Because of smf!

[Carhuntr]

Im finally starting to head in the right direction

I just got a contract with a local computer store and the reason i got it is because of information i got from this site

I called them about 2 weeks ago and scheduled a time with them to come and talk about becoming their new buyer of e scrap
Sadly i was not able to make it that day and was not able to contact them for the last two weeks. Friday i stopped in and introduced myself and appologized
for not making it that day and found out waht i was not able to reach them (phone company set up call forwarding to a dead number)

After talking for a little while the owner confided in me that he was willing to work with me because the company they had dealt with for 5 years was starting to take their sweet time with making pickups and missing appointments for several months. Part of want locked it up was that he had a stack of li ion laptop batteries that had been accumulating for over a year (only about 40 pounds) and the previous person kept saying "i dont have a market for these yet but im trying" that whole time. Thanks to looking at the buyers section on this site i was confident in saying that i have a market for these right away and will pay you XXX a lb. This made him very happy and pretty much gave me a lock that day but i was in a hurry and did not have time to weigh and pay for everything so he asked me to come back saturday. When i came back he had everythign sorted out for the most part (had ram and cpu's in one box at same price (was getting 6.00 i gave 8.00 (and fingerboards and hdd boards in same pile (as i was in a hurry and there was only a half pound of hdd boards i weight them with fingers and paid what i get for finger boards whice made him happy and i told him that next time to keep them seperate and i would pay more) and i took the time to sort of al heatsinks from al/cu heatsinks which in turn made him more money again!

Needless to say he was very happy and said he would talk to the other comptuer stores in town and try to get them to have me pickup there stuff as well on a bi weekly basis

In short i want to thank everyone on the forum for being a fountain of knowledge that i am able to drink from you have already helped my first week of beign a member and now i believe that i am ever closer to taking the next step and expanding my pickup radius (was 30 miles now out to 60 and gonna try to get places within 100 miles of my location)



Once again thanks to everyone for what you have posted on this site i have found out there are buyers for items i have been turning down in the past and now i can take them and some people are actually offering to pay me to dispose of there items ( is there anyone wants crt monitors i can get access to a couple pallets worth every 3 months)

[Sirscrapalot]

Well done Carhuntr. Glad to see Scrap Metal University has paid for you! Not that I had any doubt, but always good to hear successful stories.

Keep at it, an keep us posted on how it works out. Bravo on taking the info here, an applying it straight away. 7 posts an your already doing better then before you found us. I like those kind of results.

Let me be the first to say...Your welcome! An Congratulations on getting that deal made!

Sirscrapalot - We see things as we are, not as they are. - Leo Rosten

[Mudlucky]

Well done! Keep it up. Don't make promises you can't keep and always go above what you said you would do and they will be happy. Learn fro the guy that came before you and you are replacing. Don't become someone who gets a bit overly complacent in their customer service.

Congrats on a job well done.

[Carhuntr]

I always do my best to go above and beyond when i started scrapping almost bout 5 years ago with the computers i had one computer store i was dealing with but when i moved he started tearing the stuff down and selling it himself but when i came back he decided to stop that and still GIVE me teh stuff for FREE and he I either stop at his place each time i go into that town or call him atleast once a week because sometimes he will get 1 maybe 2 towers in over a 2 week period when its slow but ther have been times where i have taken several towers printers and flat panel monitors just to stop back 3 days later and he will have stuff coming out his ears so i at least call or stop by weekly to the places i deal with that one in particular did not hear from me for 4 years and when i called out of the blue he remembered my company name and everything so i must have been doing something right for that to have stuck with him

[Mechanic688]

Just don't give away the farm with your pricing, the further out you go the cheaper it should be, sounds like your giving away most of your profit. You have to be able to survive the highs and lows.

[parrothead]

Just don't give away the farm with your pricing, the further out you go the cheaper it should be, sounds like your giving away most of your profit. You have to be able to survive the highs and lows.

Yes, what he said. And the lows are here and may get lower. Make sure that your suppliers know that the price you pay is based on the metals market, so you can actually show them a reason for you dropping the price. I only ever paid $8 for RAM when we were getting $16. (I miss those days). I have been at $6 for some time now and will probably be dropping the price again real soon unless gold goes back up or I become a full buyer of RAM.

But, glad to hear that you are doing and saying the right stuff to get in the door. It is up to you to keep that door open now.

[miked]

Well done, you came, you read, your executed, now repeat. Mike.

[Carhuntr]

and the place i jsut got will start to sell me complete towers (minus hdd) for .12 a pound and then ill just buy the hdds and hdd boards seperate bought it all speeerated this time because thats what he last guy had him doing he said he would rather get a lil less and not have to tear them down himself

[Mechanic688]

.12 is a good price.

[Electrowaste]

We pay for electronics. We don't pay a lot mind you, but we absolutely EXCEL in customer service. Your customers are special, they want to feel special and to be successful you better make it your personal responsibility to make them feel special. Here are Electrowaste we bend over backwards...

[Carhuntr]

I always try to make the customer feel important. My usually goes takes a good half hour to an hour because i actually will talk with the customer i used to be the kind of guy that did this "i dont have time to talk so lets get this done" i lost alot of people doing it this way when i started now i actually will talk with them swap stories and give/receive advice and always end up helping each other out last time i was at my longest account it was towards the end of the day and he was closing up shop so i helped him take care of a few things (shut down computers, take out trash etc) and then we ended up just sitting in the office talking for about an hour bout some new companies he was working with and new products he was getting into over the years i have found being polite, personable, and appreciative of their business works out alot better in the long run as it is every once in awhile he will give me stuff new off the shelf for me to use on my towers and most of the computer stores i deal with get a plaque (etched glass plate with their business logo on in and this christmas i am trying to get them glass mugs with each employees name etched on them. "ALWAYS GO THE EXTRA MILE BECAUSE AT THE END OF THAT MILE YOU MAY END UP GETTING YOUR GAS FOR FREE" ss you are more then welcome to use that quote if you want

[Sirscrapalot]

I've said it before, an I'll keep saying it. Customer service is king if done right. Why don't I deal with my local Goodwill? Cause their customer service sucks! As does their attitude...but whatever. I give excellent customer service, so my clients/customers love me. It's why I can excel at the thrift store an yard sale game. Chat with folks, an you'll be surprised what comes out of that 15 minutes you think you wasted. I understand the time is money game, I really do..but I also understand people want to feel good when dealing with a company/service provider. A lot of places I don't give my money to are cause their customer service sucks. I've been doing Customer service in one form or another for **** near 20 years now(Gah I feel old)an it's a skill you really need if your selling anything.

When I did retail I used to joke with friends I could sell ice to a Eskimo. Why? Great customer service skills. Ask the right questions, listen and BAM! you got the sale. You can rush rush rush all day but don't let the customer get the idea the time their spending with you isn't important, they do an they won't be your customer for long. I've taken a good number of folks from my competition, cause the competition treats them like a dollar sign, I treat them the way I want to be treated. You can be on time, do what you say etc..but make that customer/client feel like their not important an someone like me will swoop in take over, an do all you did plus provide excellent customer service.

So next time you feel your wasting time chatting with a future customer or a current one..remember, your really not. Yea yea, time is money....but good customer service is to. No you don't have to stand around an chat for an hour, but taking 5 minutes to shoot the **** will earn you much benefit in my opinion. I Make a point to talk with my clients/customers. I ask how the family is, how's business, etc etc. I say hello to the staff(if they have it). My thrift store actually told me one of the reasons they decided to work with me is cause every time I come in I say hello an how ya doing to everyone that works there that I see, not just the boss. I give everyone a smile.

Remember that golden rule...Treat others as you want to be treated. It works as well in your work life as it does in the personal one. I'll always use the company that treats me right, vs the one who treats me as a $.

As always...YMMV.

Sirscrapalot - I believe in the golden rule, he who has the gold rules! - Mr. T