my builders partner keeps wanting to bring in a competitor

[huggytree]

I have a new home builder who has hired a VP with a 10% stake in the company....basically its his right hand man....

The VP has a friend who is a plumber and he wants toget competitive bids and give his friend some work...basically get him in and me out.

I have a perfect relationship with the 90% owner...ive taken him and his wife out for a $250 meal, we sent them our family christmas card...they know our kids names, ive given him a $350 toilet for free and installed it all for free as a christmas gift.....Ive always given him perfect service...im the first sub done everytime.

The builder keeps bring it up....the VP says 'his plumber is good', 'his plumber already works with that product', 'his plumber,his plumber,his plumber'.....he says that HE makes the decision and i have nothing to worry about...but he brings it up EVERY time i talk to him in some way....he is my biggest customer (by alittle)....maybe 10% of my business....

my solution to this problem is to become the VP's friend also...i am going to work on his house soon and offered to give him fixtures at my cost AND call all the suppliers and get him a plumber price...basically 30% of list vs the norm 80%....its HUGE!!!....thousands of dollars and now he can afford some top of the line fixtures...he will think of me every time he uses his bathroom... also i need to take him and his wife out to eat....i need to get to know him better, because right now he's not acting like a friend to me!

Sooooo, today i asked for his VP's plumbers name.....its someone i know...and he is bad....possibly the worst plumber i worked with....so i look up this plumber....found him on craigs list....called him up....talked for 15 minutes...small talk, some business.....found out alot of bad stuff about him (no suprise).....

here's what i decided to do!....i called the builder right back up(the call was about some other stuff, not just to rip on his VP's plumber)....told him i know this guy and know what kind of plumber he is and am not worried "if you want a $60 per hour craigs list plumber with no insurance, works out of his pickup truck, is a service plumber who has only done a couple of houses in his career then he's the one for you'....he laughed and said i had nothing to worry about again....

should i have done that?....i like to squash all competition as not legitimate and not comparable....thats what i did....

I keep records of all my competition...i know their weak points

[vangogh]

Generally I prefer not to trash my competition. I think if you do it too often it comes back to haunt you.

I've had friends who always complained about other people. The first couple of times you think there must be something wrong with the other person since my friend is complaining. After a few more complaints though, you realize it's not the other people it's the friend who's doing the complaining. If they complain about everyone else why should you expect they aren't complaining about you as well.

Similarly in business after awhile your complaints about your competition end up reflecting more on you than on the competition. You can end up with a reputation you may not want. I know if I interviewed two people for a job and one person told me about all the ways they could help my business and the other person told me about all the ways the first person was bad at what they do, I'd hire the person who offered reasons why my business would be better off. I wouldn't hire the person who complained.

[Aaron Hats]

My first thought is that if the VP's plumber is so good why is he having you do his house? That right there should tell the 90% owner what he really thinks of his plumber.

[KristineS]

I'm with Vangogh about not trashing the competition. I think I would have gone with Aaron's angle instead. If his guy is so good, why is he working with you? If it's just to get a deal, then he's really not worried about quality, he's simply in it for what he can get.

The only thing you do by trashing the competition is make yourself look insecure. I'd let your work speak for itself and not worry about the rest. There are always going to be some people who will focus only on the lowest price or what have you, but do you really want to work with those people anyway?

[Business Attorney]

I agree with vangogh and Kristine about trashing the competition. Comparing yourself to the competition is fair game, but you should stick to the facts and let your listener draw their own conclusions.

In my own case, there are huge law firms that charge an arm and a leg for the same things I can do (and for many things I could not possibly do) There are also sole practitioners who do everything from house closings to divorces and who will also handle business matters, and typically charge lower rates than I do.

Most of the potential clients I meet understand the difference, but I usually point it out to them anyway. However, neither of the alternatives is necessarily bad, and I never say anything negative about their potential choices. I just point out that they will get what they pay for. Occasionally someone opts for a bigger more expensive firm and sometimes they opt for a cheaper alternative. In fact, when I truly think that they need the resources of a larger firm or have a matter that could be much more efficiently handled by someone else, I steer them in that direction.

[billbenson]

Ya, you are confusing your competition as your enemy. I frequently give competition product information etc that they don't know how to find. Better to make friends than enemies.

[huggytree]

i am insecure about this for some reason...thats why i had to find out who it was...i just dont want to lose this one i guess.....

i also called the VP today and had a nice friendly chat with him and let him know about the fixture deals im going to get him....he shared some of his personal life with me...so we are obviously alittle more than just business....ive kind of ignored him because he is only 10% and because he's only been around for a few months.when he is around i need to stop and chat with him instead of a few quick words and back to work...i need to stop ignoring him....after his house is done ill take him out to eat to celebrate.....or in the middle of the year ill take both the 10% and the 90% out to eat......he's a nice guy and his plumber friend is in a bad place right now..he just want to help him out...he has bad business sense because he wants a friend who works out of his pickup w/no insurance instead of the guy who has it all and does it all for him(me)

it just proves how important friendships with customers is...friendship blinds people to reality.

[orion_joel]

I think that maybe one of the problems may be that the VP has the mentality to help the little guy. Probably being a friend is what has him mostly trying to help. But i would guess his point of view on the situation may be that he sees you with where you are and what you do as something that his friend doesnt have and wants to help his friend to try and get to the same place, without really thinking about how it may be a detriment to his own business interests.

[huggytree]

a perfect example is the project i just finished for them yesterday

its a $10,000 (plumbing)mother in law suit addition

they are spending over $100,000 on the project total....maybe $150,000....

would they want a guy showing up in an unmarked pickup truck for that kind of money?
a stairway tread cracked in 1/2 on me and i almost fell...he has no insurance
it needed to be done quickly...he has hardly no experience with large projects...would the homeowner like him showing up for 2 weeks, when i did it in 3 days?

it would reflect on the builder, which would hurt his business...He is not the cheapest builder and likes above average quality products...how would a homeowner like paying for a lexus and getting a Geo?

if he decides to use this guy i know it will only last 1 project...i just dont like hearing about it everytime i see the 90% owner...its annoying....

[huggytree]

orial...his plumber friend has more wrong about business than i did when i started...he's at $60 per hour when im at $97....$82 is cost...i suspect his business will fail....i let him know $82-90 is a typical 'at cost' and he was incorrect charging less than $85....he said 'someone has to plumb for the poor'