Direct Competition

[Guest joeytints1]

Just wondering how many of you are aware that some manufacturers and distrubutors are now bidding and installing flat glass on their own and not passing it on to their dealers? Or employees of distributors or manufactureres who own their own tint installation company and are taking work away from local dealers. I'm in this business a long time and am starting to see a trend and losing work. Anybody else running into this?

[Guest SQUEEGEE]

Just wondering how many of you are aware that some manufacturers and distrubutors are now bidding and installing flat glass on their own and not passing it on to their dealers?  Or employees of distributors or manufactureres who own their own tint installation company and are taking work away from local dealers. I'm in this business a long time and am starting to see a trend and losing work.  Anybody else running into this?

Viscious cycle aint it ?

[Guest metint]

Now there's a land mine topic, if I've ever seen one.

:booga

[Tintcutter]

Probably mainly the big jobs. I know a deal where a guy just took a 475,000 security film job out of Hawaii this past October, he is in Georgia. You gotta get tint on the glass to get paid, and that is a long ladder. He is tight with the M company.

[HarveyD]

Land mine topic? Let's not run away from what is a legitimate concern for the dealer network. It should make dealers think about which film suppliers to support and do business with. If a film mfr. or distributor is ultimately competing with the dealers it hopes to sell film to, some see it as a direct conflict of interest for that supplier. I say this knowing that some film suppliers have done and/or are doing this currently. Good for the biz overall? Good for YOUR business in particular? Certainly something for all to consider.

[Guest metint]

Good point Harvey...

Even though I work for the supply side the following is my position on the subject and would be if I was out there still selling for myself:

The average time it takes to close a large project can be much longer than my attention span could handle when the need for follow up and more follow up secures a the job. This could take weeks, months, and even years before final agreement is reached, drafted and signed.

I know of a 3,000,000 sq ft project that was negotiated above the dealer level about three years back, which took more than a year, maybe two to secure. Logistics for this size project have to be mind boggling! Can the local guy do that and commit to complete the project in a time frame set by the client? Projects like this are sure to be instigated and negotiated at the corporate level, more so than someone like me as a shop owner operator waltzing in and hob knobbing? with the suits to get their biz.

I experienced this when attempting to secure the Cracker Barrel (CB) restaurant chain. Got in at a local level, but the further up the chain it went the more they wanted to talk to the manufacture/supplier direct. This may or my not have cut me out of the deal, don?t know because in the end they (CB) chose not to do window film. One store received film for a demo and was summarily rejected by the suits.

At that time CB had 240 stores nation-wide with 450 sq ft of glass per store. I would have required me or another installer to travel about doing these stores? not a very frugal way of completing the job for a biz owner accustomed to doing very good biz within a 75 mile radius of base operations. It would have been better in the hands of the filmmaker/supplier where they could have easily secured a dealer in each area a store is located, had the film installed and I reap some kind of commission for the find. The dealer secured where a particular store is located gets a piece of work he was not even looking for.

If large-scale projects were negotiated at the corporate level certainly their dealers would be contacted to perform the installation. I know one filmmaker that has many skilled installers on their payroll, but they have other duties and are not on the payroll to be installing. I would think this would call for an involvement from the dealer level if any such projects were taking place today.

I can see conflict if the manufacturers deal and install without including their own dealer base. This would not be fair play.

[HarveyD]

Good point metint. The circumstances of these very large jobs and national chains may dictate that they sometimes could best be handled by the manufacturers reps. Hopefully the installation would be funneled to an appropriate dealer and not to hired hands. In our area we have a independent distributor who has started a dealership in direct competition with the dealers who offer his product. EVEN DOING RESIDENTIAL!

[Mr paladin]

dealers and manifactures that do this type of thing may like the extra money for now, but doing this type of thing that hurts there customers like you and me will ultimatly come back and bite them is the ass.(you don't bite the hand that feeds you)

[Guest S and S]

Trying to make a fast buck is all they are doing!

[Guest H?perOptik]

the keyword here is SUPPORT. there is an inherent conflict of interest if the dealers have to buy film from distributors who then turn around and fight for the same projects. each level of the channel should focus on what they do best I.e. distributors DISTRIBUTE, dealers CLOSE DEALS, installers INSTALL!

I do agree that mfg level meeting are often required for national accounts. I've been to appointments with distributors/dealers to add credibility and help secure the deals. IMO, its sheer bullying tactics for a mfg or distributor to compete in residential projects, unless its a 5 block condo project! as I see it, the only reason why a distributor should be going directly to the market is when the dealer does not do his job and participate actively in his area.

just my 2cents...