By Diane Crosby

Stores that sell to police, sheriff or other law enforcement departments are unique. Of course, the equipment and clothing needs are distinctive to each department as well as to each area of the country. While such storefronts do welcome walk-in customers, much of their bread-and-butter sales can be attributed to their departmental business. Such sales can be a boom or a bust, depending on the loyalty of the entities you deal with. The challenges are many, though the rewards can be great.

Acquiring Departmental Business

When communicating with a department about the possibility of being a vendor, it is important to know who is really in charge of the organization and who makes the decisions about purchases. Those may be different individuals. Most departments are overseen by a county, city or state board that is not law enforcement, but is political. Therefore, a buyer is often torn between selecting a good vendor and ordering as cheaply as possible to stay in the good graces of those who hold the purse strings. When you can please the money folks and those who order, you can get the business. It may require bidding to start. Smaller departments may have more leeway in selecting their own vendors, and how buyers are treated can seal the deal. Competing with chain stores and online sales is not always easy, but we have found that chiefs, sheriffs and officers all prefer to work with a small vendor who will meet their needs with a personal touch.

Receiving orders

When it comes to order placement, we have seen it all, and each department is different. Some simply send in an officer to pick up whatever he or she requires. Others wish to have particular individuals who approve any purchases. Some want to send a purchase order number or a list of items to be bought. A word of advice: Always get the name of the person walking away with merchandise and make certain you have contact information for billing! Print or type the name, as signatures can be impossible to read. Also remember to remove the tax from government sales if that is necessary in your state. Payment may take place immediately via a governmental credit card or be put on account. Therein is another issue!

Accounts

Just like the stores in Mayberry where Andy and Barney were the law enforcement, those who sell to departments must often charge purchases to be paid later. Can you imagine one of today’s big box entities or a grocery store allowing such a payment method? Those selling to departments face this challenge every day. You must have a system in place for billing in order to stay afloat. Some departments have similar names, so learn how to distinguish between them. When a new account is opened, employees must know how to get all the correct information so that invoices may be sent out in a timely manner. Then someone must send those invoices. Billing by email is a bit more efficient, but about half of our customers still prefer paper bills. We have one that insists bills be faxed. Keep up with which are which. Decide how to manage returns, which can happen due to incorrect sizes ordered or a new hire quitting before he or she even got started. Any credits on file should be applied to bills. That is another organizational system to be created. I send invoices once a week. The unpaid bills are filed in one location with the paid ones stored in a filing cabinet.

Receiving payments

Even in the world of internet magic, most departments send out paper checks. Many of those have some sort of reference on them to help match the payment to the invoice on hand. A few other departments, especially statewide ones, deposit directly into our business account. Occasionally those have references. Yes, matching payments to invoices is a science and an art form. Often a department will pay more than they should, leaving a credit. Frequently, they skip over bills. Sometimes, there is no reference at all, which leads to an investigation on our behalf. Whose money is this?

Past due bills

By far, the most frustrating part of dealing with departments is when merchandise leaves your store but the payment lingers on. Often, a department will take out merchandise and send back forms for us to complete, saying they must have all the appropriate paperwork before they can pay us. We do this, if grudgingly, though I always feel that leaving the store with merchandise is a contract for payment! But what if a departmental payment drags out for months? You may have paid your vendors long ago. Your bank account can run dry! Statements are an effective way to begin, either by mail or email. Next would be phone calls to the chief, sheriff or other purchasing agent. I have gone as far as to send statements and letters to city councils or county commissioners, but that is a last resort. We don’t often have to write off bad debt, though it has happened on rare occasions. 

The same issues we encounter with law enforcement departments are also there in other professions, such as fire departments and emergency offices. Is it worth all the hassle? It most certainly is worth every bit. We get to work with true heroes, and we have the privilege of making their lives and jobs a little easier. Whether for departments or individuals, we hope to have the merchandise they need and want, along with some fun things to explore on our shelves. Our store is their store. We do everything possible to meet their needs while running a business. It is a challenge worth accepting!

 

Diane and Wiley Crosby own Red Dog Outfitters in Forsyth, Georgia. They have been selling to law enforcement departments for years, which is both a blessing and a challenge!