Everything in America is built under “planned failure just outside warranty”, which has created our present throw-away-economy that every large present day Manufacture’s business plan is built on. Six-Sigma, On-Time inventory, and number of times you turn inventory, has become the objective over lasting quality, and removed the pride-in-craftsmanship America was built on.
Gone are the days where 30, 40, 50, et al. year old heirlooms (Rifles w/ scopes) will be passed down with stories to children and grandchildren in the future, because nothing these days lasts hardly ten years, much less one generation.
The costs of warranty are now factored into the cost of the product, whereas in generations past, you never heard the word “warranty”, because quality Made in the U.S.A. goods lasted...and lasted…and lasted. Present day manufactures walk a very thin line, because they know one small mistake of making their product “too” cheap will create a snowball that will steamroll the warranty numbers, sending them into the red, and how good their Balance Sheet is determines whether they are able to re-engineer the problem, fight the PR nightmare from a failed product and win their customers back, and ultimately whether they remain in business.
When your product is being purchased with the public’s discretionary income, you won’t remain in business if you steal from their wallets with a cheap quality product, because you will lose in the PR campaign.
Placing Made in the U.S.A. on your product in this day and time is just a marketing scheme to brainwash the public into believing it has the same craftsmanship and quality of generations past…but we all know it is just one big façade with the majority of high-production products…unfortunately.
The Outdoorsmen of America have put Leupold into check. It is now up to Leupold whether they can escape being put into Checkmate (out of business).
I would only ask Leupold one single question, “Thanks for coming. Please tell us why we should buy your product.” They know what their problems are, and they wouldn’t be coming here unless the bad PR was really getting to their numbers. I would just quietly sit back, and listen to how they plan on solving their issues. Your questions will not sway them one way or the other. They will either change their company philosophy, and start building a quality product again, or go the way of other products who attempted the un-American cheap-quality-business-plan-route to ultimately lose in the end.
The more you let them spend the time talking, without being flooded with questions, the more you’ll have to evaluate whether it was honest and truthful. Look at this like the 24hourcommunity are VC’s with the money (your discretionary income), and Leupold is coming here to ask you to invest. If they don’t make a sound case with supporting facts, they don’t get their needed investment money (your discretionary income).
