We are looking at purchasing equipment. We've been in touch with three companies that sell equipment that is made by some of the biggest play equipment companies. Last week, a play equipment salesman told us he could give us a huge discount if we ordered equipment from them by the end of this month (May), and even bigger discount if we made full payment at that time - but that if we didn't "we wouldn't see these prices again." I'm not sure how to take this - can anyone help, is this common in buying playground equipment? I'm not sure we're ready to make a final selection of that company, but I don't want to pass up a deal that might let us buy even more equipment for our money. Can anyone tell me if you experienced anything like this when you purchased your equipment, and how you handled it? Thanks!
Will F:
We utilize a selection process to determine which vendor to choose. While the price of equipment is a big consideration, there needs to be some customer service from the playground manufacturer as well. For our selection process we invite playground sales reps to make a presentation (to a selection team) that addresses these questions...which can all be found in the KaBOOM! Toolkit.
You may add questions if you like, just be sure to give each representative about an hour to set up their displays and to take follow up questions after their presentation.
Good Luck!
HI WILL,
WE HAVE HAD SALE CATALOGS AND COUPONS MAILED TO US, SOME OF THEM ARRIVE BEFORE THE BEGINNING OF EACH SEASON, OTHERS MAY SEND THEM OUT MORE/OR LESS FREQUENTLY THEN THAT. WE HAVEN'T BEEN TOLD WE WOULD GET A BIGGER DISCOUNT BY PAYING IN FULL WHEN WE ORDER, BY THE END OF THE MONTH, THAT SEEMS A LITTLE PUSHY.
I THINK SALESPEOPLE HAVE CERTAIN TACTICS THEIR COMPANIES ENCOURAGE THEM TO USE AND YOU SHOULD CONSIDER HOW THE RELATIONSHIP THEY ARE DEVELOPING WITH YOU MAKES YOU FEEL. IF YOU ARE UNCOMFORTABLE WITH THEM, ARE YOU GOING TO FEEL COMFORTABLE ASKING FOR HELP WHEN QUESTIONS OR PROBLEMS ARISE, ETC?
WE WERE LEANING TOWARDS ONE VENDOR, BUT NOW PLAN TO USE ANOTHER, PARTLY DUE TO THE FACT THAT WE FEEL MORE CONFIDENT IN THE CUSTOMER SERVICE WE WILL BE RECEIVING FROM THEM.
HOPE THAT HELPS YOU!
JEANETTE
I do not know if there is a 'hard and fast rule' about this, but we have an itemized budget fmor our playground rep. and his qouted prices are less than those listed in our printed catalog fomr the playground manufacturer. Perhaps the more piece you buy, the more they can 'adjust' the overall prices.
We are purchasing thru Playworld Systems. Past experience with them was outstanding. Excellent reps. & product!
Good luck with your project!! :)
I don't think it would be remiss of you at all to try and talk down the bid you've received, especially if you have a coupon. That's the very heart of commerce isn't it?
Anyone else have a little more experience in negotiating with vendors?
I think it is always worth asking about in a respectful way... these vendors are "business" people--they are used to talking about price/worth of their equipment. As long as you handled it in a respectful manner, I would almost bet that they would not mind the question being asked. They are after all, selling "wares" just like stores selling goods, dealerships selling cars, etc. If they are too sensitive to talk about pricing and discounts, they are probably in the wrong business. I say go for it! We asked our guy about "is this the best price that the company can do" and he wasn't offended at all. No, it didn't get us a lower price, but it also didn't hurt to ask either. We are using the US Communities discount with Landscape Structures and that takes about $2500 off of our playground equipment cost. I'd love to see more off, but what can you do... we'd already gone through enough design tweaks with the vendor that I think he "knew" that he was a shoe-in, i.e. I suppose if we had been working with two designers and then faced each one with the "better price" question, they might have come down more in order to keep the sale, but we didn't want to do things that way. We just liked the LSI stuff and wanted to tweak the design and we told the other companies "no" earlier in the process so that they wouldn't be wasting their time.
I did ask our vendor, his reply was that they give everyone a fair price.
Hi Will,
This is probably too late, but, I think you need to talk with your reps. Everyone can offer a "discount" - but, what else do they do? Something I learned from Landscape Structures was that their equipment all comes labeled and is attached to each play piece. So, there is no need to label and sort. Also, do they come to the build? how do they help you.
The rep from Little Tykes commercial has had poor follow-up and the rep from Game Time has had great follow up, offered great incentives, but, in the end we chose Landscape Structures because of their quality, unique products and their attention to details and customer service! They will go the extra mile.
Cheaper is not always better and I always prefer to go with the addage: you get what you pay for! So, ask questions, find out what they can and will do for you and if they really want your business they will go the extra mile.
Anyone can sell "price."
Hope I helped.
Staci Wanichek, Prospect Point Playground Project.