Veteran blogger and shop employee "Guitar Ted," is blogging about how Trek could have done a better job communicating the cost of admission to their upcoming dealer show.
"Our buyer at work noticed a short blurb buried down the list on the front page of Dexter, (Trek's dealer website) stating that for the Trek show, only TWO PEOPLE would be allowed admittance for free from each dealer. More than that would incur a $200.00 per head price tag!...I couldn't believe it...It's true unfortunately...If you're reading this, and planning on going to the Trek dealer only show, you'd better let your boss or manager know about this, as virtually no advance warning was given by Trek. It wasn't on the registration form, and it wasn't communicated to us by our rep, although he confirmed it when our buyer called him on it."
This really shouldn't be too much of a suprise. Historically, it's essentially been a party that you could bring as many people as you wanted to all on Trek's dime. Sounds like the party's over and that all they'll foot the bill for is an owner and a buyer. Seems like good business to me. The days of the free beer, jumbo shrimp, and huge buffets are over. Wine and dine those who write the orders and get the orders in hand. That's the order of business for leaner and meaner Trek. This is how it's going to be from here on out.
Posted by: John Satory | August 02, 2005 at 08:32 AM
John:
Thanks for that comment. I think the issue is not whether Trek is charging or not...it's that it doesn't seem like they were completely forthcoming about the fee.
Posted by: Jonathan Maus | August 02, 2005 at 12:24 PM
Being not forthcoming is definitely not cool. The $200 per head fee would have gone over like a lead balloon. Sounds like the rep didn't want to be the bearer of bad news to that dealer. I guess that this is an example of making sure that you read the fine print!
Posted by: John Satory | August 02, 2005 at 01:16 PM
Being not forthcoming is definitely not cool. The $200 per head fee would have gone over like a lead balloon. Sounds like the rep didn't want to be the bearer of bad news to that dealer. I guess that this is an example of making sure that you read the fine print!
Posted by: John Satory | August 02, 2005 at 01:17 PM
The thing that got me was this. I'm a fan of Trek, I work at a shop, and actually interact with customers. Doesn't Trek want me to be educated, encouraged, and excited about the brand? Would a "$200.00 investment" in me be worth the impact I would have on customers walking into our shop? Hmm....guess not!
Posted by: Guitar Ted | August 02, 2005 at 06:45 PM
It's not just a $200 investment by Trek. I think that you would be blown away if you actually found out the cost of putting on that dealer show. I think that the $200 is an arbitrary amount that acts more like a filter.
It's also not that Trek doesn't want you to educated, encouraged, and excited about the brand. The fact of the matter is is that it's your job to sell bikes to customers that walk into the shop and you probably know as well as I do that the Trek brand is one of the easier brands to sell or recommend. I really don't think that if you go to the show or not is going to have an effect on what you're going to recommend to customers. At least, I hope not.
Posted by: John Satory | August 03, 2005 at 04:40 AM
Guitar Ted said:
Would a "$200.00 investment" in me be worth the impact I would have on customers walking into our shop? Hmm....guess not!
------------------------
The thing is, Ted, Trek IS making an investment in you.
If they were to charge the ACTUAL amount of money it costs to host each person, you'd be paying significantly more than $200.
- WN
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