Belmont Equipment Sales

Comment by Brian Ivey on May 4, 2010 at 9:46pm

Josh,

Sorry to hear about you losing your Belmont rep. Sounds like Belmont will continue to lose sales in the NoCal area, even with another replacement rep. Relationships take time to build, and it sounds like he was good at it. I think I would try to lead with another line when facing these "bargain" dealers. In my opinion they make all dealers look bad, when the promote their low price and the customer expects they will get the service and support associated with a full service dealer. I would try to get testimonials from customers who purchased the "discount" equipment to see how their experience was. Did the "bargain" dealer fully support them in the sale and after the sale, or did the just turn their back on the customer. Just my two cents. Good luck.
Brian

Comment by Gerry on May 10, 2010 at 6:09pm

Dont't all manufactures and dealers play the discounting game, I've bought equipment from "bargain dealers"and non bargain dealers, it didn't really make a difference except that, what was interesting was when I shopped with a non discounting dealer, they where more concerned in knowing if I had been shopping with with other dealers instead of worring of giving me the best deal they actually brought up dealer names I had never heard of, the bottom line is I shopped where I got the best deal because ultimately that's the name of the game. I own 4 dental practices and all of the equipments I have are Belmont I bought it because its a heck of a product, you really get your money's worth I didn't buy it because of the reps or dealers I already knew what I wanted even though they were trying to push me to buy something I didn't want I still bought Belmont. Its sad to hear about your rep Josh but my guess is he was probably underperforming in his area.

Comment by Josh Peterson on May 10, 2010 at 10:49pm

No Gerry, the point of my post is he wasnt underperforming in his area, he was being undermind by his own company that wouldnt enforce a territory by restricing sales outside of Socal,each dealer has a formated territory and they are not allowed to sell outside of it....if Belmont had punished those that didnt play by the rules then sales here would have increased,because Belmont is a very good product....Norcal dealers wont get into a Socal discount so buyers up here have to depend on a dealer 8 hours away for service...jp

Comment by Ricklin on May 29, 2010 at 11:03am

Josh: Sorry about your rep. bur as a longtime wholesale rep myself, you are only as good as your numbers.
I primarily chose to comment because your argument does not hold water. Love or hate Pearson, makes no difference. They are playing by the rules in this case. They have a branch in Hayward, last time I checked that's NorCal. Yes there are others who are playing the same game. When the deal is only about price, you have already lost. I'm not defending Belmont's policies here either. The reality today is the same across the entire sales landscape, consider what happens to smaller retailers when Wal-Mart comes to town. Study the lessons learned, and emulate and adapt it to your situation. Their are ways to survive and even thrive, but if you only play the price game, you have already lost.

Comment by Josh Peterson on May 29, 2010 at 2:27pm

Rick, ya gotta read again, I said Pearson does sell with a decent gp here,they do play within the rules....Im refering to the other Socal companies that dump the product up here without any storefronts or work force....by the way Belmont has replaced the independent rep with an full time employee now....

Comment by Ricklin on May 29, 2010 at 5:28pm

Yup...that's our job as independent reps, to work ourselves out of a job. Still sucks, but that's the reality.
I know the dealers you speak of, and ya you are right. Still the bottom line is why would you support a company that has continued to allow that to happen?? Vote with your feet man. Or roll around in the dirt with the discounters. I don't see the situation changing.

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