[TowerTalk] How to reach SteppIR

[David Gilbert]

I don't own a SteppIR and have no direct experience with them at all, so 
my comment here is general in nature.

About a year ago, out of curiosity I scanned through a very large 
informal sampling of product reviews on eHam to see how the ratings 
stacked up for various categories of complaints.  I have a very low 
opinion of the accuracy of any eHam review in general, but what 
intrigued me was that the great majority of scathing reviews (ratings of 
zero or one) across all product lines and time frames were for customer 
service issues rather than product performance, quality, or 
reliability.  You can hear the same type of thing on the air or at club 
meetings .... people will tolerate poor product if the supplier 
addresses problems (sometime even if they don't fix them!), but nobody 
will cut a vendor any slack at all for ignoring them.  It's a pretty 
universal condition and I'm always amazed that so many companies, small 
or large, seem so clueless about it.

If you want to run a successful enterprise, put staying in touch with 
your customer base at the very top of your priority list.

73,
Dave   AB7E



On 5/20/2010 4:02 PM, Mike wrote:
> I don't disagree. Someone needs to answer the phone, if only to explain that
> most of the personnel are at a trade show and will get back to you as soon
> as they return. Heck, in this day of cell phones and email, I don't see any
> reason why limited service can't be provided from a trade show site,
> particularly when a customer has an urgent problem. But it's most important
> that someone acknowledge each and every request for service and give an
> estimate of when help will be provided.
>
> I agree, this is most important!
>
>
> I had the exact same issue with a small espresso machine parts supply
> company recently. All the service techs and decision makers went to a trade
> show, leaving a receptionist in charge who had no ability to do anything.
> She made the mistake of telling me that someone would call be back, but no
> one ever did. Really ticked me off. But when the techs got back they
> apologized profusely and immediately addressed my problem.
>
>
> Unfortunately Steppir rarely do!
>
> The other side of the coin is that these are very small companies with
> limited resources. Typically, margins are very tight, especially for
> products manufactured in the USA. It's vital for them to pump up sales as
> much as possible in order to survive, and with technical products this often
> means bringing your best service people to the show. Thus, there's a
> tradeoff between securing new business and servicing existing business, even
> for the most service-oriented companies. But new sales are really important
> to the existing customer, too: service will get *really* bad if the company
> goes under.
>
>
> A thing to remember here is that much of Fluid Motion's business is via Word
> of Mouth from existing customers on air.  The old saying is "It is expensive
> and difficult to get new customers, and much easier and cost effective keep
> existing customers".
>
>
> 73, Dick WC1M
>
> The small company I work for do Six Trade shows a year but I guarantee you
> even though many technical and sales people are at these shows it is
> transparent to the customer.  Hard work for us because we are working the
> booth and returning phone calls and still sending out quotes etc., but it
> has to be done.  Back at the hotel at 12pm after too much booze and half
> asleep answering emails. But if you want to keep people happy and retain
> business you do it.
>
> Mike, K6BR