I was having a discussion with a major supplier this week, the conversation briefly turning to what to do when you get something wrong.

I was told that companies such as theirs are judged on every decision they make. Sometimes things go wrong and when they do the best thing to do, the only thing to do, is front up to it. Admit something's gone awry, apologise, and commit to righting the mistake. 

This company believed that whilst on the whole the industry is a conservative one, dealers in the main are a forgiving bunch. They understand that everything can't be perfect all the time. As long as they see you accepting the error and making steps towards righting the wrong, they will be empathetic.

Where potential bad feeling arises is when problems aren't admitted, or worse go on unaddressed for any length of time.

I'm sure dealers can relate to this, both in terms of their relationship with the manufacturers and suppliers they deal with and indeed with issues faced with your own customers who come in through your doors.

In terms of manufacturers and suppliers not admitting errors, I have actually heard a few grumblings just lately from several different dealers regarding recurring problems they've been facing with design and production quality on what should be high-end machines.

Is this something other readers can relate to or have concerns about?

Various dealers have mentioned just recently that they've seen a noticeable downturn in production quality of certain equipment, a cutting of corners, resulting in some very unhappy consumers. I've had people say to me it's something they've been noticing over time, but has really come into focus this year.

"The manufacturers are obviously looking to maximise profitability but this is a false economy when you’re having to re-tool, re-work or replace products that have failed in the marketplace - not to mention a dent to reputation and cheapening of the brand name" - is how one dealer eloquently put it.

If this is something which dealers are seeing with increasing regularity, it really doesn't make sense? Reputation for brands are hard won. They are something which are built over years and to tarnish them for a short-term monetary gain seems pretty foolish.

Also the reputation of the dealers on the front line selling these machines suffers as well. You don't want to be known for selling unreliable machinery - that's for the sheds and the internet!

The supplier I was chatting to this week, spoke of how aware they are of what an important concept reputation is to dealers. They believe that dealers will often think reputationally before thinking commercially. In many situations the value of their reputation locally will take precedence over profits.

So if what's being said about a downturn in certain equipment's production quality is indeed a real issue, that's both their own brands' reputations which are being degraded, plus that of the dealer who's putting these machines into the hands of consumers.

Manufacturers need to take notice of the feedback coming from their consumer-facing dealers and make efforts to correct any problems. If not, franchises are surely likely to be dropped?

And then who will fix their faulty machines?