Tough Choices on Both Sides of the Table: Policies Lead to Defections
He didn't want to leave. But, he felt like he had no choice. Greg, we'll call him, runs a small catering business with a retail outlet in the central part of Sonoma County, California.
Sysco, Greg's main food service supplier, has tightened up credit policies stemming from major losses on accounts with bankrupt restauranteurs. The new policy: pay up in 30 days or we put you on C.O.D. It would seem to make sense, until...customers, good customers, begin defecting because, like Greg, they need a little "wiggle" room with their suppliers.
Neither provider nor customer has it easy in this situation. (And, fortunately, unlike the GM bankruptcy situation, more than the lawyers will be winning.) But, there is a winner, I think: Sysco's competitors, usually smaller regional operators, who are likely to pick up some new accounts. For a while anyway. Until they get burned by some customers who file for Chapter 7 or 11.
Tough times. I'm not going to offer any unique or elegant solutions: there are no elegant solutions, only tough ones.
He didn't want to leave. But, he felt like he had no choice. Greg, we'll call him, runs a small catering business with a retail outlet in the central part of Sonoma County, California.
Sysco, Greg's main food service supplier, has tightened up credit policies stemming from major losses on accounts with bankrupt restauranteurs. The new policy: pay up in 30 days or we put you on C.O.D. It would seem to make sense, until...customers, good customers, begin defecting because, like Greg, they need a little "wiggle" room with their suppliers.
Neither provider nor customer has it easy in this situation. (And, fortunately, unlike the GM bankruptcy situation, more than the lawyers will be winning.) But, there is a winner, I think: Sysco's competitors, usually smaller regional operators, who are likely to pick up some new accounts. For a while anyway. Until they get burned by some customers who file for Chapter 7 or 11.
Tough times. I'm not going to offer any unique or elegant solutions: there are no elegant solutions, only tough ones.
0 comments:
Post a Comment