Why telling them early matters
Contractors quote jobs weeks or months before they buy the material. A price increase they didn’t see coming can wipe out their margin on a job they’ve already won. A distributor who warns them early helps them protect that margin — and earns trust that outlasts any single order.
Step 1: Understand what’s changing
When the manufacturer’s notice arrives, record:
- Manufacturer and product lines affected
- How much prices are changing — by line where it differs
- Effective date
- Anything else that changes — terms, minimums, or quote and order cut-off dates
Step 2: Work out who’s affected
- Contractors who buy the affected lines regularly
- Open quotes that include affected products
- Active projects where the contractor will keep buying those products
- Special pricing agreements that cover affected products — check whether they’re affected too
Step 3: Tell them early — and plainly
A good notice is short and factual:
- What’s changing: manufacturer, product lines and the size of the increase
- When: the effective date
- What it means for them: how it affects their open quotes and orders
- Their options: order before the effective date, ask for updated quotes, or talk to their sales rep about project pricing
- Who to contact with questions
Avoid invented urgency. If the increase is real and dated, the facts are enough.
Step 4: Use the right channels
- Email to buyers and estimators at every affected contractor
- Personal calls from outside sales for your largest accounts and active projects
- Counter notices at the branch
- Your website or customer portal, if you have one
Step 5: Get your own house in order
- Update price files so the new prices apply from the effective date — not before, not after.
- Review open quotes that will expire or need requoting.
- Brief your team — counter, inside and outside sales — so everyone gives the same answer.
- Check special pricing agreements and request updates from the manufacturer where needed.
Step 6: Follow up
- Follow up with contractors who have open quotes or active projects.
- Note who ordered ahead and who asked for requotes.
- Track questions that come up, so the next notice answers them in advance.
Common mistakes
- Waiting until the effective date to tell anyone
- Sending the same notice to every customer, whether or not they buy the affected lines
- Being vague about the effective date or which products are affected
- Using pressure tactics instead of facts
- Updating customer notices but not your own price files, or the other way round
- Forgetting open quotes and active projects