| Author |
Message |
Anonymous
| | Posted on Thursday, February 24, 2005 - 11:59 pm: |    |
Recently I was told in so many words to specify a certain product because one of the firm's principals knows the distributor of this product. Additionally, this particular product was not among my initial choices for the application at hand, although it could work if some design modifications were made. I'm wondering if other specifiers have been put in a similar situation. |
Anonymous
| | Posted on Friday, February 25, 2005 - 08:04 am: | |
I certainly have with one of the principals that retired a couple of years ago. We almost had a designer quit because the sales rep was threatening to go over the designer/project teams head and go to the principal because we were telling the rep that his "standard" didn't meeting the project requirements and that's all he was willing to provide.
We also have several current reps who "name drop" one of our firm's principals whenever he thinks he's being taken advantage of (or in other words being challenged by competitors actually getting the job). |
Anonymous
| | Posted on Friday, February 25, 2005 - 08:53 am: | |
That's nothing. I work for a large public agency with elected officials and it's a way of life in politics! Advice: Everything is a negotiation, choose your battles wisely and you'll live to fight another day. |
Anonymous
| | Posted on Friday, February 25, 2005 - 11:14 am: | |
Yes, I get that all the time. In fact, I was told by a past boss (Architect) "not to approve a metal roof system" at the time he instucted me to review it with the rep.!
How hot was that water!!! |
Anonymous
| | Posted on Sunday, February 27, 2005 - 11:18 pm: | |
One of our major clients with a large ongoing buildng program has a staff that suffers from the "last vendor lunch" syndrome. Someone gets in their door, does their dog and pony, and out comes a revision to their standards. They're a public agency who haven't heard of public bidding laws. Yes, my dear, specs are political. |
Anonymous
| | Posted on Tuesday, March 01, 2005 - 02:23 pm: | |
Years ago we had problems with a product. It did not perform like the rep had assured us it would. The worst part is that the rep would not admit his mistake. He blatantly lied in a meeting with the owner and made us look like fools.
Ever since then we have thrown out all of his product binders and taken all of his products out of our master specs.
One of the partners in the firm has even threatened to fire anybody who specifies or approves the rep's products.....or even the whole team if his products make it on to another project. I don't know if the partner was joking but I don't want to find out.
Moral of the story for the rep (I hope): Win the battle lose the war. |
Anonymous
| | Posted on Tuesday, March 01, 2005 - 05:12 pm: | |
I once was told by a public client to spec a certain brand of roof and to allow no substitutions. Months later, a local TV news investigative reporter was doing a story about bidding law violations and called me for comments on the closed spec. I was so tempted to blow the whistle, but I decided I really needed to keep my paychecks coming, so I made up a reason for having a closed spec. The reporter bought my lame excuse and decided to go hunting someplace else.
That kind of thing happens all too often. Certain product reps play the game by selling directly to owners. There aren't very many people who would put their job on the line to try to stop it. |
Anonymous
| | Posted on Wednesday, March 02, 2005 - 09:36 am: | |
While working for a firm a few years back, I met a local rep of casegoods and other products. I found out he would go to the owner of a project on which he just lost the bid, make a sweet deal to the owner, and miraculously, appear in the finished project.
The ironic thing is, his casegood products aren't good. How he keeps getting these projects is beyond me. He is in many of the local specifications, though.
Once I went out on my own, his product line miraculously disappeared from my master. I have yet to have a client request that this rep's products be added back in.
Does this count as political? |
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