Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2004/05/07
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]B.D. Oh but it is true. Leicas have a very low profit margin in percent so few dealers carry a full line. Imagine yourself as having a pretty complete line of Nikon and Canon, customer comes up and wants a good camera. Salesman can fill up the cart with a body, a couple of zooms, a flash, bag, batteries, filters, memory cards, card readers, digital wallets, tripod, make the customer feel good because all the pro's use brand CN and send the person on their merry way in less that thirty minutes. With all the automation the customer can get a focused, well exposed picture with no input from the salesperson. Now, situation B, salesperson tries to sell an M. Ok, we start with what lens to buy cron, lux, 35 or 50. Customer asks where is the zoom. Ok, now we have to explain feet and walking in or out. Oh, we also get to explain focusing a rangefinder, and loading from the bottom, and oh, the lens(s) you want will get in from Leica in a few days. Yes, you also get to explain setting your exposure if you don't have an M7. Now, we get to count the extra commissions that brands N, C, M, and P periodically send directly to the salesperson. Oh, brand L doesn't do that. It is a wonder that any Leicas get sold in a retail environment. 0.02 Don dorysrus@mindspring.com -----Original Message----- From: lug-bounces+dorysrus=mindspring.com@leica-users.org [mailto:lug-bounces+dorysrus=mindspring.com@leica-users.org] On Behalf Of B. D. Colen Sent: Friday, May 07, 2004 9:08 AM To: 'Leica Users Group' Subject: RE: [Leica] re: leica name recognition That's truly astounding. I can certainly see salespeople of other brands poopooing any Leica advantage, saying that Canon or Nikon or whatever glass is as good...but to talk about "average" lens quality, poor build, etc.? That's just plain stupid.... -----Original Message----- From: lug-bounces+bdcolen=earthlink.net@leica-users.org [mailto:lug-bounces+bdcolen=earthlink.net@leica-users.org] On Behalf Of grduprey@rockwellcollins.com Sent: Friday, May 07, 2004 9:29 AM To: lug@leica-users.org Subject: RE: [Leica] re: leica name recognition Kit I agree with you 100%. Most shop salespeople knock Leica very badly. The interesting thing is they proliferate the story that Leicas are not reliable, and very poor quality control for such an expensive product, and average quality lenses. When I get this story, I ask, 'Have you ever used one?' The answer I get is 'No, but that is what I've heard about them.' There are a few stores which promote them very favorably though. Gene |---------+--------------------------------------------------------> | | "Kit McChesney" <kitmc@acmefoto.com> | | | Sent by: | | | lug-bounces+grduprey=rockwellcollins.com@leic| | | a-users.org | | | | | | | | | 05/06/2004 08:29 PM | | | Please respond to Leica Users Group | | | | |---------+--------------------------------------------------------> >----------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------| | | | To: "'Leica Users Group'" <lug@leica-users.org> | | cc: | | Subject: RE: [Leica] re: leica name recognition | >----------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------| Uh, Kyle, I'm not talking about pros. Of course pros know what the heck a Leica is. We're talking about who the mass marketing machine is targeting. There are WAY more amateur photographers running around than there are "pros" (however you define professional) buying lots of Canons and Nikons and even Leicas, proportionately, than there are professionals buying them, otherwise none of these companies would be in business. If there are fewer Leicas sold, even at the higher price, than one would expect, I attribute some of that to salespeople who are not trained to sell them. How many clients have I served who have told me, "Well, I went into my favorite big camera store the other day to look at a Leica, and the salesman said, 'uh, what the heck do you want one of those for?'" Either that, or as soon as they mention that they'd leica Leica, the salesman (and yes, I am being sexist, because most of the camerasellers these days are boys, though I've been treated just as badly by female salespersons as by male) says, 'are you a professional? You won't want that unless you're a professional.'" Huh? Duh? Wha? Excuse me? Sloppy salesmanship, methinks. So there is an opportunity to introduce someone to a Leica. Perhaps the introducer doesn't know enough about the camera to say much of anything. With that attitude--"whaddya want it for?"--I'd bet the salesperson has no idea what to say about much of anything, Leica or not! Kit (kitmc@acmefoto.com) -----Original Message----- From: lug-bounces+kitmc=acmefoto.com@leica-users.org [mailto:lug-bounces+kitmc=acmefoto.com@leica-users.org] On Behalf Of Kyle Cassidy Sent: Thursday, May 06, 2004 5:19 PM To: 'lug@leica-users.org' Subject: [Leica] re: leica name recognition kit sed: >Leica sales suffer from not being promoted properly by salesfolks in >the camera business. It's just easier to sell an SLR that everyone has >heard of in the latest magazines i can guarrentee you that every one of those photographers in that line with the 300mm f 2.8 lens on the monopod waiting for the president to get out of marine one knows what a leica is. it's not name recognition, it's practicality. i'm sure a good percentage of them would love to be using a leica to do their job but they'd get consistantly beaten to the punch by all the people with the white lenses and never sell a photo. i see there's a 4 gigabyte hitachi microdrive now -- that's a lot of photos without having to open up the back of your camera. and despite what mark r. says about the metering system on 30 year old cameras, it doesn't hold a candle to matrix metering when you're doing something like daylight balenced fill flash. imho, that's the reason the pro's (ted and sal excepted, of course) arent using leicas, not because they don't know what they are or because leica's advertising campaing is sub-par. my .02 take it for what it's worth. kc _______________________________________________ Leica Users Group. 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