A Supplier Nightmare and Why Should You Go to Trade Shows

After attending the Specialty Advertising Association of California (SAAC) trade show in California last week, I again have come back invigorated! Full disclosure here... I like trade shows. I believe good business is based on strong relationships and trade shows give me the opportunity to meet face-to-face with my colleagues. Trade shows give me access to a variety of worthwhile educational opportunities and product information I can't get from a catalog.

At this show, I had the privilege of visiting with PPAI President and CEO Paul Bellantone, CAE and Eric E. Ekstrand, MAS, PPAI Chairman of the Board. Click here for a 2-minute State of the Industry Address video with our Association leaders.

For those who don't know, I have a distributor business that is affiliated with a large national company. I enjoy the sense of community we have in addition to having the burden of running a business off my back. We had a nice lunch together at the show and it was good to hang out with my "business family."

At this show, I had a problem resolution situation to deal with—a 288 piece terra cotta flowerpot mug order with a crooked imprint. Click here to see the mug. Would you want your clients to take these mugs? This supplier had printed these before without issue. As with most deals gone wrong there are two sides to every story and I am willing to own my part in what went bad in this situation. One thing I did miss was not noticing when I placed the reorder that this supplier is no longer on our company's Preferred Supplier List. On face value, that isn't necessarily a bad thing. We use many good suppliers that aren't on this list. But perhaps I should have noticed they had been removed from this desirable positioning and questioned why.