When exploring RPIA membership, a few emotional things happen.  Here, in a nutshell are reactions you may have to what we are and do and a way to overcome your normal reactions facing reality as a smart business owner.

“I’ve done business with this distributor for 20 years, of course I get fair pricing!"

“I have a relationship with my suppliers.  They know me.  I trust them.”

The trust that we build in business relationships is skewed in vendor/client relationships as both sides, logically are trying to maximize profits in a way which each party sees value.  This value is negotiated on a per customer basis.

“How dare they rip me off like this? I work hard to run my business.”

It’s easy to feel wronged when you see what your pricing could have been.  Information is powerful, and like many of our members, what we didn’t know was costing us money.  We did the best that we could, negotiated as hard as we could, but we didn’t know that there were cost floors well below our quoted prices.

“How do I get it back?”

The costs are sunk. Write it off to experience. The current question is whether or not to change the way that you buy to prevent this from happening again.

"I could have expanded.  I could have…….”

Again, the strategic importance of combining your buying power with your peers let’s you know whether your pricing is inline or not.  The choice is yours.

“What can I do?  I own a local business in a space where I compete against huge companies that can undercut me by translating their lower ingredient cost to their retail prices.”

Again, you can compete and win.  Chances are, your product is preferred by your customers.  Negotiations are lengthy, frustrating, and take you away from your operations.

"Don’t get mad. Get even”

Acceptance does not mean sitting and suffering.  It means that you’re reached an understanding that you are a valuable customer, but larger volume buys get lower prices.  Warehousing, isn’t an option.  What if you could buy as part of a team of your peers and get volume discounts on the products you buy most.

"RPIA is letting me buy smarter, reducing my costs, but also letting me focus on my product instead of seeing sales reps”

It’s working.  With over 100 Million Dollars in annual combined purchasing power, the independents are able to buy like the chains.