The paying full price for a car
 

has to do with the long standing business model of the industry. I think Jon or someone else metioned it earlier, higher price with discounts.

I could counter that with when is the last time you called to haggle the price of your electric bill or did the same thing at the grocery store?

Lately I think I'm realizing that for any service type company, the vast majority of them in a given industry are pretty much completely terrible as far as customer service goes.

When even my brother was in the parts/cars business, I got pretty much the same service level from him as around half of the vendors of lat-g I've bought from, which is to say far less than ideal.

It's the same with pretty much every other industry I interact with, a common one even cited here is contractors, but I've so far this year had similar poor experiences with real estate agents, bankers etc.

As Greg noted, there are a lot of vendors that you never hear bad things about and that's usually a good sign. I think a number of those vendors have also shown (as have leaders in other industries) that you don't need cut throat pricing, and that people will pay for quality products and service.

Very well said. I think a lot of customers are more than willing to pay extra for great customer service and products. I think SC&C, Kore3, and HPI are great examples of this.

No I'm not that guy. And I'm also not that guy who calls up vendors for free tech. I do my own research without bothering vendors with questions I can usually find answers to on this website or others. If not I'll post up a question on the forum and usually get great answers from fellow members. Most I ever do is call up a manufacturer when a spec is not clear.

The only vendor I ever talked with extensively was Mark Savitske and that was because he couldn't stop talking. :lol: And he did get an order...

Don

Well I do shop for groceries where the prices are low and I also chose an electicity provider with a low rate.

I never haggle with parts vendors over the price of their parts. I simply check their website. If it's not listed I take a minute of their time to call and ask. No haggling involved...

Anyway, I put that question out there for the folks who think that I should be blindly paying MSRP. Sorry, I'm just not programmed that way. Sure, sometimes I do pay it if it makes sense but no way do I do it every time just because someone thinks it is the right thing to do.

Flame suit on,
Don

It's not just the car business..... The Walmart effect is everywhere.... Even in veterinary medicine. More and more "low cost" clinics are popping up. The "bread and butter" stuff like spays, vaccines, flea products etc that used to decent profit generators are all going to low cost clinic, the Internet, Costco or Walmart. Those profit centers allowed me to keep my other services reasonably priced. Now my other services have to dramatically up to offset those lost income source

The low cost places do surgeries at prices I wouldn't even brake even on let alone make a profit. How do they do it? By keeping their overhead as low as possible.... Lowest paid labor, cheapest faculty, cheapest supplies... They cut corners.... It's the only way

Saw one 2 weeks ago.... That $100 dog neuter ended up costing you $500 after I had to fix the crappy job they did

So I either stick to my principles and know I will lose clients that focus solely on price.... Which is fine since I wouldn't make any profit anyway.... Or I sink to the low cost client level

The fact is that the top 20% of you customers generate 80% of your income... Focus on those 20% and offer them stellar service. So you can deal with 3 customers that make you $100 profit on each or one customer that makes you a $300 profit... You decide which is the business you want to run

How many of you buy your pets medication online now or at Costco? Do you know how many prescription I write so the owner can buy the medication somewhere else?

These are excellent point. I made a similar comment in another thread here.

Every company listed on the left needs to figure out who their customers are. There are plenty of ways to make money at the top and at the bottom. Every individual has their own perception of value and it means different things to different people. Some people value price above all else, others value shocks and wheels that look like jewelry, at any price.

Every company on the left also needs to consider that this industry, overall, is shrinking. When you combine a shrinking market, with a slow economy, you have business conditions that are very tough. The only way to stay competitive is through the development of new, innovative products and services. It is the only way to keep your products from being commoditised. When you are the only company, selling a product, that satisfies the needs of your customers, price will no longer be a big factor.

Andrew

Some vendors can do all three :thumbsup: :thumbsup: Cmon Jon your wheels are priced good, Your customer service is good (I did call you 1000000000 times sorry), and Im sure you can make your wheels on time. So there you got all 3

I can tell you how we made CUSTOMERS and held PRICES -- we actually made the dealers carry inventory. Lots of it - or they weren't dealers. When you own the inventory - you can DELIVER - and you have a dealer with integrity and financial wherewithal.

Obviously that isn't possible in some of the lines we're talking about... nobody could carry all the wheels with all the variables... But that's how I did it when I ran a multimillion dollar (like 100 million in sales per year) business... No inventory investment - no dealer.

I've bought stuff from Frank -- got it within days (back when) NFW I'd buy anything now. Not taking that chance. We're friends. But that stops at the wallet.

I've bought stuff from DSE -- Got my stuff within DAYS

I've bought stuff from Muscle Rodz -- Ditto

I've bought stuff from Morrison -- Ditto

I've bought stuff from The Shop LLC -- Ditto

I've bought stuff from Ring Brothers -- Ditto

If I've read ONE THREAD about non delivery -- chalk that up to a bad "something" -- If I've read repeatedly over and over about some vendor regardless of the excuse laden posts I'm not buying anything from that guy period no way, no how, ever... I remember the old "caveat emptor" -- let the buyer beware.

Exactly, Summit and Jegs already carry Fesler and Ring Brother stuff. They stock there shelves with it. As soon as THEY start carrying subframes and more pro-touring type stuff. I wouldn't even try to compete. You can get stuff in 2 days with them.