I knew I was asking for it this week when I told Sheena that we needed to spice up her rants a little bit. I have been giving her topics that have made her be a little too nice which I know she is not totally comfortable with. My question to her this week was…”what has been irritating you about the industry?”  I knew better! lol Now, You all know I am all about being positive and what I LOVE about Sheena is that even with her vicious rants, she does have a point and usually has a spin. Sheena will also give credit where credit is due. Sometimes things need to be said……THIS does however give you buyers the right to express your feelings as well. Maybe just maybe there are things reps can do that will help make your life easier. I know that there are just as many great buyers as reps out there….unfortunate thing for both sides is that you don’t get to pick and choose who you work with, so to Sheena’s ultimate point…..everyone needs to realize that you all are on the same team. Oh boy so here it goes…please don’t shoot the messenger! “Sheena’s Weekly Rant is meant for entertainment purposes only and does not necessarily reflect the opinion of all Shoebizness contributors. Here on Shoebizness we like to highlight all different perspectives.” – Julia

The Bitter Buyer; A Closer Look.

I was at lunch today with one of our larger accounts and we were all sharing horror stories of all the freak and geeks located within the shoe biz. This got me to thinking about my reference to “BB’s” aka Bitter Buyers. Obviously, when talking of such nasty creatures ion the business we are referring mostly to these “BB’s” as they are in fact bitter, miserable and usually utter Hell to deal with.

The BB aka Bitter Buyer title came to me while at an industry party recently and I noticed how utterly miserable a few of my buyers were. Even at a party with lots of free booze these cranky dinosaurs didn’t even crack a smile or let loose once! Absurd if you ask me. Why leave your house ever if you can find and enjoy the simple pleasures in life? These buyers I notice usually aren’t married, single and have no children. Not a big problem. However, if you spend all your time working and being an asshole how do you attract the opposite or the same sex? Nobody wants to go up to a chick at a bar and offer to buy her a drink then become berated with her “my job is so freaking hard” and “my life is so busy and I cant deal” stories. Seriously folks, how unattractive to either sex.

Anyway, there were a few of us at lunch today and while we were all having a laugh at these outrageous stories, they are seriously disturbing to some degree. I mean the fact that buyers would even think of treating us vendors in such a way is appalling. I would always ask myself, “Is this person crazy?” whenever confronted with such behavior.  However, at my lunch-e-poo I noticed that for everyone’s story they had a turn around story to back it up. Like if a certain department store buyer was a crazy ol’ bitch for years she has now calmed down a bit, whether its due to the economy or not, this buyer has since turned over a new leaf and is not as terrible. I heard this from a few of the individuals I was lunching with.

Which brings me to think that maybe in these tough economic time buyers are realizing we are all on the same team and treating reps as such. I really can’t say for sure but if a crazy ol’ bitch can change her tune, is there hope for the rest of the BB’s out there? Possibly these unsure times and even more unsteady economy has taken the edge off the freaks and geeks? Are they now joining the human race and enjoying life?

If there was ever a time for me to care about comments, it ‘s now. I would love to hear form my fellow doggies and find out if my theories are valid. If you disagree, please let me know how wretched and insensitive I am, cause that’s always fun too.

Kiss kiss kiss.

-Sheena

www.matissefootwear.com