Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 1998/01/07
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Eric Welch wrote: << Would you expect to walk into a car dealer and have him price out a car you'll sell somewhere else? >> With all due respect to all who believe that a merchant need not be kind, helpful, and personable let me disagree by saying that the person you help today will be you faithful customer tomorrow. I have no experience with Don Chatterton. I can tell you that I have called Tamarkin twice asking questions and prodding for information on certain lenses. In both cases I was not treated like a nuisance, on the contrary, I received the information I needed and felt that at Tamrkin's the customer is a valued commodity indeed. Now that I am ready for the current 50 Summicron, guess where I am going to buy it...... I have always felt that the customer is never an interruption of the merchant's work, rather he/she is the very purpose of it. In this highly competitive business, it does not make much sense to spend thousands of dollars in advertising to attract clients only to lose them as soon as the phone rings. Merchants would do well to learn that lesson and train their employees in the fine art of public relations. Finally, if shoppers were a little more discriminating, the only merchants left in business would be the ones who care about the public whose money they are after. Joseph Codispoti