Your Favorite Distributors?

Big? They like to make money, sure. It's more likely an issue of "credit". AIUI, there are two ways disties make money off their sales teams. One, they get a credit (kick back), based on eventual sales, no matter where the devices are actually bought. Two, they get pricing help (different kick back ;-) such that it doesn't pay for the customer to buy elsewhere (the disty can then set the pain threshold). Maybe that can't be done with contract designers, since they don't know where stuff is eventually bought.

In my company the favorite distributor is usually the one with the hottest sales chick.

David Eather Inscribed thus:

I agree ! Arrows attitude sucks, big time. Farnell is just as bad !

The irony being that stuff I later designed as a contract engineer led to purchases in the millions from distributors - and I had a say in which distributors the company should look to. Arrow was not one of them.

I have only used Farnell for small quantities. In that, they are good.

Dirk Bruere at NeoPax Inscribed thus:

The irony is that I knew Farnell way way before they became what they are now. But try to get help with parts selection/samples... forget it !

I have never even tried it!

Getting help could be an issue how ever, getting samples? I fully understand that reasoning.. Lots of vampires out there. Yes, you all know who I am talking about.

Jamie

I have the same experience. You first need to buy big to get support. On the other hand you'll need support before you can design something. A bit of a chicken and egg situation.

For very small values of "big".

They have to have some mechanism to either get credit or guarantee you'll buy from them. If you don't do the manufacturing yourself perhaps that's not possible. As I said in an earlier post, we're doing more and more business with Arrow because they do a better support job and have better prices (I generally figure 60% of DigiKey's web site). Another advantage of the relationship is warning of impending shortages. For example, they've helped us through the tantalum shortages with no production difficulties. Yet.

Back in the 1980's there was a company in the uk called macro marketing that did just that. Two young wenches, skinny, long legs, one blonde and one brunette would turn up in a Porche 911 convertable. Nice friendly, decent girls, of course, milud, but a bet they got a lot of business for the company :-).

Fairly unusual in the staid, conservatively unenlightened uk of the time...

Regards,

Chris

Ha Ha the macro girls, I remember them!

I seem to recall one of our guys actually got a date with one of them, but chickened out. Anyway they certainly caused a stir at our company when they visited us,

It was all faces to the car park window when they turned up, especially in the summer, when the outfits became far more adventurous.

Funny how you remember certain things in lfe, even after 20+ years. I guess show business really does work :-)...

Regards,

Chris

There was a whole sequence in Dilbert about a vendor with a sales babe. I remember one of the sub-plots was the female engineer complaining bitterly about all the men letting their hormones get the better of their business sense, until someone stuck a picture under her nose and said "this is their service rep, Thor".

I remember back in the old days at Microsim, they had two gals who would do the dog and pony shows at DAC, etc. Both brunettes, but both very good looking.

One was my boss, the other was the head of sales, and both very technically capable! But I am sure the short skirts helped sales...

Charlie

You have to get the marks in the booth before you can make the sale. :)