Some things I just don't understand. I guess I'm slow or something. Maybe it is just the advancing years, maybe I'm in the early stages of Alzheimer's (and I'm not making light of this, it is a genuine concern), I just don't understand some things.
One of those things is the Kimber Master Dealer Program. As I understand the basics, the dealer has to buy $20K in product each year to get a certain discount AND priority on production. However, Kimber doesn't treat all Master Dealers the same. E.g. Gander Mountain pays their $20K and gets pistols, the boss man (that's my boss man) pays his $20K and gets nothing for 2 years. Now, the boss man finds out that there is ONE dealer who actually does get product and he can get the pistols from him albeit at a slightly higher price (which cuts into his markup as he can't sell them for more than anyone) but he can finally get pistols to meet customer demand. It is very hard to judge such things but in the 3 years I've been there I myself might have lost about 50-100 sales because we didn't have the product and I'm only working 1 day a week. That might be 300-600 sales lost to the shop. I would suppose that Kimber didn't lose any sales but that is impossible to say. I know I did sell a couple of Springfields to people who initially asked about Kimber.
So, what I don't understand is how Kimber can justify this, what would amount to fraud if I understand it correctly, Master Dealer program? What sort of management supports this system?
The whole gun marketing system in this country is a bit wonky, or so it seems to me. The ins and outs and such seem to be subject to endless variation/complication.
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
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