Laser manu's

[MechEng3]

Why is it so difficult to transmit a message to some of these sales people? They have not a clue about polarization and other laser related nomenclature. So why the pain? They don't even care if they are losing sales in this economic pit....when they should strive even that much more to maybe save their own position with the company. What a headache....seems not worth the trouble anymore. A solid manu would have experienced sales reps for their products, laser theory in general , and would be willing to help out on a customer's specific needs...with a fair price...so I thought. Oh well....back to the drawing board. I guess you just can't beat a nice home brew laser anymore. Anyone else seem to have problems? I am sure there are several issues...

[mixedgas]

Mike, you don't understand the REP system in the US, its not about sales, its about "contacts", they get paid if you even CALL... They don't get paid for followups.


This is not a rant, IT IS A RAGE!

Forgive me, I need to vent!

I'm going through this now with several parts, laser and not laser. I have been dealing with this over the past two years. It Does not matter if I want 1 or 10,000 units. It does not matter if my client has no dollars or a open 100K$ line of credit.

Case in point:

...I had a rep stall a order of samples at my last employer. A "Big Nato Nation Defense Ministry" wanted to see 4 prototypes of a unit in two weeks. The chip factory, in China, arranged for us to have 10 EMERGENCY demo boards made for a chip, so we could drop it into a case, install it in our product, and go. We had one demo board which we had tested to destruction.

...A US based rep, not aware of the urgency of the deal, stalled the payment for the 10 new boards on his desk for a week, so he could "Come see our operation" on his time, and offer his services. I nearly got fired, had I not reached for my own personal credit card and flung down megabucks to order a competing product from Digikey at the last minute on a Friday so at least one unit could ship on the coming Tuesday.

....Who did they send to apologize? The same IDIOT who stuck his nose where it does not belong and his boss.

....Who then had the brass ones to dig out his line card and try to market us his other product lines while my boss sat there fuming, at above core of the sun temperatures. Oh, and instead of our 10 boards, he brought us one sample board and a tube of raw chips. I then borrowed a expensive technician and a expensive rework station from another plant and repaired/modified the dead demo board. It took the tech a few minutes. Minimum billing, 1 day of tech time. I lit up a phone line at 3 AM my time to call the chip maker in China, who was NOT amused.

Remember, they, and the in house marketing people, for the most part, get paid by the contact, not the sale. They do not have to return your call once you call them.

I'm very fed up with this. It costs me business, big time.

This is a big factor in why I lost my last job. We could design stuff, but could never actually get the parts. Our partner was a 1 BILLION a year defense contractor. They often could not get the parts either. They could at least, often buy the company that stalled them if needed.

If you are a rep, and reading this, Bloody hell, don't call me on a following Friday with a quote I requested on a Monday!!!

I never put anything in anything now that I cannot get at DIGIKEY or MOUSER both. Unless I have to.

The marketing system for technology is very, very, broken in the States.

...I am setting here trying to locate a jellybean optical part that is advertised on 100 on line sites, has been out for over a year, and is advertised in Photonics Spectra, Laser Focus World, Electronic Design News, etc. I've seen one, got to see a sample sent to someone else, and then NO ONE returns my calls when I try to place a order.

A whole day blown on the cell, and all I get is VOICEMAIL.

....I just Tried the competing part maker. A sweet sounding secretary just routed me to ANOTHER voicemail.

..Everyone I have ever worked for expects the timely return of phone calls and emails. Never longer then 24 hours. Loss of a client, even one that wants "One" of something, has been unacceptable to any of my employers. Even if we lost a little money or just broke even on "One" unit. Why? Because the "Touch of Service" philosophy works. If XYZ corp bends over backwards and takes it up the Axx for one little order, word gets around that XYZ is "GOOD" and XYZ gets more business.

Steve



END PL RAGE!

Steve