Strano vs Spohn sway bars (updated 11/27/12)
#121
= Would you rather your teacher tell you what you want to hear, or what you need to hear?
let me repost
There is not a single company in the world that satisfies every single person they bump into. None. There are always people addicted to bitch and complain about anything they can. Not saying youre one of them, but dont make it seem like Sam doesnt care about his customers.
Again, re-read my post above or my re-post here.
I guess we can agree to disagree here because I obviously read his above posts very differently then you. I can tell you that if one of my employees talk to a customer like he has to me or others here it would be addressed in hurry. Again, FILTER. I never said dont be honest or straight forward with information. But you cant belittle your potential customers, even if they are wrong. The key is to leave your emotions out of it.
I will give you an example of why I beleive this wont fare well for him in the long run. I can tell you from experience that taking a hard line with a customer regardless how ignorant or belligerant they get will not get you, as a business owner, anywhere. Sometimes its better to just let them believe what they want.
I did a job for a client recently that started well and just before closeout, the president of the association changed hands for the new year and the new guy felt he had something to prove. He instantly started barking orders demanding more then was part of the contract. The conversations would start with demands and he would quickly start yelling and cussing on the phone. I never raised my voice or stuped to his level. As much as I wanted to tell this guy to f-off it would just end in a loss of 10's of thousands of dollars of non payment and lawyer fees. As a company I had a responsibilty to honor part of our contract still so we finished as required despite the belligerant attitude. Turns out this new guy owned a business as a professional complainer but he was pretty bad at it. We completed our job and he continued to complain about a few other small things I took care of as a service. Once all was done I had them sign off and the attitude changed. Since then they called back to buy more. If I took the line of Sam above Where do you think it would have gone..... I can tell you for sure I wouldnt have gotten paid and would not have had the opportunity to earn more of their money. At least now I can say thanks, but no thanks...
Again, Im not looking to get into a pissing match here. I was just trying to show it could be handled differently to get better results and make more friends. If you guys disagree then fine. We can agree to disagree.
I can't believe the excuses I reading here. Your college professor isn't in retail. His living doesn't depend on the satisfaction of his students.
I'm ok with being honest with a customer, I'm ok with telling them how it's going to be. I'm ok that not everyone is going to agree and sometimes you just can't make everyone happy
Originally Posted by dws6
Sam is clear that he is ok with not making everyone happy but sooner or later its going to catch up with him and in this small community he can't afford to make that gamble.
Sam is clear that he is ok with not making everyone happy but sooner or later its going to catch up with him and in this small community he can't afford to make that gamble.
I still have yet to see sam disrespect anyone here. He takes his time to help people when he can. He races cars and creates products that improve our cars, dont expect a therapist that will hold your hand and tell you your car is the very best one in the world.
I will give you an example of why I beleive this wont fare well for him in the long run. I can tell you from experience that taking a hard line with a customer regardless how ignorant or belligerant they get will not get you, as a business owner, anywhere. Sometimes its better to just let them believe what they want.
I did a job for a client recently that started well and just before closeout, the president of the association changed hands for the new year and the new guy felt he had something to prove. He instantly started barking orders demanding more then was part of the contract. The conversations would start with demands and he would quickly start yelling and cussing on the phone. I never raised my voice or stuped to his level. As much as I wanted to tell this guy to f-off it would just end in a loss of 10's of thousands of dollars of non payment and lawyer fees. As a company I had a responsibilty to honor part of our contract still so we finished as required despite the belligerant attitude. Turns out this new guy owned a business as a professional complainer but he was pretty bad at it. We completed our job and he continued to complain about a few other small things I took care of as a service. Once all was done I had them sign off and the attitude changed. Since then they called back to buy more. If I took the line of Sam above
Please by all means go by Hellwig's version, because that is an attitude I don't want to have to deal with.
Again, Im not looking to get into a pissing match here. I was just trying to show it could be handled differently to get better results and make more friends. If you guys disagree then fine. We can agree to disagree.
#122
I will give you an example of why I beleive this wont fare well for him in the long run. I can tell you from experience that taking a hard line with a customer regardless how ignorant or belligerant they get will not get you, as a business owner, anywhere. Sometimes its better to just let them believe what they want.
I did a job for a client recently that started well and just before closeout, the president of the association changed hands for the new year and the new guy felt he had something to prove. He instantly started barking orders demanding more then was part of the contract. The conversations would start with demands and he would quickly start yelling and cussing on the phone. I never raised my voice or stuped to his level. As much as I wanted to tell this guy to f-off it would just end in a loss of 10's of thousands of dollars of non payment and lawyer fees. As a company I had a responsibilty to honor part of our contract still so we finished as required despite the belligerant attitude. Turns out this new guy owned a business as a professional complainer but he was pretty bad at it. We completed our job and he continued to complain about a few other small things I took care of as a service. Once all was done I had them sign off and the attitude changed. Since then they called back to buy more. If I took the line of Sam above
Where do you think it would have gone..... I can tell you for sure I wouldnt have gotten paid and would not have had the opportunity to earn more of their money. At least now I can say thanks, but no thanks...
I did a job for a client recently that started well and just before closeout, the president of the association changed hands for the new year and the new guy felt he had something to prove. He instantly started barking orders demanding more then was part of the contract. The conversations would start with demands and he would quickly start yelling and cussing on the phone. I never raised my voice or stuped to his level. As much as I wanted to tell this guy to f-off it would just end in a loss of 10's of thousands of dollars of non payment and lawyer fees. As a company I had a responsibilty to honor part of our contract still so we finished as required despite the belligerant attitude. Turns out this new guy owned a business as a professional complainer but he was pretty bad at it. We completed our job and he continued to complain about a few other small things I took care of as a service. Once all was done I had them sign off and the attitude changed. Since then they called back to buy more. If I took the line of Sam above
Where do you think it would have gone..... I can tell you for sure I wouldnt have gotten paid and would not have had the opportunity to earn more of their money. At least now I can say thanks, but no thanks...
I used to do a lot of graphic design and have worked with plenty of people in the past. But i think our situations are different. I created designs and websites that i wasnt too proud of, but the customers loved them. Due to different backgrounds, they didnt know how to better a product. And even though i tried showing them, they simply fell in love with the first draft, so i left it as it was since it was theirs to own.
However, on a car, i think id rather be told "hey! wake the hell up dumbass, your **** sucks!" lol and get the right parts instead of being praised for a mediocre job. I guess it builds trust and distinguishes your business from someone who really knows their stuff, and another pepboys.
But since were trailing off topic, i guess were both right depending on our perspective and the business' demographics and true intent.
#124
#126
Why LCA's? Just curious. I'd just stick with stock depending on what your application is. Stock LCAs and bushings work plenty fine for 80% of the people out there. You might be the 20% though
#127
You could do just swaybars. Then just PHB. Then shocks and springs. Or any of the combo.. but shocks and springs together is obviously less of a pain than splitting that up.
Why LCA's? Just curious. I'd just stick with stock depending on what your application is. Stock LCAs and bushings work plenty fine for 80% of the people out there. You might be the 20% though
Why LCA's? Just curious. I'd just stick with stock depending on what your application is. Stock LCAs and bushings work plenty fine for 80% of the people out there. You might be the 20% though
#128
In defense of Sam
Sam will not sell someone parts they do not need, just to make a sale.
I irritated Sam once when I was on the phone with him. I could hear it in his voice.
I wasn't making any sense, and Sam, therefore, became irritated, especially because I kept saying, "the forums say this and that."
Because I know he is a standup guy, I bought my shocks and springs from him, and I will be buying his hollow sway bars.
Sam is THE MAN.
-Tim
I irritated Sam once when I was on the phone with him. I could hear it in his voice.
I wasn't making any sense, and Sam, therefore, became irritated, especially because I kept saying, "the forums say this and that."
Because I know he is a standup guy, I bought my shocks and springs from him, and I will be buying his hollow sway bars.
Sam is THE MAN.
-Tim
#129
I'm glad at least some folks understand my frustration.
The "forums" are a composite of a lot of different people that you don't know spouting out opinions based on who knows what. If you guys want to buy your parts based on that, ok. There is no reason we ever need to talk.
Trouble is folks claim they want my opinion. When I give it, sometimes they then want to debate it.. and use "what I read on the internet" as the rational for it. The harsh truth is there are folks in the world that do silly things ALL THE TIME, and then can tell the world about how well it worked. There is no vetting of the information, and 98% of the time when I hear "I heard on the forums" or whatever, I'll ask where it was and what exactly was said? I can next to never even get the answer to that question. So now I'm dealing with folks are being lead (willingly) down a blind alley by some pied-piper on the web.
It's hard to argue with a ghost, it's hard to argue against a lack of information. If I didn't care, then I'd just toodle along and sell you all what the internet says you need. And if you want that kind of service (even though I don't think that is *service* at all) I'm happy to sell you what you want... just tell me.
If you want my opinion, which isn't one coming from some random guy who's working on straight commission, but from a guy who's not only been doing this a LONG TIME, but also have proven able to setup a car and drive a car pretty well too.
Seriously. It's getting tiresome when folks take no responsibility in their setups. These are YOUR CARS. This is YOUR MONEY. I'M trying to see to it you don't waste it on silly things. And if you can't tell me anything about what you think about the car's behavior, and you get pissed at me for trying to find that out (so I can recommend the right parts), then by all means please go elsewhere. I'm plenty busy trying to help folks who appreciate it.
The "forums" are a composite of a lot of different people that you don't know spouting out opinions based on who knows what. If you guys want to buy your parts based on that, ok. There is no reason we ever need to talk.
Trouble is folks claim they want my opinion. When I give it, sometimes they then want to debate it.. and use "what I read on the internet" as the rational for it. The harsh truth is there are folks in the world that do silly things ALL THE TIME, and then can tell the world about how well it worked. There is no vetting of the information, and 98% of the time when I hear "I heard on the forums" or whatever, I'll ask where it was and what exactly was said? I can next to never even get the answer to that question. So now I'm dealing with folks are being lead (willingly) down a blind alley by some pied-piper on the web.
It's hard to argue with a ghost, it's hard to argue against a lack of information. If I didn't care, then I'd just toodle along and sell you all what the internet says you need. And if you want that kind of service (even though I don't think that is *service* at all) I'm happy to sell you what you want... just tell me.
If you want my opinion, which isn't one coming from some random guy who's working on straight commission, but from a guy who's not only been doing this a LONG TIME, but also have proven able to setup a car and drive a car pretty well too.
Seriously. It's getting tiresome when folks take no responsibility in their setups. These are YOUR CARS. This is YOUR MONEY. I'M trying to see to it you don't waste it on silly things. And if you can't tell me anything about what you think about the car's behavior, and you get pissed at me for trying to find that out (so I can recommend the right parts), then by all means please go elsewhere. I'm plenty busy trying to help folks who appreciate it.
__________________
www.stranoparts.com --814-849-3450
Results matter. Talk is cheap. We are miles beyond the success anyone else has had with the 4th gens, and C5, C6, C7 Corvettes,
10 SCCA Solo National Championships, 2008 Driver of they Year, 2012 Driver of Eminence
13 SCCA Pro Solo Nationals Championships
2023 UMI King of the Mountain Champion
www.stranoparts.com --814-849-3450
Results matter. Talk is cheap. We are miles beyond the success anyone else has had with the 4th gens, and C5, C6, C7 Corvettes,
10 SCCA Solo National Championships, 2008 Driver of they Year, 2012 Driver of Eminence
13 SCCA Pro Solo Nationals Championships
2023 UMI King of the Mountain Champion