Look, I'm an Elecraft customer (K2) and love their products and what they've done to restore kitbuilding with quality products. I'm also trying to be an owner of the K3 you know how that's going. So to the extent what I've said is viewed as critical, it's meant to be helpful for the future.
In dealing with customers, it's always best to understate and overperform. Take Dell Computers for example. I've purchased maybe two dozen systems from them in the last ten years. Every time I ordered a new system, they gave me a ship date. Every time, they delivered the system PRIOR to that ship date. They set my expectation low and then beat it by a wide margin. How do you think that experience makes me feel about Dell, versus how I now feel about Elecraft? How much trust is there that Dell will do what it says, versus Elecraft? I agree that once Elecraft got themselves (and their customers) into a "repeatedly failed expectations scenario" with missed delivery dates, it was better to delay than ship a defective product. And yes, premature shipments happen way too much in the electronics industry and cost everyone, customers and producers alike. However, Elecraft would have done much better to follow the Dell model: never promise more than you can deliver, promise less and deliver more. Some unethical companies, of course, pre-announce products way before their release, in order to freeze the market and prevent customers from buying competitors' products that actually are available. I'm not at all suggesting Elecraft intended that (though they may have had that effect). My point is that Elecraft hurt both themselves and their customers by creating repeatedly jilted expectations, and my earlier post described how and why I believe that occurred: changing their business model from kits to finished products a much more demanding enterprise - without ramping up and properly managing the process to ensure success. The goal is for that not to happen again in the future, because it's bad for all concerned. I want the K3 and Elecraft to be hugely successful, but for too long now we've all been in limbo on that issue. Les WB6MND --- In [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: > > In a message dated 11/5/2007 12:29:53 P.M. Pacific Standard Time, > [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: > A minor correction to your minor correction. > > My statement was that Elecraft AS A COMPANY is inexperienced dealing > with contractors. > > It's clear from what's happened with the K3 that even if an > individual at Elecraft had SOME experience in "another life" with > outside contractors, it wasn't enough experience to correctly handle > this situation. > > There are thousands of ways contractors outside can mess up, cause > damage and then hide the damage until it's too late. It takes lots > of accumulated experience to sidestep the landmines â" large companies > have entire departments that do nothing but monitor suppliers' > status â" obviously Elecraft couldn't or didn't do this. As a > company, Elecraft stepped in the landmines. > > Les WB6MND > > I know I'm just a little biased toward Elecraft, but they have done quite > well for what they started with the K3. > I have managed programs in what we call rocket science and high tech of the > nth degree for 40 years and had just as much trouble with first run PCBs - > even when there were only 2 or 3 to be made. It's a tough game and outsource is > still in it's infancy. Have you ever noticed how many versions of highly > popular Computer motherboards turn out to be lemons and the rate at which they > are rolled up in revision? These are devices that are sold by hundreds of > thousands and using standardized buses and common components. Main reason is the > pressure to get them to market and the belief that firmware will fix any > minor problems. I praise Elecraft for having the strength to see this through the > toughest part of a new product rollout. > > Al WA6VNN > Al WA6VNN > > > > ************************************** See what's new at http://www.aol.com > Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Elecraft_K3/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Elecraft_K3/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
