Have you ever had a hard time getting help with something? For the last year I’ve been searching for a new vehicle, which can be a long journey for a technically oriented car guy. The problem has been that the local dealerships in my region are unwilling to take their customers seriously. The exact car that I was interested in sits only 13 miles from where I live, in a showroom. The salesman who asked me if I needed anything (notice I didn’t say “helped me”) admitted that he didn’t know anything about the car, and that he didn’t want to – since it was to be shipped to somewhere where it would sell. He then mentioned that my Jeep Wrangler couldn’t be traded in because it was a gas hog and there isn’t a market for those in central NY. I left disappointed, did I mention I was asked not to sit in the car or open the hood?
The next stop was a dealership 60 miles away. This dealership would not allow anyone to test drive the Lancer Evolution X. This time I was allowed to at least sit in the car, check out the engine, trunk, and other components. Still, no test drive = no sale.
I was done wasting time with salesmen that had no interest selling their performance car. These guys just wanted to sell economy cars all day. Easy, but what fun is that? A dealership 100 miles away told me over the phone to stop by and try out the car. A test drive is all I needed, and I left the dealership with a new car that day.
Why does this relate to us? I don’t expect you to make big decisions about ball attach fluxes, flip chip fluxes, package-on-package pastes, or bumping materials without feeling confident you are getting the right product for your application. Sure, a car isn’t a consumable item like flux or solder – but I understand that you need to spec in the materials that you use and it can be a pain to change. Let’s get it right the first time!
~Jim