Kirkham Marketing Question For Garage Therapy

[Power Surge]

BTW David, I just want to say that this kind of customer interaction is awesome. One of your questions was why do our customers buy from us. This is one perfect example of why. Because instead of just doing what you do, and let the customer play by your rules, you guys come here and ask the customers what THEY want. You build and change your company based on what the customer wants. That's something pretty rare in this industry, and I give you guys a big thumbs up for it.

[David Kirkham]

Lew,

Do you have an eavesdropping device in our office right now?

Sal,

Many thanks for your kind words!

David

[David Kirkham]

Lew,

Is this what you had in mind?

Maintenence example:

Front lower control arm bearing ball joint replacement bearing.

Vendor--Aurora Bearing
Vendor Part Number--COM12-T
Vendor phone number 630.859.2030
Vendor email customerservice@aurorabearing.com

Hood latches, Door Latches, Lucas parts

SVC Trading Limited
53 Kepler, Lichfield Road Industrial Estate,
Tamworth Staffs., B79 7SF.
Telephone 01827 67714 Fax: 60251 e-mail : Info@s-v-c.co.uk

Contact:
Stephen Taylor - Director 19 Aug.04
SVC Trading Limited,
53, Kepler, Lichfield Rd. Ind.Est, Tamworth Staffs B70 7SF. England.

www.s-v-c.co.uk

Steve Taylor is an exceptionally nice man and he will probably even make you a good deal on a big purchase. You should have no fear sending him your money. Check out their website...you will be amazed.

David

[Dangerous Doug]

You could offer the body preparation as an optioned upgrade like you do for the polished and 120 grit sanded finishes, but you'd need to make certain it is understood that there remains a great deal of body work to be done. Thus, you would have three body preparation options: prep'ed, sanded, and polished.

In terms of how much of a price reduction you should offer, you are actually the best to know: the "fair" reduction in price is a "fair" wage times the number of man hours required to prepare a body so that it is straight and requires no filling (pretty much what I assume you do now).

As for me, I'd want the body in pretty prestine shape, for I'd want to spend MY time sanding and polishing a straight body. If you reduced your "basic kit" to some price below $39k and then optioned it up to $39k for a "prepared body" that is the option I would go after.

I think an unprepared body would be interesting to a skilled body man, but I would guess that that is a small percentage of the Cobraphile population. That being said, is it worth the confusion that changing the attributes of your basic kit would cause? I would say most likely not.
Of course, I like Lew's idea of a good manual...

...Say "Hi" to Mary for me.

Regards,
Dangerous Doug

[David Kirkham]

Lew, Doug,

Here is a link to the body finishing/polishing page of the assembly manual we have in progress.

As you know, answering customer questions IS a huge part of our overhead. We thought we'd make it easier on our customers and on us.

Turn off image resizing in your browser to see some really huge full-size pictures that are linked. The detail on some of the photos is incredible.

This is only one page, but we expect the manual to encompass a few hundred pages and thousands of photos. This page is a work in progress.

David

Kirkham Assembly Manual Preview/Excerpt

[Lew Ledyard]

David:

Yes, along those lines. An exploded parts diagram is also always helpful. In the diagram, just assign a number to the part. Then in the description of parts, list what it is. Most of the parts will be fasteners, but list their size and specs. In the beginning you could generally desribe the type of nuts and bolts (e.g. grade 8, stainless, etc.) so you would not have to keep repeating. Other parts could be listed just like you say. (Left motor mount - Ford part # _____, wheel bearing - Porsche part #_____, headlight switch - Lucas #____, etc.) At the end of the parts book, list the contact information for vendors.

A manual (which may or may not be a separate book from the parts book) should list things like suspension set-up, torque specs, what to grease, fluid types and capacities, etc. It would be more like a shop manual than an owners manual. You could also list things like types on how to clean and polish aluminum, how to safety wire, etc.

Put it in binder form so it can be updated. It would probably also serve as a good marketing tool. Someone might want to pay $50 to see a detailed explanation of how the car is put together. It might encourage them to buy once they see how well the car is built and what kind of thought went into it. I think ERA has a comprehensive assembly/owners manual. I am sure a lot of current ERA owners bought the manual first, drooled over it for a while and then decided to spring for the car.

Thanks for listening.

[RON N BKFLD]

David, are you having a KIRKHAM SUMMIT any time soon? I still need parts , in addition to those already backordered.
RON N BKFLD

HI LEW , good post.

[David Kirkham]

Lew,

Instead of sellling the manual for $50, we will just publish it on the web and ANYONE can download it for free.

That way it keeps costs down for everyone and we can constantly update it.

We are working on exploded pictures and details on how to carefully assemble the car. Bolt sizes etc will eventually be included as well.

Almost all of our bolts are aircraft specification and are purchased through Coast Fabrication in California.
714.842.2603 phone We talk to Ruben. He is really nice.

Coast Fabrication Website

David

[David Kirkham]

Ron,

We are tenatively planning the Summit for the 1st weekend in Feb.

Which parts do you need? We will ship them right out. Sorry if I forgot something. (That is all part of why we are publishing our internet manual so EVERYONE has better information.)

David

[Power Surge]

David, remember I was talking to you about doing Kirkham web forums? I bet that right there will take a boatload of support off your shoulders. Having existing Kirkham members there to aid new owners during their build, frees up tons of time on your end. That was one of the best things I liked about FFR when I had my FF car, the huge support forums. Heck, it was a deciding factor on me buying the FFR. There's one more way for you guys to draw in customers.

[RON N BKFLD]

David,

I'll fax a list monday. I would also like to speak with you.......... I'll try calling monday morning

Ron

[luke-44]

Originally posted by daltondavid
I am sure that way you could look in the "REGISTRY" and see that the Particular Vin is for a "Do it yourselfer" or a KIRKHAM Built Car. This way a potential "Used Kirkham" buyer could reference the vehicles creation.

Dave D - I know where you are going with the registry concept, but I have to disagree here. All of the cars would still be Kirkhams.

Your example of a Las Vegas vs. Mexico Shelby is different for exactly that reason - they come from different places. That whole subject is a part of a bigger debate - getting right back to real/original, etc, etc....

Regardless of who bolts the pieces together, the main components - or as David says - the things they control, are still Kirkham. Anybody who would take this on has to have a fairly high mechanical apptitude or they wouldn't be trying it, and I am pretty sure they would not turn out a pos... .

Think about it...Where would the "registry" definition stop? Body/chassis by Kirkham, but motor/trans by Joe's garage? Or body/chassis by Kirkham, but not supplied with Kirkham sourced taillights, and rear end. Or rear end/body/chassis by Kirkham, but not motor and tailights. Exactly what is it that makes it what it is?

Take it to an extreme, but possible, example - A complete "Kirkham built" chassis with a 390 "Joes Garage" engine and Acme transmission, customer supplied diff, and without all the other "optional parts " listed in the Kirkham price list (take a look at what this hypothetical car might not include - http://kms.nfshost.com/pricing/options.shtml) is not as desirable to me as a bare Kirkham chassis/body with a name brand motor builder and David Kee transmission, all assembled to Kirkham specs/parts sourced by Bruce Luke.

Where does "Kirkham built" stop - being as you cannot buy a complete Kirkham car? Under the K's marketing today, all you get is a major part of a complete car - if the chassis/frame is the soul, the drivetrain (currently customer supplied) is the heart. Still takes both to make a complete car....

See what I mean?

[David Kirkham]

Ron,

I look forward to hearing from you!

Luke,

You bring up some very interesting points.

David

[computerworks]

Mod Note - moved to Kirkham Motorsports forum.

[Cobra Pack]

David,

I think the manual is a great idea. I have probably called and emailed you, Tom, Steve and Mary 50 times with various questions I had during the build process at Kirkham, and since I had my car, and I'm sure that I am not the only one.

The sample manual pages on sanding would have eliminated numerous calls and emails from me - the pages are well written and easy to understand. The Kirkham gang is always very helpful in answering my questions, but if you could eliminate 10-20 calls per customer, you would free up a lot of additional time to pursue leads with new potential customers and allow you more time to deal with more important problems/issues.

I personnally do not think that cost is a significant prohibitive factor in purchasing your cars - afterall, the price is not all that much different from high end fiberglass replicas (ERA, Superformance etc). I think the total build cost ends up being higher because people tend to use 427 FE motors in most of the cars you sell which are pricer than the 351W and 460's many people use in other replicas.

One comment on the manual - when you go with the "ultra brushed" finish, do you use scotchbrite pads at all or do you go with 120 and then 320 and stop at that. On my car, I have not used 80 grit at all. It takes a little longer to get out the file marks with 120, but the 80 grit can leave some deep grooves as well.

I am also going to start using a palm finish sander on some of the straighter areas to get some of the deeper marks out. So far, I have been focusing primarily on the fender flares, doors, hood and trunk.

Mike

[xlr8or]

David,
I think it's a good idea to offer it in kit form. Being a 427F customer I have a pretty good idea of what it's taking to finish your car. I can tell you that the "kit" I recieved has been going together very well with no major issues. I have called and asked several questions of you and some of the shop guys but they have all been related to the lack of a manual. With a few diagrams and pictures of the before/after most of those calls would have been unnecessary.

I think the kit should include the basic sanded body however and option the other levels of finish. With the body mounted and the doors/hood prefit it will ensure a good fit/finish on the car regardless of final finish desired.

My suggestion would be to use my kit as the baseline and see what you could offer that at. The complicated parts were done and the rest is bolt it up and go. I am about 70% done without a manual so I'm sure once you complete it anybody with basic automotive skills can assembly the car with a high level of quality.

My car turned out to be exactly what I was looking for assembly wise and the original thought of "Garage Therapy" is working out great.

PS: Did you send out the parts we talked about?

Scott

[sshurts]

David,

Online manual is on the money for all the reasons you mentioned. Building #253 has been a real joy and having a manual -- like this seems will be -- would make it even better. And the obvious benefit is that KMP will scale it's operation much easier and free Thomas, you, and the crew for other tasks.

Parts information is a bigger winner too -- plenty of time tracking down parts.

On a separate note, but related to streamlining the operations -- have you noticed, even on this thread, the looseness in placing and tracking orders? Something that the internet and software does quite effectively.

I mention this here as I believe these are process infrastructure that would support more builders -- and current builders more effectively.

happy kmp customer and happy to see continual progress -- well done!!

Scott

[Lew Ledyard]

An internet manual is a great way to go. I guess I dated myself by suggesting a binder format. That way you could provide your text and allow others to supplement it with their own tricks. (e.g Morris' suspension set-up info.) KMP would probably have to approve additions, or else it could ramble on. It would be a time consuming chore initially, but a time saver in the long run.

Maybe you could have a "shopping cart" feature in the prts list or manual that would allow ordering, order tracking and processing of customer parts through the computer. It would automatically enter customer orders into your system. Perhaps you could also link with other vendors.

[lineslinger]

Personally I would give serious consideration to delaying my kit purchase if the possibility of a "Kirkham Kit" were to become available.
David, you and I spoke about the possibility of this in a phone conversation in early 04' when I was just beginning my research. Glad to hear you are still toying with the idea.

[David Kirkham]

Mike,

I prefer to not use the 80 grit sand paper as the deep sanding marks are difficult to remover. But, some of my guys prefer to start with the 80 grit so it must be a personal preference thing.

Our nicest cars are done with 120 grit and then the maroon 3M Scotch Brite pad. It acts like a 220 grit paper or so. It really makes the nice satin look.

Careful with the sander so you don't gouge the aluminum.

Scott H,

The goods are on the way...along with some extra loot.

Scott S.

The manual is definately meant for past, current, and future customers. We want it to be easier for everyone. Some people have fallen through the cracks, but hopefully this will go a long way making everyone happier.

Lew,

We are working on the shopping cart feature. We will be linking to other vendors.

linslinger,

Stand by...we run experiments all the time.

David