We agree with your thoughts there, Pat Your average end user is always looking at numbers So if they choose to buy from an internet dealer because they are going to save a couple of dollars....let them what they save now will cost cost two times as much or more when it comes time to give them personalized one on one service Eye to eye service on site is much more valuable to have than some dot com company a thousand miles away in a different time zone. I also notice that virtually none of these dotcom resellers emphasize that the digital KXTD products should be installed by a legitimate certified tech from Panasonic, they can sell all the fancy products and accessories they want including OEM programming software for the switches, and Panasonic will never support them. Long term......end user gets an education!
----- Original Message ----- From: "Pat Thornton" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "larry" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Cc: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Saturday, October 20, 2001 3:43 AM Subject: Re: KX-T: making lemon-aide > Larry, > > My opinion is that we, as independent dealers, do not support the sales > efforts of internet sites. Not that some of them are not reputable, > knowledgeable dealers in their own right. Many are, i.e. ablecomm. > > My latest dealer agreement with Panasonic specifically requires that we > install every system that we sell. This is obviously impossible for > internet dealers. They cannot provide the same level of service and > customization that I feel is necessary for local dealers to remain > competitive. > > What have you missed, you ask? Well, for one thing, you miss a reasonable > markup on the equipment sales. You also miss sales for add-ons, upgrades, > and replacements, if the end user is relying on an internet source. Yes, > you can charge T&M for equipment failures, but realistically,given the > reliablity of Panasonic products, how much can that be? > > And maybe most importantly, you are giving up the referral value of that > customer. Wouldn't you rather have them tell their friends what good > service you gave them, as opposed to what a good price they got over the > internet? > > Let's face facts: Panasonic is not going to to get tough with internet > dealers, because their main customer is not the dealer, but the > distribution company. Panasonic is not going to risk their relationship > with Graybar, or Sprint/North Supply or Teledymanics because they happen to > be a little lax about who they sell to. Therefore it is incumbent upon > us, the genuine certified dealer, to hold the hard line. > > I admit, it is tempting to just cave in and take the installation money > from a customer who seems determined to buy online. I have done it once, > and immediately regretted it. Having to refuse a internet customer's > requests for training and support, even though I pointed out that they had > already paid for support from their internet dealer, went against every > fibre of my customer service ethic. > > I believe the opportunity exists for us value-added resellers to compete > effectively with internet resellers. Many a user has forgotten the initial > savings when faced with a business-threatening outage or failure when his > only recourse is a dot-com address. > > I invite responsible opposing opinons - this is a large issue for us all. > > Pat Thornton > TeleCom Services Co. > Ukiah, CA > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > > > ********************************************************* > * 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/ * *********************************************************
