Q
So, a local sales rep for a certain Qompany that sells mainly kits, but also robots, came by my office recently with a promotional flyer. An invitation, if you will, to a V.I.P. event - a showcase of their new robotic, liquid-handling, sample-preparing, all-singing, all-dancing box. A box with a lovely name, evocative of orchestras.
Now, I’ve made no bones in the past about not this not being my favourite of companies, their sales tactics ranging from dubious to downright annoying. And this fits right in… a V.I.P. event, you say? Then why, I ask, is it from 9:00 AM to 4:00 PM in a conference room? With refreshments all day? “Oh, don’t post this notice, I don’t want this open to everyone… just a select few.” They sure know how to make a fella feel special, I tells ya.
Oh, and the robot in question? Well, the sales rep described it to me as being a box that you can put any kind of sample into, and get any kind of prep out. Cells in, RNA out. Brain in, DNA out. Fossilized pterodactyl bones in, highly purified Jak Kinase out, that kind of thing.
I think I may give this one a miss.
Posted on Saturday, April 26th, 2008 at 9:57 am Categorized as:Reps, Shows You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.
April 27th, 2008 at 5:47 am
Now, now. They don’t make bad products, even if the sales reps get up your nose. If people are going to buy it, they may as well try to sell it.
Aren’t you and everyone with your kind of budget a V.I.P.?
Unless you are representing a platform and have gone out to do your own research on what kind of robot you need, though, I don’t see the urgency for a robot. In fact, I think we have one of those very Q robots (first generation) collecting dust in a closet.
When I want to give myself perspective in a large purchase I ask myself if I would really benefit from a given lab machine more than from an equivalently priced Jaguar XKR convertible.
April 27th, 2008 at 12:11 pm
Well, I didn’t mean to imply that the Qompany in Question makes bad stuff - they don’t. We use their kits all the time.
Their first-generation robots *were* awful, by the way… if this new one is based on technologies from the Great Galloping Gadzooks of a Gompany that they recently bought, it probably works pretty well. If not, I have my doubts.
And VIP, me? You’d be surprised. There’s a fine line between big budget/working hard to get the customer interested, and big budget/ignoring the customer because they buy your stuff already.
And your car comment strikes a chord with me (but you knew that already… although it strikes me that I dumped on Jaguar recently over at my other blog).