Why it takes so long to build a relationship depends on your committee and your dealer. I can say from experience we got excellent service from our rep, we had a quote on three different Rodgers organs, all with speakers plus installation so there were no hidden costs to cause problems when we went to church council with an installed price versus the organ cost they had been looking at. Rodgers did make our process easier, they didn't call me to push for an order, and our rep was available to answer any questions our committee came up with. Rodgers did us a big favor when they put the 577 in for a week so the people could hear it because they put speakers in, the other dealer kept insisting we didn't need speakers, it was an added expense we didn't need. The installation of these two organs proved we needed the speakers and we did this in about 14 months, maybe you looked at more organs than we did, here in central Pennsylvania we only have three to consider. You need to be able to trust your rep, if you don't you're headed for a long difficult process. -----Original Message----- From: kathy olv [mailto:koboe_37315@xxxxxxxxx] Sent: Tuesday, October 28, 2003 9:59 AM To: rodgersorgan@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Subject: [rodgersorganusers] Re: New Organ Blues my question is why does it have to take so long to build a realtionship?why should there be such a disregard for others time. organ committees are made of people who are volunteers that truely care about the organ their church will purchase. why couldn't rodgers make this process easier. every company goes through a time when, to make purchasing more people friendly they do something.. perhaps a posted price list would be a people friendly thing to do. one would not be asking the price of the installation, say, this organ price does not include total installation charges and explain how you determine installation charges with the price list. I personally resent feeling manipulated as a buyer. that's why we chose rodgers. what I hear you saying is that you do many wonderful things for a potential customer in the hopes that whatever the price may be they will purchase from you. I have learned it is always smart to tell the price of your product right up front. that way your customer will hear what you are telling them through the rest of the sales pitch. Al Murrell <tam6111949@xxxxxxxxx> wrote: Kathy, I have been selling Rodgers for about 31 years. As part owner of the largest Rodgers dealership in the country, we do not quote over the phone, we do not post prices and we don't even think in terms of a retail price list. After evaluating each project, working thru the process with each committee, determining their needs, our price sheet is the dealer wholesale prices. After determining our cost for the specific project, we then determine the selling price. We do not work from a retail price sheet. We build a trust relationship with each customer/church, they get to know us, our service, and what other services we offer in the form of workshops, concerts, training (unlimited), etc. It is through this relationship building that we don't run into issues about our pricing. Al --- kathy olv wrote: > > as an independant distributer of a consumable > product I fully understand free enterprise. > I also understand the process that a church goes > through in order to purchase a new organ. > because prices are not listed it causes an undo > amount of conflict between church members and the > music department. > people now days don't expect to have to barter for > an organ. the process of research and choice and > approval took us three years. > It would have been much easier if more information > were easier to research. > people don't have time to barter, or patience or > money. > the reason we chose the rodgers organ was it was in > our price range, the sales rep was very > knowledgeable. He answered all our questions, > checked with us to be sure he understood what our > issues were provided a truthful picture of our > choices with rodgers and quoted us fair prices. > the best part wasn't any "other" company bashing. > in other words he showed us respect and allowed us > to set perameters to work within. > I believe the factory not publishing a recommended > price schedule > is the first step to making the customer > wonder if the company and the dealer can be > trusted.trust is a VERY big issue. > Al Murrell wrote: > > Noel, prices should not ever be posted on this or > any > other site for general viewing. As you know there > are > dealers who almost give away the products and then > there are those who get somewhere close to industry > margins. Free Enterprise needs to prevail. Let the > market work. > > Al > --- noel jones wrote: > > > > A list member just wrote me with the obvious > > question...what is the > > list price of the new box? > > > > There are no list prices. If you feel that Rodgers > > customers might > > benefit from having a list price to refer to, > please > > email me and I will > > forward your email to Rodgers. > > > > Thanks! > > > > If you think, they should not - let us know why. > > > > noel jones > > > > > > > > New link to Christmas Music at www.frogmusic.com! > > > > > > > __________________________________ > Do you Yahoo!? > Exclusive Video Premiere - Britney Spears > http://launch.yahoo.com/promos/britneyspears/ > > > New link to Christmas Music at www.frogmusic.com! > > > > > check out my website at www.marykay.com/Kathy_oliver > > > --------------------------------- > Do you Yahoo!? > Exclusive Video Premiere - Britney Spears > > > > New link to Christmas Music at www.frogmusic.com! > > __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Exclusive Video Premiere - Britney Spears http://launch.yahoo.com/promos/britneyspears/ New link to Christmas Music at www.frogmusic.com! check out my website at www.marykay.com/Kathy_oliver --------------------------------- Do you Yahoo!? Exclusive Video Premiere - Britney Spears New link to Christmas Music at www.frogmusic.com! New link to Christmas Music at www.frogmusic.com!