In my hands I hold Vol. 1 Issue 1 of the Sherwin Williams employee newsletter, Peak Performance. There is a new thing that they are promoting called the TKO Competition. The object is to knock out a competing paint store out of business and then you get rewarded for it. When I read about this something in my head just said “this is wrong”. I understand if a business goes under because the competition was better, but to have Sherwin Williams actively trying to put other stores out of business just seems kind of off.
Most independent business owners put all they have into their store and then some big corporate store comes in and starts trying to push them out of town feels like the wrong way to do business. At the Sherwin Williams store I work at, we have a nice relationship with the other local paint store. If they have something we don’t, we send a customer there, and if we have something they don’t, they send the customers to us.
The whole idea of training the employees to take out a small business just seems wrong to me. From my point of view it says that Sherwin Williams does not care about the town they are in or the people that live there. When they but another store out of business they are also putting those people out of a job and if the business was all someone had, they would also be ruined financially.
Does this practice seem wrong to anybody else?
Thank god I only have 3 more weeks of work left for SW.
Depends-what exactly do they want employees to do? Yeah, the name sounds slimy, but if they just want to offer better service, I can’t see anything wrong with that.
Volume 1, Issue 1, huh ? Sounds like some grinning consultant who snoozed through ethics class just got a whopping payday.
I agree that making it your business goal to literally eliminate a competitor is pretty sleazy. Wal-Mart does it, sure, but you’ll never see a Wal-Mart business plan or (shakes head) employee newsletter touting their goal of seeing Mom-and-Pop board up the windows.
It’s one thing if you compete equally with all the other paint retailers in town, but quite another if you ignore competing with some so you can totally drive one out of business. I’d say that your employee newsletter is getting dangerously close to encouraging “anti-competitive practices”.
What I’d say ? Go put that newsletter away and when you’ve left the Company, mail a copy to the Better Business Bureau.
I don’t think that would do a bit of good. The BBB is one of the most ineffective government agencies around (and that’s saying something). They pretty much just record complaints against companies. Who the hell checks with the BBB to help decide where to buy a gallon of paint?
I agree that the OP’s question depends on how SW intends for their managers to defeat their competition- break their windows? Torch the store? Or simply be the best paint store you can.
For “anti-competitive practices,” you want to mail that brochure to the FTC, not the BBB. But I’m not sure whether this would qualify or not - I don’t know what much about antitrust law.
Nothing wrong with it. The methods could be wrong…not the result.
For example, if you continue to provide better service, and you offer lower prices through streamlining your processes, or reduce employee turnover, and these things make your store so much better that the other store can’t stay open (because they failed to compete), you have done good.
If you spread false rumors, price fix with other stores or run at a loss with the purpose of underselling to destroy a competitor…well, you have done ‘wrong’ legally …maybe. These sorts of things are wrong.
Actually, in the interest of consumers, you should be trying to out-do eachother, as long as you don’t do it so well the consumer had no choices (monopoly).
Not a government agency at all. And I’ve used them more than once with some limited success. If nothing else you create a s*itstorm of paperwork and phone calls for the offending company. On two occasions I did get some satisfaction as well. If a company wants to maintain good standing with the BBB they have to jump through the hoops.
I’m very much a pro-competition, hands off kind of guy when it comes to the marketplace. I want stores and companies fighting tooth and nail for my business, if some fail, that’s the way it goes. This sort of communication and reward system being published and promoted throughout the company is going a bit too far.
It’s like a football game, you fight hard to win, and if the opposing player gets hurt, that’s the risk you take. But, telling a player you’ll give him a bonus for breaking someone’s knee is just way out of bounds.
I’m thinking your local government would also be interested in this.
has a globe, with a paint bucket pouring over it. The bucket is pouring red paint, the globe is half white and half blue. And it says “Cover the Earth” or some shit like that. Cover the Earth in red, white, and blue? :rolleyes: I am totally willing to acknowledge I may be being oversensitive, maybe those are the best colors that come out, but with the last few years of hyper-patriotism etc., this really chaps my hide.
I am not surprised to hear they are trying to kill small paint stores.
I hate the logo with a passion, the company is actually trying to phase it out though. Try wearing that damn logo all day on a polo shirt. Not fun
I just remembered another little tidbit of info: Some of our so called “New and Improved” products are the same old product with a new label on it.
We also supply the paint for the Humvee’s that the military uses.
The store I am at does not engage in this competition(thank -insert deity here-) Like I said in my first post, we get along pretty good with the other local businesses.
That is kind of the meat of it. You’re really not telling us anything specific re “TKO’ing” the competition. It’s natural for an aggressive retailer to want to be king of the market. How they go about is the key. What specific actions or game plans is SW indicating need to be performed to achieve this competitive “TKO”? Providing insanely great SW service, amazing discounts, bad mouthing the competition, knee capping … what?
An employee newsletter? Any chance that it’s considered proprietary information, or company confidential?
I agree with Philster (and others) that there’s nothing wrong with a company having such a goal. But if that newsletter is considered proprietary or confidential (and I’d be surprised if it weren’t), I think Sherwin Williams is the one who should be glad that you only have 3 weeks left with them.