My dentist is a warm, engaging and very friendly chap. I visited him the other day for a follow-up consultation to have some teeth straightened (currently, I have a lower set that some of my friends across the pond might politely term “English teeth”, but the uppers are straight enough).

 I asked for the quote to be adjusted, but the revision still contained an added extra which was unnecessary given that I was only having the lowers fixed. When I asked for this to be removed, the dentist applauded my “attention to detail”!

 Unable to achieve any movement on price, I felt duty-bound to try and secure some value elsewhere, so I challenged the payment schedule, dismantling its front-loaded nature to something that was more palatable for my pocket and better-reflected the “project” schedule, and asked the dentist to sign my hand-written modified payment plan.

 This experience got me thinking about buyer and seller relationships:

 1.     Exploitation of leverage – the market for dentistry and orthodontics in my neighbourhood is pretty concentrated, in fact it’s a duopoly. Switching costs are high, as once you’ve paid an initial consultation fee, unless you’re deeply aggrieved, you’re unlikely to shop-around for another provider. Plus, it can take weeks or months to get an appointment. Sellers can be aware of this friction and their behaviour can reflect their relative power, whether consciously or not.

2.     Trust and integrity – how would you feel if you’d had this experience? I’m not suggesting for one minute that these were intentional acts of deception, but it did send my “trust index” through the floor. The trouble is, you tend to have a long-term relationship with your dentist, but this behaviour was more akin to a one-time deal. The dentist just glossed over the quotation errors too, “I like your attention to detail”! What would have happened if I hadn’t checked the quotation? How many other people are literally paying for these kind of “whoops” mistakes?

3.     Customer perception – though this practitioner is no-doubt gifted in his technical field, there was a clear blind-spot as to how his customers might feel at the lack of care he exercised over the not insignificant matter of price. At no point did he offer to explain, clarify or ask if I was happy.

What practical lessons can be learnt from this experience?

 1.     In instances where your spend is high but you have few supply options (aka “strategic” commodities) the best approach is to partner with the supplier and develop a long-term relationship. A joint exploration of other goods or services that the supplier could provide in future is a signal that the relationship might endure. If this approach isn’t reciprocated by the other party though, you need to keep looking for alternative options.

2.     Ensure both parties have the same understanding of the specification before any commitment is made and leave as little room as possible for ambiguity.

3.     Define any cost additions up-front to avoid receiving any nasty surprises after the contract has been concluded. You can do this by simply asking, “what further costs will I be expected to pay”?

4.     When price benefits aren’t possible (even after asking the question, of course) seek alternative sources of value eg payment terms, additional services or access to new technology, or whatever it is that may be of value to you.

5.     Even suppliers with whom you have a long relationship can get complacent and lose focus on operational details. Don’t blindly accept that their quotations must be OK because of your long relationship – diligently challenge quotations to help keep the supplier “honest” and to prevent lackadaisical administrative oversight from hurting your budget. This will drive greater ongoing attention to detail and the supplier will respect you all the more.

6.     Trust – it takes an age to build and a second to destroy, on both sides of the buy/sell equation. To protect and grow a long-term relationship, it’s critical to behave with transparency and integrity at all times.

Switching dentists in the middle of root canal work will be costly and painful. The same can be said for changing suppliers. Think about the above if you don’t want your supplier relationships to leave a bad taste in the mouth (dreadful pun, apologies).

The best days lie ahead

Martin