[Leica] I chatted with the new Leica CEO tonight

[Doug Herr]

Thanks for the news, Jay.  All sounds good to me, as far as it goes.

Doug Herr
Birdman of Sacramento
http://www.wildlightphoto.com
http://doug-herr.fineartamerica.com


-----Original Message-----
>From: Jay Burleson <leica at jayburleson.com>
>Sent: Mar 12, 2015 9:23 PM
>To: Leica Users Group <lug at leica-users.org>
>Subject: [Leica] I chatted with the new Leica CEO tonight
>
>The Leica Store in Bellevue, WA had it's grand opening tonight, and 
>Oliver Kaltner, the incoming CEO, was there, along with a host of other 
>Leica USA folks.
>I had a chance to chat with Mr. Kaltner for about 15 minutes, one on one.
>Things of interest he said:
>His background is very strong on customer service and one of his goals 
>is to make an experience with Leica CS the best in the industry. He 
>feels that it will be difficult in the short term to shorten wait times, 
>due to trained staff concerns, but he wants to make sure that once an 
>item is in for repair Leica goes beyond the industry normal in quality 
>of service.
>He also said too many new items were leaving the factory not in 100% 
>condition and too many items are not correctly repaired before being 
>sent back to the customer. Correcting that will be a priority.
>He also changed the normal Leica schedule of having a "road map" meeting 
>from once a year to quarterly. The first quarterly meeting will be the 
>week after he officially takes over as CEO (April 1st). He said Leica 
>needs to be more nimble and wants the company able to respond to 
>legitimate customer needs, with regards to lenses, cameras, and software 
>updates, in a quicker fashion.
>
>He seemed very well versed in Leica history and products. He held his 
>own in a discussion about the differences between the 1(A) & 1(C) 
>Barnack cameras, and also regarding the merits of the latest generation 
>APO ASPH FLE lenses vs. Mandler era designs.
>
>All in all, I think, if allowed by finances, will bring some good things 
>to Leica.
>
>Jay
>
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