In a recent column I talked about board shops making money and how upset our customers were at the very thought of their board shop vendors making money. Many times over the years I have heard our customers complaining bitterly about how much money we make. They seem to think that all the shops […]
The Paid Audition
I read recently that 48% of all customers feel that the most critical time for a company to gain their loyalty is based on the first order. So, half of your customers are going to decide if they want to keep working with you based on that first order. Man, is that pressure or what? […]
PCBs, PCBs, Everywhere You Look!
It was the holidays, and everyone was out buying presents and gifts. A great time of the year! On Christmas morning as we sat by the roaring fire and opened our gifts, I started to count the number of printed circuits we received. For twelve people, 65 gifts had printed circuits in them. Just our […]
Don’t Give Your PCBs Away!
Look I know getting business is hard. I know that you’re biggest problem is always having enough business and I certainly know that most of our customers pride themselves in buying the cheapest circuit board that money can buy. But still that is no excuse to give away your boards. You have got to make […]
The Best Companies Earn Their Higher Prices
Being the best will get you the best prices. You have to be better than everyone else. You have to be better than everyone else to win the business; not only win it, but keep it. If you are good, very good, you can be good enough to get past the price issue. If your […]
What Goes Around…
This column is meant for those companies who need printed circuit boards but don’t want to communicate with the PCB shops directly. It’s meant for those customers who believe that a PCB is just a thin piece of green plastic that anyone can build. This is for those companies who feel that the board shops […]
The High Cost Of Buying Cheap
A few weeks ago, I talked about the pride some of our customers have in buying the cheapest products available on the market today. About how for some reason, some companies feel that they can buy the cheapest parts they can get their hands on and then turn around and tell their customers that their […]
Are you proud of buying the cheapest?
It has always amazed me that the same people who claim to be building the best products on the market today are also the ones who want to buy the cheapest ingredients they can. Our customers like to tell us that they need the best price possible or else. If we do not provide them […]
A Look At Trade Adjustment Assistance
Free money! Come and get it! It’s been a while since I talked about TAA (Trade Adjustment Assistance), so I thought it might be a great time to remind everyone of what TAA actually is and what it can do for you. Now in this time of Chinese Tariffs people, many of our customers are […]
It’s Time To Globalize!
The world is getting flatter every year, month, week, day and even by the hour, as we get closer to one another and like water seek ways to touch one another and do business. This, from some of the world’s leading economists: no matter what politicians try to do they can only at best re-channel […]