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WORKROOM OPERATIONS

Yours, Mine or Ours?
Is it fair for the retail/wholesale workroom to take its designer's customers?

by Kitty Stein, CWP, WCAA

There are many drapery workrooms out there that are operating a retail and a wholesale business. In other words, they sell directly to their own retail customers and to designers who resell to their own retail customers. It’s the designer’s customer that we are talking about here. Is it OK for you to sell to the designer’s customer if she comes to you after having worked with one of your designers?

WHOLESALE CONTRACT
There is a variety of arrangements by which workrooms can work with their designers. In some cases, they never go on site with the designers. In other cases, they may accompany their designers to the customer’s home and work as a team to design the best treatments for the situation. In still other arrangements, the designers will just give the workroom the customer information and turn them over to the workroom to do the windows. In this latter case, the designer’s customer becomes the workroom’s retail customer, and there is no problem here. It is the other arrangements that could present an uncomfortable situation.

No matter how you work with your designers, you must have an understanding up front concerning how you perceive the designer’s customer—either protected or fair game. This is the time to find out what your designers expect and need from you and for you to let your designers know exactly what you expect from them and what you can and will provide.

The kinds of arrangements you have with your designers may vary depending upon their specific needs and capabilities. While you can and should have an oral understanding, having a written statement is much safer.

YOUR BUSINESS BELIEFS AND PRACTICES
Here are some things that you should discuss with your designers:

1. Your loyalty to the designer and protection of her customers.

2 A policy that all communications between you and the customer must be done through the designer’s office. Under what conditions would this rule be waived? The more a customer talks with the workroom, the more they will get comfortable with them and be more inclined to approach the workroom with their future needs.

3. Never criticize a designer’s work in front of a customer.
4. Refer the customer to the designer for all questions.

5. Try not to use your company name.

6. There might be unintentional work with a designer’s client. It is possible that you or your employees will bid a job without knowing that your designer has also bid the job. Determine how you will handle this if either of you discover you are bidding on the same job.

7. If the designer goes out of business, her customers are open for you to approach.

8. Suppose the customer calls you and is totally unaware that you had done the designer’s work for her last job? How would your designer expect you to handle this? How do you think it should be handled?

9. How long after a job is completed, would it be fair for you to accept a designer’s client if you are approached?

10. Would the designer accept a referral fee/percentage if her customer calls you for work to be done?

THAT GRAY AREA
Let’s say you have tried to discuss every possible scenario up front with your designers, but it happens anyway. Your designer’s customer calls you for an appointment. What would you do?

First let’s assume that the customer knows you did the window treatments for her designer and that is why she called you. A few questions are certainly in line here to determine why the customer is not calling her designer back.

• Does she not like the designer? Why? Was it a personality conflict? It’s possible that it could be something that, had the designer been told, would have been easily corrected.

• Does she not like the designer’s work? If this is the problem, then why did she go forth with what the designer presented?

• Is there a conflict with the designer’s business ethics?

• Does the customer think she can get her work cheaper by eliminating the middleman? Is this a good reason for you to consider working with her?

After you find out the real reasons why the customer came to you instead of the designer, you have to make a decision. Would it be appropriate to call the designer and discuss the situation? Maybe. Maybe not. You could offer the designer a referral fee since the contact wouldn’t have been made without her.

Before you make your decision, determine whether or not you want to risk losing that designer. If the designer is a good client and gives you a lot of good work, you might want to send the customer on her way. Besides that, if the designer is upset with you, she is likely to share that grief with fellow designers. Designers aren’t as likely to share good workrooms, but they sure will talk about bad ones.

IT’S BUSINESS!
There is often a tendency to fear hurting someone’s feelings, i.e. the designers, but is this a good reason to turn away business? You must have enough customers, whether retail or wholesale, to make your business profitable or your workroom won’t be there for anyone.

What is your relationship with your designers? Is it unique, i.e. different from any other business/customer relationship in another industry? Do other businesses compete with their customers? What about our trade suppliers that advertise to the consumer in the back of shelter magazines? How do you feel about that?

Designers often use more than one workroom. Therefore is it not fair for their customers to use more than one designer? Are the designers being loyal? Is it fair to you that they don’t give you all their work? Does this bother you or not? If there has been a drop in the economy and your sales are to the point of jeopardizing your business, should you turn away potential income?

And here is another very important question. How would you feel if the designer took your customer?

Due to the continual shortage of workrooms, designers are going to the retail workrooms and asking them to do their work. If retail is your main business and you are basically doing a favor by doing work for a few designers, then they have to realize that you are their competition. If you are marketing to the same clientele, then it must be understood that there are no protected customers. Deliberately trying to steal your designers’ customers is another matter.

WHAT ABOUT ETHICS?
So is it right or wrong to take your designer’s customers? Can we make this issue black or white all the time? Not likely because it depends . . . I have presented you with many questions that need answering by you and no one else. Each person is different and unique and this may require a customized solution in some cases.

Managing and running a business is not completely about making money. It’s about loyalty, honesty, dependability, reliability, trustworthiness and peace. Peace in knowing you have done the very best you could today without causing unnecessary harm to anyone. It’s also about faith. Faith in knowing that God is going to bring you all the business you need and faith that you will know which customers are to be yours.

For the record, I did own a retail and wholesale workroom. I was blessed to work with wonderful designers. I tried very hard to protect them and their customers. Having peace of mind was my priority.

If you know a particular decision will leave you feeling guilty and without peace, then listen to that feeling. A good night’s sleep is best for everyone. Are you sleeping well?