One of the difficulties of our business is that the products we are asked to make are often brainchildren of marketing, advertising and design people with limited knowledge of production process. The fact that they may not understand what it takes to actually produce their idea is perfectly understandable. But what I can’t understand is why they do not want to listen when we try to explain or give suggestions ? And it does not stop there. When things go wrong, exactly as we warned them they would, we get blamed …

I have a fresh example. We were asked to produce a special packaging for a product for children. Rather simple item but with a bit complicated artwork. The item had two parts - body and the lid - and the image was to be printed over the entire product. This would also be OK if not for one thing. There were few important details on the design that we split up - part of it was still on the body part already on the lid.

The moment we received the artwork we could tell that this simply will not work. There was no way that the lid and the body can match that well. We told the client right away that the part of the detail on the lid will shift to the side (left or right) and will not match the part that is on the body. We also explained why. We recommended adjusting the artwork and print those important details on the body of the package only. We were told off and told to do what we are asked to do.

So we did just that. But knowing the result in advance we went the extra mile and without bothering the customer we did some adjustments and prepared an alternative sample as well. We simply wanted them to see how it could look. As our client refused to even think about adjusting the design themselves we did it for them, at our cost as a favour just to speed the whole thing up. The time was running and no one would consider moving Christmas to February. We had no idea what parts of the design can’t be touched and what parts can, so we did as we though would be fine. Our alternative sample was never meant to be a pre-production sample, only an example how it could be done if the original idea does not work.

What happened ? Well, of course the sample made according to the original design was rejected as unacceptable. Client decided to go ahead according to the sample we made up for them but … Of course there was a “but”. It had to be redesigned because we did not do the adjustments correctly in line with their manual (that we have never seen) …. This of course took extra time and delayed the production. And it is all our fault …

Can’t complain our business is boring .

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This is not a typical post for this blog but there is a connection. Not the freshest of news probably, but I do not read the entertainment pages of magazines that often. But yesterday when I opened the Time Magazine I spotted a familiar face on the contents page. A face of a guy who used to rock live music bars in Hong Kong not that long ago. Me, my friends and lots of my overseas customers use to go Edge and later to Cavern for some entertainment. I remember a friend of mine saying one day, when the band played some U2 song, that if he did not know he is listening to a cover band, he would have thought it is real Bono singing. Well, that was a part of the semi drunk highly intellectual beer debate, but anyway . And then I see the face this cover band singer in Time Magazine. His name is Arnel Pineda, and it looks like he made it big. No wonder he hasn’t showed up in Cavern for a while.

Here is a YoutTube video from CBS show, that pretty much tells his story (although a bit too dramatically for my taste):

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The nature of BizGift business means there is always some sort of trouble on horizon. It is pretty much impossible to have things going smooth. What is possible however is to lower the likelihood of disaster.

First of all - do not be suicidal and do not promise impossible to your customers. It is very tempting to say OK to every request from client in order to secure the deal. But this may and will came to haunt you. Yes, most of the things can be done, but not all can be done within the time and budget constrains of a BizGift project. You will not get paid for your promises for the goods delivered. If you promise and do not deliver, you end up paying !

Make sure you select a reliable supplier. Get references from people you know, use suppliers that you had good experience with previously. If you still do not know, choose a market leader in your area, there is always a reason for someone to become a market leader. Take the pricing into consideration, but do not make your choice solely based on price. At the end, you often get what you are paying for …

Once you select your supplier, make sure you brief them well. Not every supplier can read your mind.

Then when you secure the order remember that is when the real trouble starts. This also when you have no way to back off anymore …

“Murphy’s law is an adage in Western culture that broadly states that things will go wrong in any given situation, if you give them a chance. If there’s more than one possible outcome of a job or task, and one of those outcomes will result in disaster or an undesirable consequence, then somebody will do it that way.” - from Wikipedia

So here are few examples of possible problems:

• While you were closing the deal with your client, someone else beat you and occupied your supplier’s production facility. There is no chance you will make the order on time.

• The moment you place the order, your suppliers apologizes (in the better case) to you for making mistake in calculation and gives you nicely (in the better case) two options - higher price or no production.

• Due to time or technical constrains you concluded the deal with your client without having the final product ready and approved. While fine tuning the product in the preproduction stages of the order you and your supplier realize, that what was ordered actually can’t be done …

• After you place the order your supplier changes the payment terms, take it or leave it. The new conditions are either impossible for you to comply with due to your cash flow or simply too risky to accept.

• You loose your cool during a routine meeting with your supplier, and the supplier simply walks away. You get dumped …

• You conclude the deal, you are ready to place the order with your supplier. Then you find out the supplier closed down the business.

This is in no way exhausting list of possible trouble. The closest you get to the complete list would be by checking out the Murphy’s laws. So watch out, do not let Murphy to mess with your BizGift project.

Photo: www.murphys-laws.com

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No matter what business you are in, one of the most important assets you have are your loyal customers. At the end of the day the clients that feel good about dealing with you are those that will stick with you long term. Clients who are with you long term are also clients that are usually understanding when things do not go as planned. It is all about the relationship. To build that relationship, you need to entertain.

Get to know your customers and try to choose the entertainment you think they will enjoy. I was few times in situation when I mentally suffered in the hands of my suppliers while they were having fun and enjoyed themselves on their company expenses. Not much fun … I do not want my customers to feel like that. Luckily most of my clients are down to Earth people who enjoy casual food, casual drinks and talk the usual bar talk. Business itself is secondary but the best ideas always come out from such casual beer or wine conversations. I am actually looking forward to meeting them every time they fly over .

Well have to stop here, it is time for me to get out now and get casual, customer is waiting . This topic will return.

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