Randy, you're doing it the right way! Don't be afraid to make a profit. Competing on price alone is ultimately suicidal. I tell people it's no good for our families or our customers if we can't afford to stay in business.
We frequently get calls from people who want us to _match_ (not beat) other dealers' pricing. I act confused and surprised and say something like "if you have already found a lower price, why do you want to buy it from us?" The caller then goes on to explain all the reasons he'd rather buy from us, and at least half the time he convinces himself to pay the few bucks extra. People are funny. Michael N. Marcus AbleComm, Inc. www.ablecomm.com ----- Original Message ----- From: Randy Dell <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Saturday, October 20, 2001 7:54 AM Subject: KX-T: RE: Making lemmon-aide > There are several Digital dealers where I work and live. Most do not do a > good job. I usually end up with their customer eventually anyway. I would > guess that about 50 -60% of the some 800 systems we care for, we did not > install. We just get and keep them with good service. Lately we have been > seeing more and more internet equipment coming to town. > > I look at every system, customer, as a source for continued income. This > includes internet acquired equipment. I want about an hour or two from each > customer per year. We do not get that from every customer and we get much > more than that from most. Two of my largest consumers of labor, are systems > I did not install. > > When a system comes to me, I always clean up the install, do everything the > customer wants including the training they did not get from the original > seller/installer, often I even have to supply the User Manual again. I > charge for my time. We do not have dual pricing. Everyone gets the same > price, for labor and equipment. I keep it simple so I never have to worry > about misquoting. I cover this to my customers by saying something like > this. > > "We keep our pencil as sharp as it can be, so we can stay in business. If > you want me to be here to service you when you need me, I must make a > profit. " > > No one has ever balked at the above statement. I have used it probably a > hundred times. > > I don't know where you live, but this small town, 1.5 Million strong, word > gets out about who takes care of business and who does not. Unfortunately, > most small businesses can not resist the lowest price, however they always > seem to have enough to do the job twice. I come in, fix the problem and end > up being the knight in shinning armor. > > Now here is my reason for doing a great job, do what ever it takes to make > your customer happy. Spend your time, change your style when the customer > does not get it, go back to basics. Be patient and you will be rewarded. > > How many of you have slowed down since September 11th? > > Not me, we have not had a chance to breathe, and last week I sold 6 systems, > installed 2, the remainder will be installed in the next 3 weeks, 4 of the 6 > system have VM. > > Our company consists of 2- Certified Techs, 1-cable puller, terminator and > general helper, 1- Office Manager and 1 part time person to run errands. We > do not have a salesman or saleswoman. > > I continually ask a prospective customer, if they want a list of happy > clients, I do not carry a list, I never send them one. I write down the > names in front of them and invite them to call. I never worry about it, > because everyone get my best price and treatment. > > > rd > > > > > ********************************************************* > * To unsubscribe, e-mail [EMAIL PROTECTED] * > * The KXT-Digest Home Page: http://kxthelp.com/ * > ********************************************************* > ********************************************************* * To unsubscribe, e-mail [EMAIL PROTECTED] * * The KXT-Digest Home Page: http://kxthelp.com/ * *********************************************************
