Never ending saga Jet vs. Grizzly

Frank Fusco

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12,782
Location
Mountain Home, Arkansas
I got a phone call yesterday from a turner in Tulsa, OK. He is, like many others, trying to decide between buying a Jet 1642 or Grizzly G0632 lathe. What he told me may explain some of the 'anti-Grizzly' sentiment out there.
He lives near a Jet stocking Woodcraft store. When looking at the 1642 the sales people really panned the Grizzly with all the negative remarks we see here, and elsewhere.
He seemed genuinely turned off by this sales approach.
I believe, for that reason, more than any other, he will be buying the Grizzly G0632.
Knocking the competition is never a good approach. Comparing features and explaining, in positive terms, why your product may be better than the other guy is good salesmanship.
He could buy locally but will pay shipping instead. He would rather do that than deal with the type of person the Woodcraft salesman represented himself (and his company) to be.
BTW, I have never heard a Grizzly salesman use that type of negative approach. They are proud of their products and show it.
 
I understand his feelings... I absolutely hate to hear anybody say negative things about their competition... I think the Chevy commercials with Hughie Long are atrocious because of the way they slam other cars... I used to be a big Chevy fan, but not so much anymore... same with the burger commercials, the Verizon vs AT&T (I don't like Verizon for other reasons anyway - but their commercial is a blatant lie), and any other company that specifically names their competition. Competition is what should make them stronger, and if the only way they think they can advertise is to put down that competition, then I wonder about their actual strength.

Besides, in my opinion, when a company puts down another company, and the other company might be a company we as a buying public see as favorable, then we as the buying public is also being insulted... not a good thing to insult your customers or potential customers.

When I was in the freight business which is very cut-throat ... I often ran into customers who were shopping for freight deals... it's strictly a customer service business as anyone with a modicrum of smarts can do all of their own shipping... but I was often presented with the argument that XYZ Co. said they can do this or that.... my response was always, yes they can do that and they are a very good company, but here is why I can do more for you and offer you a better deal.... sometimes I won, sometimes I lost... but I never insulted my customer by telling them they were making a bad choice....if XYZ Co. didn't perform all their promises... I still had a shot at the business... If I had insulted the intelligence of my customer... I lost.
 
I completely agree. That type of salemanship is just plan bad. If I ask about a product that someone sells, I want to hear about that product, not everything that is wrong with the competition.

I hope the Woodcraft owner's or managers find out someone at the store is doing that...that will turn off quite a few people quick and in the wworking community word travels fast. :(
 
When I got into my antique clock restoration business my late granddad gave me a bit of advice. He said if you want to drive away customers bad mouth your competition. He said I don't care how bad they are or how shoddy their work is never bad mouth them. He was absolutely right. My competition started bad mouthing me as a high priced thief doing subpar work. Well needless to say he is gone and I have more work than I want.

I agree with the others and hate when you see it on TV and everywhere else. If I go into a store and they start bad mouthing XYZ store down the road I leave.
 
To keep things clear here, the gripe is with the salesmanship tactics of one person at one Woodcraft store, not the lathes. Sorry Frank, but your subject title is misleading.

As it is, I very much agree it is very bad practice to bad mouth the competition. If I were in that area, I would avoid that store. I happen to like the guys in the Woodcraft closest to me. And I happen to be pleased with the new lathe choice I just made.

I also am a Grizzly fan, owning a number of the their big power tools.

So I think a communication to the manager of that particular store is in order. What is at stake here is his/her investment and the jobs of the rest of the employees. Finding jobs is hard enough without businesses going out of business. Woodcraft stores going out of business is at the least inconvenient for the people who like having one near by.

A note to the manager that his/her store is taking flack on the Internet would be a service to his/her business.

If we take the time to gently try to right a wrong instead of maligning people, organizations, products, and reputations, would not our world be a much place to live?

I offer this because the people on this site take some pride in being good and decent people. But it is real easy to slip of that moral plank and indulge in less than admirable practices. We are better that than.

Outta my pulpit! Thanks for reading.
 
Carol, the saga does continue, unfortunately.
I agree completely with everything else you say.
And, the other replies ditto my feelings.
When we moved into our present house, I went shopping for a riding lawn mower/tractor. To a person, the independent dealers started their pitch by badmouthing the Sears Craftsman. I used to own a Sears store and sold many hundreds of Craftsman mowers. I know them to be less than top quality but definitely not bad. There are millions in use that give reliable service for many years. But, I wanted top-top quality to last me the rest of my (mowing) life. Hearing their potty mouths put me off, I bought a Craftsman and it is serving just fine.
 
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