How do you make a customer who swears by the lowest price and insists on choosing the "cheapest" supplier understand that they may be on the wrong track?
By reminding him that the lowest price policy is doomed to failure, because he'll only get the worst materials, unskilled technicians, etc. This warning about the dangers of low prices is as old as the history of trade. The letter Vauban (marshal of France and general commissioner of fortifications under Louis XIV) sent to Louvois (superintendent of French buildings) criticizing his policy of selecting suppliers based on the lowest bidder principle is a case in point.
You can reproduce this letter and offer it to your buyer when he tells you that he wants to choose the cheapest supplier. When they read it, doubt may creep into their minds. In any case, it will have a certain effect. Fear of risk is a powerful motivator.
Belle-Isle-en-Mer, July 17, 1685,
My Lord,
Some of the work queues from the last few years have not been finished and will not be finished, and all this, Monseigneur, is due to the confusion caused by the frequent rebates on your work, for it is certain that all these breaches of contract, breaches of promise and renewals of tenders only serve to attract to you as contractors all the wretches who don't know where to turn: the rascals and the ignoramuses, and to scare away all those who have the means and are capable of running a company.
I say more, that they considerably delay and increase the cost of the work, which is all the worse for it, because these much sought-after Discounts and Good Deals are imaginary, all the more so as it is of a Contractor who loses as of a man who is drowning, who gets caught up in everything he can ; Now, to get caught up in everything you can as a contractor means not paying the merchants from whom you buy your materials, skimming what you can, paying the workers you employ badly, using only the worst workers because they are cheaper than the others, using only the worst materials, quibbling about everything and always crying mercy on this one and that one...
That's enough, Monseigneur, to show you the imperfection of this behavior: leave it, and in God's name, re-establish good faith, give prices and works and don't refuse an honest wage to a contractor who does his duty, it will always be the best deal you can find.
As for me, Monseigneur, I remain your most humble and obedient servant.
Sébastien Le Prestre de Vauban
Marshal of France
(National Archives of Paris).
Source: " Sales Accelerators " - Michaël AGUILAR and Philippe LAFAIX - DUNOD - February 2005