Father P discusses customers, contracts and keeping ahead of competitors – whatever the cost 

Read the full article below or on page 34 in our April magazine

We have a very large customer in the area who has decided to put their stationery contract out to tender. We had an initial meeting with them this morning, brought them in KitKats and soup because we had heard they love that and we’ve agreed on a number of points which are very important to the customer. 

Like being at their beck and call 24 hours a day, allowing them to shout at us, and beat us with a stick if need be, and allowing them to take our children hostage if their paper delivery is late. 

The other problem is that we won’t be able to make anything on non-contracted items, as absolutely everything is on their contract list. I can’t help wondering what contract stationer gave in to them in the first place and allowed them this much leeway.

Independents like ourselves have no chance of making anything out of it, but we still fight tooth and nail to win it – and I don’t know why. It’s not like we can boast about having the contract to our other customers, because they’ll get annoyed that we aren’t paying enough attention to them, nor is it that we can brag about it down the pub because everyone in there has warned us not to talk about office supplies or we’ll be barred. 

So, what’s the point? Why don’t I just tell them we aren’t taking part in the tender because I don’t like them?

It’s because we are eaten up with the possibility that one of our competitors will win it and, even though they won’t make anything out of it, they’ll still have it and we won’t. It would rankle in my brain for the whole three years – or whatever amount of time they have it – and I’d try everything I could to discredit them. I’d send in broken things saying that it came from them, or spend the whole-time plotting revenge, even though I know they aren’t making anything out of the contract…

I think I might need to see a therapist. Surely there should be an office supplies therapist to cover things like paper stocks, non-deliveries and constant price rises? I reckon they’d make a fortune, and the queue would be a mile long.