
	Friday Fax A Weekly Summary of Polywater^® News of Incredible Importance

Issue #513

Letter of explanation for the August 2008 price increase.

In case you haven't noticed, gas prices have been creeping up lately. This is a consequence of rising oil prices, which in turn affects the cost of raw materials, packaging supplies, and transportation for our products. The result is the need to increase selling prices. As you should have heard by now, APC will take a modest 3% average price increase, effective August 1, 2008. While most distributors are seeing price increases from many suppliers and are generally aware of the basic cause affecting virtually all manufacturers, it's still helpful to offer written justification. In many instance, distributors are asked by their customers for such documentation. If you need such a thing, feel free to download it here: Letter of Explanation ... or just give them the one word version: "oil."

A potential response to price resistance in today's cost-sensitive environment is a strategy called "unbundling." The idea is to breakdown the components of a customer's product to see what might be eliminated in exchange for a lower price. Logically this works with our kitted products, such as BonDuit, PowerPatch, AirRepair, FST Duct Sealant, and so on. An example might be to reduce the number of wipes, swabs, gloves, mixers, or something else the customer might consider non-critical or better sourced separately. Kits aren't the only thing to look at, however. Virtually any good customer's business could be reviewed for cost-saving opportunities. Larger, less frequent shipments save shipping costs. Local stock available for will call reduces a customer's inventory costs. Alternate packages may be more cost efficient. Always be prepared to brainstorm with your customer and factory Account Executive on ways to satisfy the customer's needs and preserve their valuable business.

The Friday Fax Editor's Joke of the Week

The Joke

Never Question a Drunk. A woman was shopping at her local supermarket where she selected: a half-gallon of 2% milk, a carton of eggs, a quart of orange juice, a head of romaine lettuce, a 2-lb. bag of coffee, and 1-lb. package of bacon. As she was unloading her items on the conveyor belt to check out, a drunk standing behind her watched as she placed the items in front of the cashier. While the cashier was ringing up her purchases, the drunk calmly stated, "You must be single." The woman was a bit startled by this proclamation, but she was intrigued by the derelict's intuition, since she was indeed single. She looked at her six items on the belt and saw nothing particularly unusual about her selections that could have tipped off the drunk to her marital status. Curiosity getting the better of her, she said: "Well, you know what, you're absolutely right. But how on earth did you know that?" The drunk replied, "'Cause you're ugly."

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American Polywater Corporation -- The world's leading manufacturer of cable pulling lubricants, cable cleaners, and MRO & construction chemicals.
P.O. Box 53 | Stillwater, MN 55082 USA
1-(651) 430-2270 (Voice) | 1-(651) 430-3634 (Fax)
1-(800) 328-9384 (Toll-Free US/Canada Only)