To tell or not to tell?

[billpenn]

Hi all! I’ve been off the boards for a while…nice to be back!

Need some advice here.

My company is opening up two new offices. We have a furniture vendor that we’ve worked with in the past, but we feel he might be overcharging us, so I was told to get some competitive quotes.

Based on the preliminary #'s, he might get knocked out of the running…

Here’s the thing: I like this guy - I think he’s a good guy generally…so I was thinking about letting him know that we’ve gotten other quotes and what those quotes were, and tell him that he’s in a competition (I don’t think he suspects that at all)…

Is it immoral to do so?

 

[Lance]

I don’t think it would be immoral to tell him he has competition, it would be unfair to tell him the competition’s price unless you are going to let everyone in the competition know everyone else’s price. Then you get into a biding war and usually lose good will with your vendors. Just my opinion. Check your company policy on this, you could get into trouble by not following the guidelines.

 

[AndyF]

Hi all! I’ve been off the boards for a while…nice to be back!

Need some advice here.

My company is opening up two new offices. We have a furniture vendor that we’ve worked with in the past, but we feel he might be overcharging us, so I was told to get some competitive quotes.

Based on the preliminary #'s, he might get knocked out of the running…

Here’s the thing: I like this guy - I think he’s a good guy generally…so I was thinking about letting him know that we’ve gotten other quotes and what those quotes were, and tell him that he’s in a competition (I don’t think he suspects that at all)…

Is it immoral to do so?

It’s strictly a business decision like any other. Your company could also be hurting at times and that’s a fact.

Letting him know is a good gesture. The mention of competition is a wake up call that the free lunch is over, and that he’ll need to trim somehow or cop out. I’d give him some time to absorb the impact, ie: restructuring,retooling,cubacks, whatever, but only if you can. It may send him the message your onto him, but you still see business with him as an open option.

AndyF

 

[Della]

I agree with Lance–that you should find out what your company’s policy is. I’d even look into state and local laws. If you’re a private company it may not apply to you, but favoring one vendor over another in a bidding war may just be against the law. Probably not, but I’d be sure just the same.

 

[puzzleannie]

Hi so I was thinking about letting him know that we’ve gotten other quotes and what those quotes were, and tell him that he’s in a competition (I don’t think he suspects that at all)…

Is it immoral to do so?

what is the policy of your company? If he has been asked to submit a competitive bid he already know he has competition, so you don’t need to tell him. If you were working for a government office and gave information to one bidder I believe that would be considered a conflict of interest and depending on the type and size of contract possibly criminal.

 

[BLB_Oregon]

Whether or not you tell should depend on what is best for your company. That is where your responsibility lies. Telling a vendor that he needs to come up with a better price to keep your business, however, is not in conflict with that.

I’d let everyone in the running know who I was getting bids from and what they were offering me. I’d also get myself as much of an independent education on furniture selection, quality, and price as I could get.

The fellow you know may charge more because he sells a superior product. If you want the best product for your money, you have to do your homework before deciding.

By the way, nobody stays in sales for very long without being “a nice guy.” If this guy has done well by your company in the past and has been dependable in delivering as promised, that is worth something. Still, you ought to give the other vendors their fair chance to earn your business, too.

Were you my best friend, I wouldn’t expect you to do otherwise. Only if you owned the business yourself would you be in the position to make a “mercy buy”. Even then, I wouldn’t ask you to do that. I wouldn’t be much of a friend if I did.