Price matching policy
1) Why Price Match makes commercial sense for Flashbay & for You?
Flashbay’s success is entirely down to repeat customer business (i.e. customers tend to place multiple orders with us over time not just one). Therefore, it is right to regard any customer’s first order with us as an important “on-boarding” step with a view to gaining that customer’s future USB Flash Drive order or promotional technology business. Not getting a customer’s first order for Flashbay means all advertising, marketing and time investment in that lead yields zero return. However, winning that first customer’s order - even at a low profit - means a significant potential yield over time and a sustained boost for our sales commission. Therefore, sometimes when necessary in order to win an order we need to apply the Flashbay Price Match Policy.
2) Confidence in Flashbay’s product & service:
At Flashbay we’re proud to offer an exceptional product and service to every customer that we serve. Over the past 15 years we have built up a unique, vertically integrated supply chain with our own factory in Shenzhen that continues to enable us to have the most competitive lead times in the market and ensures we have complete control over the quality of our products. To date none of our competitors can effectively match this and operate anywhere near the scale at which we do. In short, we are entirely confident that Flashbay’s products and services in comparison to all our competitors are superior.
Our simple, confident message to customers in these price competing situations is: If customer cares about on time delivery of their order and if they care about quality of printing - Go with Flashbay.
We know very well from experience that our competitors often consider their “job done” when an order has shipped from their Chinese supplier. Often very little to no attention is paid to delivery - Flashbay is all about on time delivery with a supply chain that is second to none in the industry.
We also know very well from having seen hundreds of competitor samples over the years that their printing is often not anywhere near our quality. A lot of them have 100% switched to some form of basic UV printing or so-called dome resin labelling. In summary, Flashbay’s supply chain, reliable delivery and high quality customisation makes us the safe choice for ordering USB Flash Drives and promotional technology products. We have to ensure that we gently make our customers aware of these advantages of going with Flashbay over the competitor and not leave the dialogue only focused on price alone.
3) Flashbay Price Match Criteria:
Flashbay will ‘price match’ the total price of any genuine, like-for-like quote for any final customer who provides us with an electronic copy of the offer that they have received from one of our competitors.
Total price: of the competitor quote must include all fees, charges, setup/branding costs, data charges, delivery charges, levies and taxes that the competitor would add - we cannot match partial or incomplete quotes.
Like-for-like quote: is one where the following details are the same between the quote provided by us and the quote to be price matched: • Flash drive model • Quantity • Capacity • Lead time • Colour • Branding method and any accessories and services to be included as part of the order.
Final customer: we mean any company or organisation ordering for their own needs not with the intention to resell the product.
Electronic copy: must clearly show the identity of the company providing the quote, the name of the company or organisation, the details of the quote, the total price, the delivery lead time and the date that the quote was provided. The quote should not be older than 7 days.
4) Does the Flashbay Price Match Policy apply to 1st time orders only?
Price matching should be primarily used to win new business from our competitors.
However, in some cases it may be appropriate to price match existing customers. It is vital that in such instance the sales account manager highlights that nothing builds more trust in a business relationship than a previously delivered order to a customer. The customer must also tactfully be reminded that changing supplier might pose a risk for a variety of reasons such as reliability, quality and lead time length. From 15 years of experience we can confidently say that most existing customers that have ever chosen to place an order elsewhere have been disappointed or let down in some form by the competitor - far from empty boasting this is truthfully what we have all been told on a myriad of occasions.
5) Who can approve price match requests on Slack?
If the price match is below level 0 your sales group leader must provide formal written approval on Slack. If the group leader needs further advice or guidance before they approve a price match they should reach out to their line leader. Flashbay does not provide price matches below our cost price unless for volumes above 1000 pieces and approved by CEO or a Co-Founder.
