we live in complicated times and some folks are making more so..
All this partnering going on. I am finding it more and more difficult to ascertain what is really available in the market, who makes what and who sells what.
It is a game of musical chairs with distributors and manufacturers and suppliers all switching places.. or more like a shell game with us customers / suckers trying to run our businesses and maintain creativity ( not easy in itself) and at the same time keeping an eye out on the technology part of the business to stay current.
I hate to say the good ole days.. BUT.. it was simpler before.. like black coffee instead of a double viente cap,half caf. half decaf, soy milk, with a dash of pomegranite....okay, that is the craziness of the customer, but what if the relpy was, "well we no longer carry soy products form our dairy distributor because they are also sellling to the coffee shop down the street, but they are owned by nestle and we have an alliance agreement to share blah,blah,blah.. so have some chocolate instead, but soy will be shipping next year".. I hope you get my point.
give me a break guys will you please figure out what you are going to sell, how much it is and sit in one f.ing chair.
Example - Sinarbron, you want to carry the F&H products? fine, be the distributor and carry the whole line..take it or leave it. It might have been great for some genius mba to figure out a cool stategic alliance with x, y & Z but it is making your customers heads spin.. and we might just stay at home and work with what we have. Now I do not direct any of this to anyone or company in particular, and I am sure all envolved are lovely people to sit and have a meal with but come on!
I think a possible solution in the long run would be a sales laison for professionals with each manufacture, providing directs sales to us. We are already put in the position to do all the legwork anyway and figure out who sells what and what it works with..the middle guys are all playing catchup with us. You want us on the cutting edge and fork out for the new products to drive the industry further along? then bring us in a few steps closer.. try partnering with the photographers who use the products or are we not businesses too, just marks, cause in the current shell game I am seeing, I feel like one.
I think we are all lucky here to have some direct contact with the manufactures..and they do what they can but have their hands tied by the mba / lawyer dudes,.. unless someone is selling stuff out of his hotel room and I don't know about it.