re:thomson shafts

Doug,

I am not suggesting you lie to the distributor! I AM suggesting you
present yourself in a businesslike, professional manner. Who is going
to KEEP coming back! Who wants to LEARN something about what you are
asking for. I'm not sure where you get the "Hopefully, you'll never
need anything from these people again"? In my experience, many people
in this CNC thing, do not stop at one machine! And are generally the
type (with other related interests) who CAN develop a long term
relationship with distributors!

The "OTHER" side of this is when I HAVE BEEN the guy who needs a
quote for 100, and 3 right away. Really. One distributor I DID only
work with once, must've decided I was "insulting his intelligence",
because he responded the way you posted! His "competition" has done
over $100K of business with me since!

Ballendo

P.S. If you are a distributor, or work for one, IMO you had better
realise that product design STARTS with "one or two", and NEEDS to
know what the QUANTITY price will BE!!! And "giving that first break"
just may be the "price of admission" for their repeat business! If
you guess wrong, you will lose a little money. If you guess right ,
you may MAKE a LOT of money! Many distributors HAVE "wised up" and
seen that they cannot just count on the repeat orders from their
STEADY customers; They MUST DEVELOP business. And MOST "developing
business's" ARE strapped for cash. And WILL remember who treated them
right!

3M (and other successful companies like HP) has a corporate policy
of "expecting" LARGE parts of their revenue in the future WILL come
from things they don't even have the faintest idea about NOW! They
EXPECT it! They are looking to the future; NOT just living in/from
the past.

Doug wrote:

>Ballendo,
>I don't think this is a good approach. This will only work once
>and can result in long term bad feelings towards you from the
>distributor. Hopefully, you'll never need anything from these
>people again. Besides, most distributors will see right through
>this ploy.
>I get this all the time.."Give us a quote on 100 parts, but I'll
>need one right away". Not only do they not get the one part, since
>they've insulted my intelligence I don't even bother quoting the
>part or any other from that customer.
>I suggest being up front with the distributor. Throw yourself at
>their mercy. Personally, I'd be more likely to give a small customer
>a break if I know exactly where they're coming from.