Posted by
Lu Romero - W4LT on
Feb 26, 2012; 9:25pm
URL: http://elecraft.85.s1.nabble.com/Re-Key-Down-Amps-Now-really-OT-tp7319989.html
As a student of these issues, I dissagree. Its telling from your comments
that a lot of you come from an Engineering perspective. And while I can
understand that because of my engineering background, my marketing
background knows better. Customer support is paramount in the success of
any product, from toasters to transceivers.
The core competency of Apple is not their Hardware, which is competent, but
not overwhelmingly so. It is not their software either, which is also
competent, but also not overwhelmingly so.
The core competency of Apple is their CULTURE MARKETING PROWESS! They
create a "cult" for their products that "sticks" after the sale. This
creates goodwill for the eventual screw-up.
They invest in creating disciples from users.
This is true in my field: Broadcast Engineering... Panasonic had product
just as good, and in many respects, very superior to Sony. But everybody in
Newsgathering circles wanted a Betacam SP camcorder on their shoulder and
not a M-II camcorder. Because Sony knew how to create customer loyalty with
responsiveness. Or in digital video effects, Abekas Video Systems vs Ampex.
I lived through those.
Elecraft is like Apple (or Abekas or Sony), not necesarily because of their
extremely effective technology; It helps, but its not everything... Yaesu's
FT5000 and Kenwood's TS590 are competent competitors, one above and one
below K3's price point. Elecraft is exceptional partly because of us, their
customers, who care so much as to give input and evangelize the product. And
because they listen to us and respect our opinion, they galvanize the
relationship beyond the sale of the product.
Eric and Wayne are smart because they understand that their next successful
products lie in our imaginations, not just theirs. An they care enough about
us customers to listen and support us with uncompromising responsiveness. I
believe this is a top down directive in Elecraft's corporate culture from
what I have been able to discern. Unfortunately, its the first thing that
gets cut in the "comglomerization" of a startup... Ive experienced that
firsthand... And I hope it never happens to Elecraft!
Lucky are those companies with customer-evangelists. Treat them well, and
they insure continued success.
Because there simply is no better marketing that customer-word-of-mouth.
You cannot buy that at any price with any technology, no matter how good the
product is.
Lu Romero - W4LT
K3. P3, K1
-----------------------------------
Message: 9
Date: Sat, 25 Feb 2012 15:58:56 -0500
From: Ian Kahn - Ham <
[hidden email]>
Subject: Re: [Elecraft] Key Down Amps
To:
[hidden email]
Message-ID: <
[hidden email]>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed
Actually, Cookie, if you read Steve Jobs' biography, you will find he's
quite adamant about Apple's core competency. It is *their* hardware,
*their* software, the integration between the two, and, most
importantly, the whole end-user experience using and interacting with
that hardware and software.
73,
--Ian
Ian Kahn, KM4IK
Roswell, GA
[hidden email]
K3 #281, P3 #688
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