brought back from the dead

 

that was pretty repetative.

 

It seems to me that the unauthorized resellers are not the scum here. People call them scum because they are jealous of the pricing these resellers are getting. These unauthorized resellers are smart and take advantage of an opportunity posed to them by the real scum.

The real scum are the bad managers within the large manufacturers who are apparently setting the quotas with total disregard for long-term effects to various stakeholders of the company (i.e. channel partners, employees, and some stockholders). It is a classic case of adapting to measurements to increase managerial performance bonuses. As one of my favorite sayings goes, "what gets measured gets done."

To achieve long-term health, managerial measurements should be designed to encourage long-term thinking and health (e.g. channel partner satisfaction and profitability). The manufacturers are undermining their distribution channels and commoditizing their products in doing so. Long-term effects of commoditizing their products is lower and lower pricing to the point where it is impossible to make a profit and the small players exit the market. The large players will then realize they can not just raise prices back to a profitable level because the market will be used to the low pricing and will not accept anything else. They will then move on to the next product line. At this point the manufacturers will discontinue manufacturing operations of the product category or find ways to manufacture it cheaper (i.e. lower quality). It is known as the race to the bottom.

I am witnessing this race to the bottom in my industry as well and bad/irresponsible management within the manufacturer is the root problem. At first glance one would assume stockholders should wake up, but the problem is that many stockholders are also concerned about short-term gains and encourage management to boost sales so they can achieve that short-term gain in the form of capital gains.

[ May 16, 2005, 08:46 PM: Message edited by: B-Burn ]

 

b-burn your totally right, there is alot of bad management everywhere. it seems that alot of companies are having serious managment problems. not just in car audio but even in my dads company that does insurance is having some serious trouble. seems like a buncha people that got too comfortable where they are just doing what it takes to stay there.

 

When will people just wake up and realize that the majority of consumers, when given a choice of same product with warranty(whether factory or after market) but lower price...surprise they will choose the lower price.
It's dog eat dog out there boys...deal with it or find something else to do. If you don't like the way the manufacturer deals with you...stop carrying their products. If enough dealers show their discontent maybe they will change their ways. If they don't and they still survive, then you know you really were not that important! Ultimately it's what the consumer wants that counts. If all they care about is price then that's all the manufacturer cares about.

 

Maybe I am missing something here.

I never buy anything online, I have always purchased locally.

Think about it, spend the few dollars more and buy it from FS, BB, AB, V, or "the small guys". This way when something goes wrong you can know you will be looked after.

People will always sell crap online, BUT the problem is people will buy it thinking it is a better deal due to the low price. At my shop will always explain the no hassles they will have if and when a problem comes up......"my cd player I bought from Ebay stopped working, will you warranty it since you carry the same product?" NOPE, sorry. [img]smile.gif[/img]

[ May 16, 2005, 11:38 PM: Message edited by: Claudio Piccolo ]

 

^^^^ x2 well said Claudio

 

^^^

While I think the manufacturer is dirty to be doing what they do, I don't think negative attitudes should be directed towards the consumer.

I myself do not value warranty whatsoever because I know what I'm doing with my equipment. Chances of a manufacturer defect with the equipment I use are worth the risk. After all, for the price I pay online I could just buy another of the same piece for a combined total of what you would pay in a brick and mortar store.

Again I will state what I have argued before. Some of you just don't get it. No business can be ALL things to ALL people. Pick a market niche or segment and go for it and stop bitching about purchasing choices of consumers outside of the piece of the pie you should be operating in.

If you want to get angry, get angry with the manufacturers, not the consumers. [img]graemlins/thumb.gif[/img]

 

People will look for a good deal....human nature....if they don't think you are offering a good deal, they'll keep looking til they find someone that tells em what they want to hear.


My niche happens to be that I'll only sell to people with at least the intelligence of a good refrigerator, that appreciate quality, and can use my products properly.
If a guy wants to get every dollar spent out there, then he better be ready to sacrifice every shred of honesty, dignity, and sense of self worth to get it.
I worked at Krazy Krazy's for a while, and the policy there was "No-one walks!!!!", No matter what. If you had to VELB (very Effective Low Ball) someone with a price $50 or $100 below cost, then do it. Spent a lot of time chasing customers in the parking lot, doing just that, but "get their business, rather than let them walk.
The result was that the "worst" customers got the best deals, and the "best" customers got "bent over", to make up for it......Yuck!

Now I get to choose who I sell to, and I sleep very well at night....everyone gets the same margin, and it's fair, and if they can find a "better" deal on-line or wherever, then I'll try to show them the "truth", but if they choose to go there, then "Good Luck" is all I say.

Had a guy today that bought an RE XXX on-line, came back....he was supposed to bring it to show me, but the sub blew up after 3 days, and Awww, Geee,...No warranty...He said it sounded "sweet" til it blew.....I just smiled inside.

[ May 20, 2005, 05:20 PM: Message edited by: Car Trek ]

 

I might be a bit biased, but unless you sell the services up front (I'll take care of you if it breaks won't do it if you ask me), they won't go to you.

I bought a Dell online (where else?), hard drive went bad after 9 months, spent 1 hour troubleshooting it (they were very thourough, I got the feeling they knew what they were doing), then sent me a new hard drive by 2 day shipping and scheduled a guy to put it in. Then called back to put in the OS.

So just because the shop is doesn't mean the guys online won't take care of you. Painting the entire online landscape with the same brush would be just as fair as painting all brick and mortars with the same brush based on the action of the bad apples.

Juan