Business Professionalism/Conflict Question

[Icemaster]

Ok, try this one:

I've found myself in a situation of being a vendor (in professional life) to a company to whom I'm a customer (in personal life).

Jekyl and Hyde in the worst possible way.

They've been good and solid to me as a consumer of their products, however they're very near if not at the top of the list of the worst company I've ever dealt with in a vendor relationship perspective. Having been in services and consulting business long enough, I'm clear on the perspective that the customer aint always right, but the customer does pay the bills - if they want blue widgets even when you've clearly told them that blue widgets change tires, not clean bathrooms, then you give them blue widgets and make sure you're covered on your position.

But when a customer goes over the line of being demanding to outright abusive, laden with personal attacks, that's too far IMHO. If your paying attention, it can give one insight into the culture within an organization that starts to raise some interestign questions.

On one hand, I applaud the desire to protect the customers and can fully support that; but when my engineers and I are on the blunt end of the ***** stick and subject to personal attacks (publicly, in large meetings with many of their senior leadership present or on emails passed through the project team) I'm seeing a side that I dont want to associate with.

For perspective, this isn't a one time thing; it's been ongoing thru the life of the proejct. And I'm not talking about someone calling me or one of my guys poopy heads, I'm talking full on "you guys are a bunch of f*****g amateurs", "brainless idiots", "[this guy] couldnt design his way out of a paper bag" type of insults. I've been called worse, I can deal with this, but my guys shouldnt have to. Making matters worse, there's been the classic cover and shift move for some stuff that went sideways that we never touched - my company getting blamed for issues that they're having on systems we never touched.

Point being - what would you all do as a CUSTOMER of a company like this who uncovered this behavior? I have moral issues here, not pride.

[Baz]

Doesn't sound like a good "fit".

"We agree to disagree so adios my friend...it's been nice doin' business with you...and good luck!"

[Rikao4]

take you biz elsewhere..

Rika

[Jim Bremner]

What is there POO golden? What kinda things do you buy from them?

[EMJ]

This one is easy. Sever this relationship and find another customer.

[Icemaster]

It's an insurance company, ironically. Have my house and auto thru them.

I've asked when we're going to fire them as a client, unfortunately it's not up to me, my boss, or my VP. I and my current team are only the latest in a long line of staff that have been forced to work with these people and have been called the bottom of the barrell. We went into this expecting a certain level of abuse, but this exceeded anything we had imagined.

I take less crap than the rest of the PM's on my team, so I'm not surprised that they had a problem when they were forced to toe the line. Listening to some of the recorded meetings we've had is almost humorous.

[Evans, Marv]

Of your service(s) to them are at least reasonably important (to them), maybe a break from them will help them see the light after they shop around for a replacement. If that happens & they approach you again, maybe that would be a time to negotiate the terms of the relationship.

[masraum]

It's hard to say without more info, but I would probably stop purchasing from them as a customer

I would also probably call themout on the unprofessional behavior in the meetings, but sometimes that's hard to do, especially when you're the service provider

[Baz]

It's all about respect.

Something that is either there - or not.

Without respect no relationship is possible...personal or professional.

[Jim Bremner]

Do they have a gecko as a spokesperson?

[EMJ]

You'll look back at this when you're out of it and wonder why you ever put yourself through that. The only way this situation changes for you is if you're working with another customer. This type of behavior appears to be in the corporate culture and it won't change.

[Groesbeck Hurricane]

My first thought is this is an organization or group that cycles through many, many internal AND external partners. It does not sound as if you are charging them enough for your services (receiving the abuse). In the end you will lose valuable people from your own organization and will have your own organization damaged from this abuse.

On another note, have you sincerely sat down seperate from all the above to determine that your team is truly providing a good product/service? I only ask as sometimes the customer is dead on. A sincere inner review will help you determine your course of action.

What is your contractual requirement?

Is it better for all involved to let them out of the agreement?

How many other companies/people have they gone through trying to get this task/project accomplished?

Sometimes companies cannot do business with someone (past issues, lack of funding, moral issues), will not do business with someone (business standards, ethics, bargain basement, philosophical issues), or may not do business with someone (banned, thrown out, competitor).


I would cease doing business with this firm were it me and my organization was not in a fault status. I would seriously question doing business with this firm if they were treating us so unprofessionally without a lead up even if my organization had some fault. There are some places I will not shop/companies I will not buy from due to my knowledge of their internal workings. That is my issue and should not cloud anyone else's opinion of the "poopy heads".

There are reasons why some players are low cost in monetary terms up front but more expensive to do business with on the back-end! I wonder if you are not describing such a firm.

[Por_sha911]

I've found that companies will listen to the paying customer a whole lot faster than employees or vendors. Write a very cordial letter to the CEO explaining why you are ending your relationship of the customer to the company. Be sure to let them know that the letter is not motivated by retribution but rather moral convictions. Hopefully, if enough people speak up, someone will get the message.

[Icemaster]

Nope, no animal mascots, it's a bit of a stodgy old guard conservative company in northeastern Ohio that goes by the same name of the town they reside in and has a sub company that caters to Ohio Farmers.

Good points David, the basic course of action when we hear of dissatisfaction is to try and figure out what the root cause is. In this case, they didn't like our team. Which is the same reason we heard the last 3 projects we did for them - no one from those prior teams are allowed to work with these guys - some our decision (dont want to lose talent), some theirs.

If it were up to my BU, we'd have sent them packing long ago - but the account manager for the region always seems to end up sellign them something.

We have a very specialized technology skillset that's hard to come by and very much a niche - there's maybe 2 other legitimate players in the country. They learned to either ignore RFP's or respond with a price so high that they'll turn them down or make it worth their while. No one wants to work with these people, expcept, seemingly, our AM who keeps writing checks he can't cash.

[sammyg2]

Pretty simple really. You do not want to deal with this company on any level.
Take whatever steps you can to severe all relationships with them.


Here's something I tell folks who work for me regarding business ethics and what's OK and isn't:

"Never do or say anything you wouldn't say or do in front of an audience made up of the entire company you work for".

So, applying that statement, would you put up with the crap you are getting from this company if you had an audience of your peers watching?
Would you continue to be their customer knowing how poorly they treat others (including you)?
I bet the answer is no on both counts.
I understand there's a limit to what you can do because of the orders you recieve from upstairs, but you still know what's right and can try to move that direction as much as possible.

[Aragorn]

I agree with the above and would write a cordial letter to the CEO on a personal basis explaining that you can no longer do business personally with this company and you are canceling you policies. Don't mention that you handle one of their corporate accounts. This is a personal choice and has nothing to do with business. I would first pick another insurance carrier and see about coverage for when you do terminate this relationship. I would leave this present company in the dust if they treated me that way professionally. Why support a corporate culture that has treated you and your company so bad.

From your original post and responses I have the impression that you do not make the calls on whether to do business with them or not. Ask your boss informally if he has ever had to deal with a client like this and if he has what he did. You may win some brownie points with your boss for asking for his opinion. Ask if you can fire back when they attack you personally. Ask if you can write a letter to their division head to stop the personal attacks. This situation seems very unprofessional and caustic.

[Jim Richards]

If I was in your shoes, I would sever my personal relationship; however, I wouldn't make any fuss about it. Just take your personal business elsewhere. No explanation required, as it's your personal business. Since you have no choice on the professional part of the relationship, make the best of it for you, your staff, and your company. Act professionally, in spite of the other company's behavior.

[Icemaster]

Thanks for confirming that I'm not crazy. As soon as this started showing up to be a full own cultural problem within the company, I started my agent on a quoting expedition. The to move to a different company.

[stealthn]

Also get it documented with your HR department that your company is putting you and their staff into a hostile work environment.....

[sammyg2]

Originally Posted by stealthn

Also get it documented with your HR department that your company is putting you and their staff into a hostile work environment.....

CEM

(career ending move)
They can't fire you but you'll prolly never see another promotion.....

Some companies are reasonable and cool, others look for ways to eliminate troublemakers.
Shouldn't be that way but reality sux sometimes.