We just lost a major supplier. Help!

Dear Aunty B,

I am back from holidays to really bad news. We have just launched a new area of the business and signed up some major multinationals as customers, but I learnt today (it happened on Monday and no one thought to ring and tell me because they wanted me to finish having a nice holiday!!) that one of our major suppliers has dumped us with a week’s notice.

When I went to check on the paperwork I found that it had never been completed and that the five months we have dealt with them we never had a contract.

It is going to be very hard to source a new supplier, especially at the good rates we had negotiated verbally of course.

Aunty, what do I do? I already rang them up and gave them an earful but that didn’t change their mind. Can I sue them because the understanding always was that the contract was for a year and they know that and I know that?

Not a good way to finish a holiday

Dear Not a good way to finish a holiday,

You what? You rang up a client and gave them an earful? Are you nuts? You can’t even blame ‘end of year burnout’.

Here is what you are going to do. You are going to go and see them bearing gifts with a very nice smile on your dial. And you are going to negotiate with them to keep supplying you for a few more weeks/months – whatever you can get out of them. You may have to put a little bit more money on the table to make up for “the earful”.

Meanwhile you are going to be very, very busy looking for another supplier. So who, my friend, has time for lawyers?? You must also put in new systems to make sure all contracts have been completed before deals commence.

Good luck!
Your Aunty B

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