Do Stihl UK (GB) care about their Professional Users/Contractors ?

Having experienced a fantastic day on Saturday courtesy of Etesia UK at their Banbury HQ, by comparison I have been totally disappointed with the total lack of response from Stihl UK (GB) to join LJN and engage with a ever growing number of their professional users in the same manner.

You may remember, at the same time we invited Stihl UK (GB) to join LJN and have a presence. I contacted the Managing Director - Robbie Lennie (Robin.Lennie@stihl.co.uk) and the Marketing Director - Sean Later-Conway (sean.larter_conway@stihl.co.uk) but have not had the decency of any response from one Director to another. All I received was a curt, almost rude responses from Stihl Customer Services (Manager), with the last stating :

"Having been advised that you have since been in contact, I can confirm that this is not an area that STIHL wishes to pursue. We thank you for your correspondence, however we see no further reason for future communication".

So there you have it: Stihl UK (GB) have no interest in you and one of the largest online, professional user bases in the UK.

Stihl UK (GB) have clearly not stepped into the 21st Century and realised the power and benefits of social media, networking and email (given they can't respond as people are away on 'company business').

Compare Stihl UK (GB) to Stihl USA: The US arm supports its professional users both online and in print with business articles and training from leading experts (Try to get a copy of Stihl's 'Contractors Guide to Success' - fantastic reading).

So are Stihl UK (GB) loosing touch ?

I wonder if a tweet or two to the US or Gmbh offices might wake Stihl UK (GB) up ?

Replies

PRO

Brian www.mibservices.co.uk March 28, 2011 at 7:52pm

Personally I would rather just treat them with the contempt they deserve mate, their loss
PRO

Brian www.mibservices.co.uk March 28, 2011 at 8:01pm

hi John, they obviously think they are above web forums, but as Gary stated, they are under estimating the power of forums such as LJN as a sales route and FREE advertising ????, go figure eh !!
PRO

Daniel Gillings @ DC inc March 28, 2011 at 8:02pm

Problem is that there is equipment, in my opinion, is second to none in the areas I use it. CS may be awful, but product is great - where do you draw the line...
PRO

Brian www.mibservices.co.uk March 28, 2011 at 8:05pm

Hi Daniel, yep it is but complacency breeds contempt, thats where the line should be drawn
PRO

Gary RK March 28, 2011 at 8:09pm

In my view its complacency at local/regional level - ie Stihl GB.

They've had it all their way for too long.

Without doubt their products are great, but you can still hold your image/position AND engage with professional users.

As I said, go compare how Stihl USA engages with their Contractor user base...
PRO

Daniel Gillings @ DC inc March 28, 2011 at 8:17pm

I think, forgive me for saying, that it has a lot to do with company size (whether rightly so or not) Etesia are a smaller company with less brand awareness, as such they need to push their product in much the same way as we push ours.
Stihl have global branding and are well know. From a business perspective what benefits does adding themselves to a relatively small online group (on a global scale) really give them? They would need someone who is point of contact online (a labour cost that may not return dividends for them).

I agree, it wouldn't hurt them to be on LJN, but what quality would it bring from a company of that size?
Steve Sonic Grounds Maintenance March 28, 2011 at 8:20pm

The responce they gave you was simply rude, Cant believe a large company would treat a large customer base in this way.

I suppose it shows they think their products speak for themselves.

The question is, is anyone prepared to boycott their tools in responce to this?

I have found that John Deere customers service is just as bad, even worse in fact, which is why i will never buy another John Deere again. But i cannot see me saying the same about the stihl!
Chris Auld March 28, 2011 at 8:25pm

Im starting to think stihl dont care about expanding their customer base, first they refuse to sell there products online which no doubt loses them £millions in potential sales each year, now they refuse to listen to the invaluable information us professional user are willing to provide them with. Pity.
Nic Johnson March 28, 2011 at 8:30pm

Their loss it shouldnt matter how big a company is a big company like stihl could afford to spend some time on ljn interacting with us the professional end user.

Maybe its like gary suspects its stihl gb and not stihl in general. I wouldnt mind betting if stihl head office in germany or usa knew about the response gary has had, they wouldnt be too pleased its not a professional response at all.

http://http://www.greenindustrypros.com/content/contractorsuccess.jsp
PRO

Phil Voice March 28, 2011 at 8:30pm

I'm reluctant to add to this because I think Stihl are an excellent marque but I have to say that my dealings with stihl have met with similar results.

I've sent several emails and spoke with a senior member of Stihl's team in Camberley who was extremely dismissive and rude when I spoke to her.

I explained what LJN was about and that many many of our members buy their products and that we would really like for them to get involved.

I have never had a reply, despite having an interim email to say that she hadn't spoken with her boss and would get back to me as soon as she could.