000 http://www.uksmbgirl.co.uk/blog/archives/161#comment-6564 Mark, Hats off to you for responding. I think it's a real positive sign when someone takes the time to stand up and speak like you have so thank you. I'm sure I'll be experiencing the same sorts of things you go through shortly as I venture into the land of distribution... Keep in touch, I may need the advice! ;) The challenge for me is that I'm now going to be in a position where I have to answer my own questions so watch out for a follow up to this post! Mark,

Hats off to you for responding. I think it’s a real positive sign when someone takes the time to stand up and speak like you have so thank you.

I’m sure I’ll be experiencing the same sorts of things you go through shortly as I venture into the land of distribution…

Keep in touch, I may need the advice! ;)

The challenge for me is that I’m now going to be in a position where I have to answer my own questions so watch out for a follow up to this post!

]]> By: Mark Bell http://www.uksmbgirl.co.uk/blog/archives/161#comment-6563 Mark Bell Wed, 06 Jun 2007 19:11:27 +0000 http://www.uksmbgirl.co.uk/blog/archives/161#comment-6563 We're not ALL like that Suzanne :) I'm currently working in distribution and doing my best to make sure that customer service gets to the top of the agenda! Whilst it's impossible to train everyone to answer every question that comes to them, we can pass it through to the people who can and manage the process (although I often find that getting presales or product management to speak directly to clients is often an easier way than trying to relay messages with the resulting misinterpretation it often brings.) Not sure if you'd recall, but we have actually met before (in a previous role of mine) - good to hear you're still out there and pushing for the things that make business work! We’re not ALL like that Suzanne :)
I’m currently working in distribution and doing my best to make sure that customer service gets to the top of the agenda!
Whilst it’s impossible to train everyone to answer every question that comes to them, we can pass it through to the people who can and manage the process (although I often find that getting presales or product management to speak directly to clients is often an easier way than trying to relay messages with the resulting misinterpretation it often brings.)

Not sure if you’d recall, but we have actually met before (in a previous role of mine) - good to hear you’re still out there and pushing for the things that make business work!

]]> By: How does anyone do business? « Andys Techie Blog http://www.uksmbgirl.co.uk/blog/archives/161#comment-904 How does anyone do business? « Andys Techie Blog Wed, 07 Mar 2007 16:12:06 +0000 http://www.uksmbgirl.co.uk/blog/archives/161#comment-904 [...] How does anyone do business? March 7, 2007 at 4:11 pm | In Business, Rants | Good post today from Susanne about problems with distributors. This is something I have had to learn lots about over the last couple of years as I’ve become more involved on the business side. It’s very frustrating when your account manager isn’t tuned into your needsAn example of bad management happened recently. I’m not going to be naming names so we’ll call them “Dist X”. We have had a couple of calls and emails recently from Dist X asking why were hadn’t been using them much. First thing is we had the same thing about six months ago and we told them some of the issues were1) Everyone else gives us better credit facilities than you2) We don’t even know who our account manager isSo we got our credit facility updated and an account manager was assigned to us. This account manager then hounded us for an order. Letting us know the “offer of the day” and generally being a bit of a pain. We had a small order to make so thought we would give them a go. This is where it got even worse. Once we had placed the order the account manager did a disappearing act. Then we got our goods, but we also managed to get an Exchange 2003 media kit we hadn’t asked for. The invoice for this arrived so we asked the account manager to sort it out. They wanted us to fill out lots of paper work to return the item. The guy in charge of our purchasing wasn’t impressed with his staff having work created for them when it wasn’t their error. The account manager eventually told us to dispose of the media kit as it wasn’t worth arranging a collection. We then couldn’t fill out their returns paperwork as they wanted a serial number from the product.I’m not entirely sure where we are with this now but as a first order they didn’t really do themselves any favoursAs Susanne said we are the small customers but surely we deserve better?  [...] […] How does anyone do business? March 7, 2007 at 4:11 pm | In Business, Rants | Good post today from Susanne about problems with distributors. This is something I have had to learn lots about over the last couple of years as I’ve become more involved on the business side. It’s very frustrating when your account manager isn’t tuned into your needsAn example of bad management happened recently. I’m not going to be naming names so we’ll call them “Dist X”. We have had a couple of calls and emails recently from Dist X asking why were hadn’t been using them much. First thing is we had the same thing about six months ago and we told them some of the issues were1) Everyone else gives us better credit facilities than you2) We don’t even know who our account manager isSo we got our credit facility updated and an account manager was assigned to us. This account manager then hounded us for an order. Letting us know the “offer of the day” and generally being a bit of a pain. We had a small order to make so thought we would give them a go. This is where it got even worse. Once we had placed the order the account manager did a disappearing act. Then we got our goods, but we also managed to get an Exchange 2003 media kit we hadn’t asked for. The invoice for this arrived so we asked the account manager to sort it out. They wanted us to fill out lots of paper work to return the item. The guy in charge of our purchasing wasn’t impressed with his staff having work created for them when it wasn’t their error. The account manager eventually told us to dispose of the media kit as it wasn’t worth arranging a collection. We then couldn’t fill out their returns paperwork as they wanted a serial number from the product.I’m not entirely sure where we are with this now but as a first order they didn’t really do themselves any favoursAs Susanne said we are the small customers but surely we deserve better?  […]

]]> By: Jamie Hughes http://www.uksmbgirl.co.uk/blog/archives/161#comment-903 Jamie Hughes Wed, 07 Mar 2007 14:54:12 +0000 http://www.uksmbgirl.co.uk/blog/archives/161#comment-903 I am saddened to hear that some distributors don't operate at the same professional level that my employers and I do. As you rightly point out I do not contact you with offers that do not apply and I ensure that all my customers are looked after whatever their status. But surely this should be standard practice across all companies, not something to be praised because a couple of companies are not up to looking after their clients properly? But thank you all the same, its a pleasure to be praised. Jamie (MP) I am saddened to hear that some distributors don’t operate at the same professional level that my employers and I do. As you rightly point out I do not contact you with offers that do not apply and I ensure that all my customers are looked after whatever their status.

But surely this should be standard practice across all companies, not something to be praised because a couple of companies are not up to looking after their clients properly?

But thank you all the same, its a pleasure to be praised.
Jamie (MP)

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