What do you do when a company actually reduces the warranty period on its products? And what can you do when angry channel partners and customers curse the company�s product for failing regularly?
p____p There is a good chance that some of you may weep like kids or pray to god. But there is an even better chance that you may simply stop stocking that company�s product anymore. You may decide to stock another product; of a rival company perhaps. Fair enough. Also, that�s quite easy to do.
p____p But what if you, heaven forbid, happen to be the country manager of the company that sells such a product? Go on a vacation? Or call up the PR agency? After all, you have to answer not only your bosses, but also your channel partners.
p____p And imagine your plight if bosses have actually instructed you not to answer any questions from the channel or the press, even as your company�s products and warranty policy go for a toss!
p____p Surely, you will be in a spot. You may begin to have much more than a peg or two. You may go on a holiday. You may spend time praying to god. You may even resign from your company.
p____p But Sharad Srivastava does not appear to be doing anything of the sort, despite going through all that has been mentioned above.
p____p So hold your horses and think twice� before you decide to curse Srivastava. Aren�t you the same guy who used to applaud Seagate and swear by the quality of its products? Aren�t you the one who benefited from good margins because of its products?
p____p By all means do not stock products that fail or have an unsatisfactory warranty policy. But why abuse Shrivastava, when he is down? Surely, that will not ensure you higher margins.
p____p Try and understand Srivastava�s position. There seems to very little he can do. Except wait for Seagate�s “quiet period” to end. Maybe after it is over, there will be an announcement and many of you will consider doing
business with him once again.
p____p In any case, won�t you be forced to do business with him if he returns as the head of some other vendor, which is known for the superb quality of its products?