Instead of lowering your price, say something along the lines of: Our prices reflect the services we provide that [retail chain] does not, including discovery about your needs, researching products that fit your needs and your branding, and saving you valuable time so you do not need to do the research and product-matching yourself. Don’t lower your price or they are going to price-match you on everything. Instead, tell them your worth and why you are worth what you charge. DANIELLE LUM, MAS, MASI Senior Brand Strategist American Solutions for Business Aiea, Hawaii PPAI 101656, D12 Is this a client that you do ongoing business and have a history with? If the answer is yes, why would you need a deposit? If they agreed to pay upon delivery, most venders give 30-day terms, so by pushing back you created an opening for them to look elsewhere. All my customers understand the tremendous value I bring to them and it is a given. LOUIS KAPLAN President Brandwear Designs, LLC Sacramento, California. Do You Have An Answer? A Distributor Asks: I have a new client requesting net 90-day terms on an order for 200 t-shirts, which seems unusually long to me. My standard terms are that clients prepay on the first order. Distributors, do you have suggestions on how to encourage this client to pay in a more “reasonable” timeframe? A Distributor Asks: I received an email from a senior marketing manager of a large firm with nationwide branches, to request a credit application, as the client will be spending around $100K. I checked the accuracy of the information found in his signature and his LinkedIn profile and Google-searched him and his company’s address, which all look legitimate. I also told the client that prepayment is required on first-time orders. What else should I do to verify this client isn’t a scammer? Email your response(s) to Question@ppai.org for the chance to be featured in a future issue of PPB magazine. Renda is an associate editor at PPAI. | JULY 2022 | 13 INNOVATE
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