Quote:
Originally Posted by Alistair Hay
RP
i think your on to something. I will be keen to hear others thoughts. Would you be willing to have strangers come to your home? What if Kramster showed up? Things to ponder for sure.
Kramster
NAMM wouldnt be NAMM without Kramster. I think its your turn to buy breakfast!
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I'm personally happy to let people come check out my X7 (stunning example as it is!) and hope to check out an X30 in the not too distant future. So far I've had one forum member come check out my X7.
But I really dislike the idea of ANY kind of commission or break on a future guitar, or any other structural financial incentive for us to become part of the Emerald sales team. If someone comes to my home to try my X7, I don't want to have any desire, no matter how subconscious, to sell them anything. And I wouldn't want them to wonder if I was pushing something on them because there was something in it for me. I'm very happy to be part of the community and share what I've got to help other folks make up their own minds about whether a guitar is a good fit for them. But I don't want to try, intentionally or not, to try to convince them of anything, beyond the preferences and biases we all inevitably bring to any such interaction. And I don't want any visitor to think that I might be.
My suggestion would be to just send out an email to your customer base saying you're considering setting up a database of owners of various models who would be open to having potential customers come check out their guitars. And ask us each if we'd like to be included. If not, obviously don't include us. If so, put us on the list. If a potential customer asks if there are any X30 owners in a certain area, you could give them a list of names (maybe just first names so nobody feels their privacy is being compromised) and email addresses and then the potential customer could get in touch with folks through email and see if they can work something out.
Pretty simple. Pretty non-invasive. Totally voluntary. No selling involved - just folks who are willing to be helpful... And, hey, if someone like that alleged guitar smuggler in Arizona ends up helping a LOT of people and Alistair feels like thanking them at some point by offering them a bit of a discount on some future purchase, he's obviously free to do so. But I just don't like the idea of enlisting us in some sort of explicit incentive system to become part of the sales force...
That's my 2 cents, and worth about that...
-Ray