We are back from vacation!
Brenda and I celebrated our 55th wedding anniversary by taking a wonderful vacation to the Italian Alps. A big thank you to Erik, Lisa, Holly and Ann, who all did a great job keeping everything running smoothly while we were gone.
Thanks to many of you, June was the best month in our company’s nearly eleven-year history!
It’s great to be back, and I’m glad to report on some exciting new products and vendors! Before we get to that subject, I was reminded of a recently-worsening trend by the airlines, who want to charge exorbitant fees just to have a more comfortable seat. It seems that the big lab supply distributors are trying the same things…
Customer Service - Too Expensive?
Do you want great prices or do you want great service? It now seems that many companies have determined these two options to be mutually exclusive. Take for example, freight quotes.
A number of companies we deal with have policies against providing freight quotes. What you will pay for freight is a really important thing to know in the lab supplies business,especially if you are purchasing hazardous chemicals. Determining the freight charges does require some work. What are you shipping? Where is it going? What is the best way to ship? But these questions arise on nearly every transaction. Does it make sense to simply say “We no longer provide that information”?
This is a trend we are seeing with a number of our vendors. One of our main vendors won’t even allow us to speak with anyone by phone! Further, they almost never respond to emails. Their reasoning? You want low prices, this is what you must sacrifice.
While I understand the need to work with a vendor to hold down their cost of doing business in return for aggressive pricing, shutting off all avenues of communication is not the solution. I predict this trend will be short-lived. At least I hope it is!
Your best bet, of course, is to use your own freight account. LPS accepts all customerUPS and FedEx freight accounts.
LPS’s New Distribution Agreement With Hoefer, Inc.
If you don’t recognize this logo, it is because Hoefer products have, for decades, been sold under the name Harvard. This company is the market leader in Gel Electrophoresis systems. But that’s not all! They have cryogenic storage products, labeling systems and a number of other unique products such as automatic cappers and decappers.
You will find most of Hoefer’s product line on our website. While Hoefer is not one of them, some manufacturers have minimum advertised price controls in place, so if you are considering a purchase of any type of equipment, I encourage you to contact us at info@labproservices to request a quote.
Wrapping it up
Much of our activity lately has involved improving our website. We use the same platform (Magento 2.0 by Adobe) that many of the largest lab supply vendors use. You’ve probably noticed that our website has improved greatly. More products have images, improved and expanded content and a Category navigation system that is among the best in the industry.
Look for more content, more vendors and better images in the future.
As a reminder, while we have great prices thanks to our cost-plus pricing model, we will continue to offer services levels that are beyond our customers’ expectations. We will respond promptly to emails and phone calls and we pledge NEVER to tell any of our customers that they aren’t entitled to anything but our best level of service - at no extra charge! Contact us today, or schedule a consultation to find out more.
