Sometimes nice guys are morons too

Everybody screws up, right? Some things are unforgivable, such as intentionally selling plants that aren’t true to name.

Todd Davis

Everybody screws up, right? Some things are unforgivable, such as intentionally selling plants that aren’t true to name.

“You need 50 ‘Dynamite’ crape myrtles 14 feet tall? Let’s see, it’s the middle of December … SURE I have them.”

If you do this, you deserve a scarlet letter. Make it an S for “sleazeball.”

But honest mistakes are more common. And sometimes pure acts of kindness can make you look like a moron.

About a year ago I was looking for some ‘Nellie R. Stevens’ hollies for a contractor installing a commercial job. He didn’t care what they looked like, but the inspector was a stickler. If they came in an inch under spec, they would be rejected.

I found a grower a few states over that had the numbers and the heights I needed. Only when they arrived, they were all 6 inches to a foot short.

I picked up the phone and asked, “What’s the deal?”

He replied the taller ones were a little thin, so he cherry picked out these nicer ones “that I’d like better.”

It was an honest mistake. He really was trying to get me the best product for my money. But my customer didn’t care about quality. He just needed to stick something in the ground that would hit height spec.

Another vendor sent a delivery truck out a day early without notification. He “thought I would appreciate it.” The problem is I didn’t have the staff on hand to unload a 53-foot, lean-stacked trailer. So I had to scramble to find temp workers (a.k.a. rent-a-drunks) for the day.

It cost me money and, believe me, the driver didn’t appreciate waiting around for that truck to get unloaded either.

It’s all about communication. By all means, go the extra mile for your customers. But when you start doing “favors” without asking, you’re going to get in trouble.

One last example: It didn’t happen to me, but I had to share.

An East Coast nursery was long on 3-gallon hollies. Looking to get rid of them, he threw about 50 on an outgoing delivery to a contractor as a gift.

When they arrived, the grower received a furious call. “I’m not paying for those!”

The grower responded, “Don’t worry. They’re not on the invoice. They’re for you to keep as appreciation for your business.”

The contractor then complained that he couldn’t use the hollies would have to pay to dispose of them. He wasn’t taking them, and they were going back on the truck.

Yes, it was a case where the grower literally couldn’t give his product away.


 

Todd Davis
tdavis@gie.net

 

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