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Post by Deleted on Apr 30, 2016 9:59:48 GMT -7
I know Z Talk generally has a very positive opinion of the the folks at Earthquaker. EQD has about 50 California dealers listed on their website, but no one within a 100 mile radius of me has anything in stock. Instead of answering questions I had about a few of their fuzz and overdrive pedals, they recommended I take a two hour drive (could be as many as four hours depending on traffic) to Truetone music. Now, I'm always looking for an excuse to visit Truetone, but I've been insanely busy lately and have slept in my own bed about 5 times in the last month. The time just isn't there right now.
So, I gave them the benefit of the doubt, maybe they are as busy as I have been. I emailed them. I sent them a message on Twitter. I get a one word reply to both inquiries: "Nope." I call again, they take my number and say someone will call me back. Nothing. Finally, I get an email response this week, "You really need to go visit one of our dealers."
Now, I'm a reasonable guy. I've worked in sales for 15 years and have been a musician for 20 years. I'm generally respectful of people's time and empathetic to the fact that I don't know what's going on in their personal lives in that given moment. But, when someone wants to buy what I'm selling, they have my undivided attention, because I love to find solutions and I know there are 5 other manufacturers lined up behind me that would love to have their business.
I guess the good thing about the gear market today is that there are more choices than ever and I can let my wallet do the rest of the talking in regards to EQD. Conversely, I called up Marc at Skreddy Pedals this past week and he talked to me for almost an hour. Guess what, he now has 250 of my George Washingtons.
End rant.
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Post by walt on Apr 30, 2016 10:49:01 GMT -7
Sorry to read that.Stuff like that carries weight with me too.I have bought directly from small manufacturers(Barber,VFE) with great interaction-you don't have to be my best friend,but 'good manners cost nothing'(to quote Lemmy). I was considering a Swart at the same time as a Dr.Z,Swart couldn't be bothered to answer,I had an answer(would i like a Maz 18 or a Therapy more)from the Z facebook page within 8 hours. Hopefully EQD gets back to you to say it's been a rough week.
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Post by purpletele on Apr 30, 2016 11:35:08 GMT -7
Frank,
I appreciate your rant and I rather enjoyed it as well as I chuckle to myself. The gear market is definitely a shark pool which further emphasizes the point that you should latch onto someone that is making a call instead of an e mail inquiry, even though e mails should be considered gold as well.
I think that if I was in the gear market as a retailer I would train people to look for guys like Frank, a young employed musician with some disposable income. Statistically (The Franks) are always buying something. I can't think of too many musicians that do not have GAS. Those that do not have GAS show incredible self restraint or a financial situation requires that they buy books and shoes rather than guitars and pedals.
I am certain that small manufacturers become callus from getting burned all of the time so their customer patience starts to wane.
An interesting perspective, Frank (and of course others here) is/are our poster boy for our GAS induced behavior. I think that the gear market is hot right now because the economy is much better than it has been. I know that most of the vendors in the Development and Construction industry are so impacted that they are turning away small projects. I happen to be in the small project market as an owner rep.
I'm sure it is a temporary supply and demand issue. How you handle your business and customers during this time should be paramount, but many times that gets lost in the immediate demand requirements.
I hope EQD and others can peek out of the forest and recognize the potential mistakes that can be made during a busy time.
I am a huge fan of small business and every customer counts.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 30, 2016 12:12:51 GMT -7
Well said, gentlemen! I get that sometimes the most technically brilliant people may not have the customer facing skill set. It makes me appreciate Doc even more. He gives you his time, whether you're buying a $30 variable boost pedal or an $1800 Therapy head.
Typically, these types of scenarios don't bother me, as I've had more than a couple sour experiences dealing with manufacturers over the years. Is the gear market really that good right now that EQD doesn't have the time to handle generic product inquiries?!?!?!
Also, people experienced in business will always tell you that you never know who could be on the other end of that phone call. While I'm not as active a musician as I used to be, I'm still well connected to friends and colleagues within the industry.
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Post by dergit (Markus) on Apr 30, 2016 15:09:51 GMT -7
Good customer service turns customers into returning customers and testimonials to your products. Bad customer service turns them away. Terrible customer service turns everyone they know away. Even if your stuff is awesome.
It's not *the* reason I play Z stuff, Shane's Klone pedal, PRS guitars or an elektron analog rytm drum synthesizer. The main reason is that it's all quality gear. But good interaction with these brands and manufacturers makes me happy with my purchase long after I've made it and makes me recommend these products to anyone who might be interested in them.
Now, I get that hand-carving out intricate replies to the same questions e-mail after e-mail may be daunting but there's no worse way of dealing with this than careless one line or even one word replies like the ones you cite. Just have a document with the usual answers and some helpful links at the ready and copy and paste together a friendly e-mail! How hard is that? And if someone has a truly original question about some of your products, that means they're interested and that should excite you!
Imagine if the Doc was a complete douche. Would we be here on these forums praising his amps like we do? They're awesome, sure, but we wouldn't go on about them anywhere near as much. Would we be recommending them to our friends? Would we even be happy with our amps no matter how good they were? I know I'd have a weird feeling every time I turn mine on, and I'd be a lot more tempted to try many different amps when that time comes again. There are plenty of decent sounding amps around, after all.
Fortunately he's awesome and helpful. Which adds to the smirk I have every time I flick up that standby switch. If I was looking for a certain kind of amp tomorrow, I'd check the Z portfolio before I'd look anywhere else.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 30, 2016 17:36:44 GMT -7
I generally will put up with a certain degree of cork sniffing, but there's no place for p!ss poor customer service in a day and age where our options as consumers are so vast.
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