Kirkham Marketing Question. What do you guys really want?

[David Kirkham]

What do you guys REALLY want to buy?

Please vote so we can finish our new package organization.

Current customers who already have one of our cars--please vote according to what you would have liked to have seen and what you would have been likely to buy.

The following options are in increasing order of the final cost of the package.

1: Kirkham Frame and body only so you can get in at a budget friendly price and start sanding your body. You will buy Kirkham parts later as you can afford them. Included would be a list of ALL external vendors. You would save lots of money here and it is easier to sell to your wife.

2: A Kirkham manufactured parts only package. Frame, body, suspension, etc. (All the parts you can’t get anywhere else.) Included would be a list of ALL external vendors, part numbers, and phone numbers. You would save lots of money here.

3: A one call does it all to Kirkham. You call us and get everything you need to assembly the car, nuts bolts screws, electrical—all in a box. You would not save as much money here as you would have to pay us to round up, warranty, ship, and stock off of those extra parts. Still, cheaper than option 4.

4: You only want to make one call and have a car delivered to your home. (no engine, trans) Most expensive, but the very least amount of effort for you.

Thank you all in advance,

David

[mrmustang]

David,

I believe the original "Kirkham in a box" or option #3 is what we originally discussed. Body mounted on the frame, with the rest in neatly organized, well marked boxes. Coupled with an assembly manual similar to the demo version you and your brother posted earlier this week. This would suit a large majority of kit builders. However as with everything else, I'm sure that my comfort level (in regards to my skills and abilities) is not the same as everyone else's. Some are greater and perhaps would not even want the body mounted to the frame, while some are not as confident in their skills and would prefer a "turn key minus" package to be offered. Ultimately, the package you choose to offer, I'm sure that it will broaden your current market, and shake up the rest of the industry as you have in the past. I do wish you well with whatever you and your family decide is right for your company as a whole.


Sincerely,

Bill S.

PS: Remember, quite a few vendors that sell to you, do not sell to the general public, so cost savings will be negligible at best when it comes to one or two people trying to purchase parts from here and there. Why not offer a secondary package, so people can buy one level now (say the body and frame), and the finishing package (everything else to turn it into a turn key minus) later.

[xlr8or]

Looks like 3 for 3 so far.

What I got was the perfect mix of buy it/build it for me. I will know every nut and bolt in the car when I am done but don't have to worry about 1200 rivits. Proper panel fitment is assured but all the mechanical assy and plumbing works are my labor. It also allows me the option to customize things if I want.

Several friends have commented on the car saying it's a good mix buy/build as well. Hopefully a couple of them will be coming with me to the summit.

[Power Surge]

As someone who JUST bought a full Kirkham roller, I can definitely say it would have been nice to have had cheaper options available.

I mentioned this in another thread, but I don't think anyone really noticed. I think the perfect solution, is to offer "packages", so that a customer can build the car in stages. You start with a frame and body package. Then you can buy the suspension package, interior and trim package, and then drivetrain parts package.

This idea is NOT the same as the frame and body option in the poll. In your post David, you are proposing people can buy the frame and body, and then source/purchase all the other parts of the car as they need them. I can tell you as a former FFR owner, that people GREATLY prefer to buy parts in "kits", rather than tracking down every little part individually.

Now if you start offering this type of setup, the other three options are really just extentions of it, at different stages. Someone can still order a car and any other stage. For example, a guy might not want to install the rolling parts, but has no problem doing his own trim and interior. So he orders a body/frame package, with the suspension package pre-assembled from Kirkham. Other owners may prefer to buy the car as a full roller.

My opinion is offer all of the above, starting with the option that gets the customer in the door at the lowest level.

Hope this helps!

[David Kirkham]

Thank you for the feedback. We ARE considering all 4 of the options. It is just an enormous task to get it all down on paper--only to wonder if that is really what everyone wants.

David

[bnewell]

Being able to hit the "Buy It Now" button on ebay for this same car that was recently auctioned and sold for $40,100.00.......




Sorry David, I know you are trying to forget about that one

So am I

Brian

[Power Surge]

Oh one more thing...

I think that any Kirkham car that leaves the factory NOT as a full Kirkham built roller should have a different type of build number. Nothing crazy, just something for those "in the know" to differentiate between the two. I think that would be a nice small gesture for the guys who ante'd up the big bucks for a full Kirkham built car. Just my 2 cents .

[mr bruce]

Please post prices for the 4 catagories. For instance: body/frame-$,xxx. Thanks

[xlr8or]

How about this:
Option 1: frame and body only
Option 2: The rest of the kit for option 1
Option 3: full kit unassembled (basically option 1 & 2 with a small discount for ordering it all at once)
Option 4: fully assembled roller

This way you have the same kit of parts regardless of who assembles. You already know what it takes to build your basic roller so it would primarily be just creating the template. When someone orders a car you just punch in which options they want and pull it from inventory for packaging or assembly. Keep or modify your list of current options such as fresh air kit, polishing, SS frame etc.
This way the guys in Poland can produce the same car regardless of what the order is other than the SS option. The rest can be packed for shipment or pulled for assy in Utah.

It sounds much easier than it is but with a little planning it's not too bad. I've done this with a few companies when we would go from prototype to production and the biggest chore was breaking it down to modules or areas of work. In this case it would probably be split into groups such as suspension/steering, engine bay, interior, lighting/electrical, brakes, plumbing.

An inventory/MRP system can handle this easily. You should try doing it with a product that has 18,000 parts.

[kountzecobra]

I like the choice of all 4 options.

[Maricopa]

Any of the above, just make sure the slabside is one of them.

[sgianino]

I like the Turkey option......I mean Turnkey

[David Kirkham]

Brian,

So am I! You snooze...

Maybe next time...

Sal,

Interestingly, my mother has proposed the same thing.

Mr. Bruce,

Not quite there yet. But we will, of course, post them as soon as we possibly can. It will probably be more of a beta test. Our last one didn't turn out the way we expected (fiberglass) so we will limit this one until we can evaluate where it is going. One of the biggest problems in this industry is no one really understands the market and what customers actually want. Well, at least I don't.

Xl,

We have thought, and thought about this until I have about gone crazy. One thing I know is customers will customize their cars. Is that good??? Or Bad??? Who knows. We can't stop them...so...I got thinking.

One of our most expensive cars, SEMA 2003, has aftermarket racing seats in it. I thought I was going to puke when the customer asked for them...until I saw them in the car. I was shocked; I actually thought they looked good.

Our most expensive car, SEMA 2004, had many thousands of dollars of "custom" work done on it by us. All of the mods were really, really nice.

Another one of our top end cars (Morris) did the same thing. He wanted custom gauges and all sorts of things. I thought I was going to puke. Then I saw how his cool gauge set up looked after we installed it. Then I looked at his wiring and threw ours out the window...

Then Pat Buckley puts this weird windshield on an otherwise spactacular car. "How dumb will that look!" I thought to myself. Then I saw it and couldn't believe how cool it was. Now I am saying, "How dumb do I look by NOT giving our customers what they want!" I would love to own ANY of those cars.

Then I got thinking; maybe I am smart enough to not STAY dumb. Why am I FORCING all of our customers to buy EVERYTHING so we can "maintain quality control and all of our cars will look the same blah, blah, blah," when our very NICEST customer's cars are all quite heavily modified and look better than mine!

What if we just give our customers the "tools" or building blocks they need so they can have a great "Garage Therapy" session--and we get to see the progress and improve our products as a result.

Next problem.

Price.

How can we lower our price? Our car is terribly labor intensive. Answer, TAKE OUT LABOR. I am certain many, many of our customers can do fine interior panel work. I am certain many of our customers can do a fine assembly job. I am certain NONE of our customers can build an aluminum body. (Well, at least not cost effectively and in the quantity we do.)

Sanding, takes forever and is a dirty job. We can make a car in the same amount of time it takes to sand one, (at least it feels that way as anyone who has sanded a car can attest to.) Why are we making customers buy sanded cars when they can do that for themselves--or worse, why are we sanding cars customers want to PAINT!!! Now, that is dumb.

So, logic follows we should open up our market to those who want to tinker and make their cars cool. Why should I tell them NO?

David

[Power Surge]

Originally posted by David Kirkham



Sal,

Interestingly, my mother has proposed the same thing.

You know what they say, "great minds think alike" .

Tell your mom thank you for me for being so helpful the other day when I called for the wire info.

[lineslinger]

If you produced a purchase/build KMP component Cobra , where all components in the package were built and designed by KMP, maybe offering the body in stages as well(?) it would have a serious influence on guys like me who are still undecided

[motorcity]

I second the Slabside option!

[David Kirkham]

LL,

What do you mean by offering the body "in stages?"

Our offereings will be for all of the body styles, including the slabside.

David

[silverback]

David i have been involved with cobras for 20 years and have strong ties to the industry. I own what Im told is a nice collection of cars, according to my wife far to maney. When somone asks me who makes the nicest replica or the top of the line, I believe its your companey and thats what I tell them.I dont want to open a can of worms but thats my opinion. I dont have one of your cars in my collection...yet. The fact that your considering these diffrent options I like, and will be watching for sure,as a biusness owner to stay in the game we must change with our customers. I have always wanted an aluminum car and when the time is right it will be from you..................silverback

[David Kirkham]

Silverback,

Thank you for your kind words. I agree. We have to change to keep up with customers demands. It is DUMB not to. Of course, we still sell cars just like original to those who want them--but they are few and far between. Couldn't support a business on those sales--maybe 1-5 a year.

We look forward to hearing from you soon. Let me know if we can help. Maybe you can get in on our next experiment.

David

[David Kirkham]

Looks like the voting is going exactly as I expected. We are catering to 25% of what our customers want--call me dumb.

Time for an experiment...a BIG experiment.

David