Engine builders and poor communication!

[Tyler Zane]

I sure don't understand this trend i'm seeing with engine builders and communication! I have spoken to 3 different engine builders inquiring about building an engine and they have all left me waiting for responses. One very large name in the industry hasn't responded since august. One other smaller, but rising name hasn't responded in a month and the 3rd, a much smaller name hasn't responded in over a week. I have 4k buring a fking hole in my pocket and no one wants to take it.

I'm not going to throw names out just yet, this is just a reminder that sometimes all it takes is a little communication. Answer all the questions asked. Respond when you get the email, don't put it off until you eventually forget.

Maybe im just small enough of a customer that im bottom priority...

 

[OCD Solutions]

Perhaps it's you? Not saying you are doing anything wrong, just suggesting that your particular approach is not effective.?.?.?

I'm small time compared to engine builders but even I get tons of tire kickers. At first I went down the rabbit hole for every one of them. After 4-5 years of it, I point to all the documentation and Q&A that already exists and wait for a serious commitment. You would be amazed at how easy it is to put aside $1000 of production to walk somebody through a $100 sale, (and how often it happens).

 

[erik mx45]

most of them are not good communicators ,! just wait till they get your money it will be like who is this!haha

 

[holeshot]

I'm not sure about other builders reasons for response times. I get inquiries as a pm on the x, email, messenger on Facebook and txt msgs. A pm on the x uses your screen name, txt uses your phone number, email uses your email address and messenger your actual name. So it can be difficult to know who your talking to. I may see a similar question in a pm and in an email and think it's the same person. At times I may receive a msg every 5 seconds. This can literally bring a working day to a complete stop. I do my best to respond asap but as a one man show things do fall through the cracks. I think your best move is to inquire again and let the builder know this is your 2nd or 3rd ect inquiry. This way he knows he's not responding effectively. Just know in my case a lack of response is in no way a lack of respect. It's just one man doing his best to cover all the bases, inquiries, shipping, porting, prep and paint, parts orders, assembly, developing new products and tech questions.

Matt-HPE

 

[yurkanip]

One must remember, that in this sport we only have very limited (stores/shops) to choose from such as Blowsion, Xscream, Jetmaniac etc etc AND most of the builders on this forum here actually cater to a lot of folks, all while being a "one man show", or very small shop. Maybe you just caught these "known" builders at a bad time or they are so overbooked they can't accept one more job.....and yes, communication is key even IF someone is busy...We all need to remember there is no "Walmart" of ski/motor builders, just my two cents......

 

[ajmps1]

Matt @holeshot shocked me with his level of communication. He answered every question and responded to every message that day. He also builds a kick ass motor. We had a 20 min conversation joking about competing with a jammer hull.

 

[dose]

Matt @holeshot shocked me with his level of communication. He answered every question and responded to every message that day. He also builds a kick ass motor.

Same for me, I was very impressed with Matts product and service, my next one will be from hpe

 

[thomps33]

Yup, Holeshot has by far the best communication hands down and I've talked to the majority of the engine builders.

 

[hink320]

Perhaps it's you? Not saying you are doing anything wrong, just suggesting that your particular approach is not effective.?.?.?

I'm small time compared to engine builders but even I get tons of tire kickers. At first I went down the rabbit hole for every one of them. After 4-5 years of it, I point to all the documentation and Q&A that already exists and wait for a serious commitment. You would be amazed at how easy it is to put aside $1000 of production to walk somebody through a $100 sale, (and how often it happens).

I could like this 100 times and it wouldn't be enough.

 

[SmittySX]

You would be amazed at how easy it is to put aside $1000 of production to walk somebody through a $100 sale, (and how often it happens).

AMEN.

 

[DAG]

Funny because when I call my engine builder I have the opposite problem. Call for a simple torque spec and he won't let me hang up the phone 45minutes later.

 

[Jetfiend]

Funny because when I call my engine builder I have the opposite problem. Call for a simple torque spec and he won't let me hang up the phone 45minutes later.

Dag, you should just text him...

Tzane, in our small sport, it's safe to say that we've all experienced this sort of behavior at one time or another. This is why it's so important to form a trusted group of "go to" people to get your parts from. I always say that I'm not going to chase someone to give them my business!

 

[badvinny]

Perhaps it's you? Not saying you are doing anything wrong, just suggesting that your particular approach is not effective.?.?.?

I'm small time compared to engine builders but even I get tons of tire kickers. At first I went down the rabbit hole for every one of them. After 4-5 years of it, I point to all the documentation and Q&A that already exists and wait for a serious commitment. You would be amazed at how easy it is to put aside $1000 of production to walk somebody through a $100 sale, (and how often it happens).

This is why I quit being a Rickter dealer, 20 emails and 10 calls will allow you the work to earn a few hundred!

 

[orangefinger]

3 Conversations blocks Before/During/After **** QUESTIONS FROM THE BUILDER ****

Before most time consuming outcome not sure
During ( Builder got money ) minimal time , outcome should be sure
After , its all done , medium time ...tips, solutions, error , feedback


I do think that every company has to set time aside to talk to new and potential customers , in this sport not many have the luxury or the time to do this on a regular schedule, I understand you are in the shop and the phone rings and bla bla bla there goes the rest of the day.....lack of sales personal, educated personal , so best they do it all yourself...right ??

But if you have your time management straight as a engine builder ,and u are in control to when u want to talk to the potential customer its a breeze , and everyone is happy....

Never take the call if u have no time, make it your effort to return all phone calls same day , limit the time for your phone call at the beginning of the conversation.

What I get frustrated with is the in between conversations or lack of them ...once u sent the money....and then ...and then......and then....

Courtesy would be to keep your customer updated , with a quick pro active phone call or email on a regular basis....again requires time management.

And then obviously the final call, feed back, tuning tips, solutions, errors....improvements....

2 Types of builder phone calls .....lack thereof or they don't shut up....unfortunately not a lot actually asking questions , the right questions can stop you as a builder from investing your time on the phone .....that's a thought right ??

It is not that difficult.....

We had been dealing with Phil last season and I must say , in terms of response time, motivation, knowledge , passion and going above and beyond haven't seen a lot that can step into his shoes.....just sain

 

[Yami-Rider]

I've delt with a few engine builders, I was beyond impressed with Matt at HPE communication, I felt kind of bad, thinking how can he be getting anything done, but we did go ahead and order a new motor from him .

 

[Tyler Zane]

Here is the thing, i'm not mad. Its just kinda odd to me that's all. I appreciate all the responses. I have considered that it may have been my approach. Is there a secret lingo? Code words? If i say i'm interested in an engine, it would seem to me like i'm interested. If they are just busy and I need to get in line, that could simply be said, ill wait. I'm not in a huge hurry, I just wanna get everything inline. This isn't my first rodeo, and I feel like I shouldn't have to cater to the builder's needs... i'm the one with the money after all...

Builder 1- I send out an email saying im interested in a complete engine, carbs, intake, the whole shabang... I include what my current setup is, what kinda riding I do and what I want out of my next engine. I know his time is valuable so its short but detailed. He responds promptly, its a short basic response. I email him back with a few specific questions to fill in the details like carbs, intake, ignition and so on. I never get a response back, no quote, no payment method. That was in august. One month after initial email I remind him i'm still interested, no response.

Builder 2- I email him saying i'm interested in an engine. I include what I have, how i ride and what i want out of the engine. He responds promptly, and we start working out details. He misses my next email, apologizes. Says the next step is to get together the parts needed. I do have a few questions so I can make sure i'm getting the right pieces for the build but I keep the emails short and to the point. I figure at this point i'm pretty dedicated if i'm buying specific pieces for the build... I have one last question about carbs and he misses the email but apologizes and says he will get back with me on it, never does. I get it, he is busy, I figure it out myself rather than bug him again. At this point I know he is busy, so I leave him be for a week or so until I have the parts ready to send his way. Once I got all the parts box up I shoot him an email and let him know i'm ready to send them out. That was over a month ago and I haven't gotten a response yet. I haven't received a quote, address to send parts to, or payment method. Just a simple, email letting me know he is busy would do a lot at this point. Tell me i'm in line, tell me anything and i'll sit back and be patient.

Builder 3- At this point in just ready to get a ball rolling. I send out the first email with what I have and what I want. He responds several days later and apologized about it taking so long. Its all good, im used to waiting around... A few more days later he responds with a detailed invoice with total and payment method. I'm excited, all the parts I already purchased will work with this build except the carbs. So I email him back with a question about adding exhaust port work and carbs to invoice. He never responds. That was a week ago.


Its just funny how all 3 stopped at the last email for purchase. Any of them could of had my money with ONE more email. This is a lot of money for me, its important, im excited. I earned this money serving my second tour in the longest fking war in American history. I don't normally have this kind of money to throw around on a hobby. This means a lot to me, believe it or not, it's my single most important morale booster when looking out into the never ending sand and rocks...

 

[Yami-Rider]

what kind of motor are you wanting?

 

[Tyler Zane]

what kind of motor are you wanting?

I don't really want to push this thread in that direction. I have already received a plethora of pm's of people selling their engine since I started this thread. I don't want a second hand engine.

Im not looking for advice on engine builders or who is the best company. This is just a discussion about my experience with a few unnamed builders that will hopefully help future customers and maybe surface a few things that builders can work on.

If anyone thinks im flat out going about getting an engine made with the wrong approach, please speak up.

 

[Nuklear6]

I am Builder number 3.

Tyler I just sent you an email. Emailing is definitely not my strong suit for quick response. I know your current situation out of the country serving our country makes it difficult for phone conversation. That being said for anyone else attempting to get in touch with me phone calls are always going to be the fastest response. As Matt said above being a one-man show requires much of my time focused on achieving the tasks at hand. I do all of my own machine work to keep the tightest tolerances possible for each phase. Unfortunately that limits the time that a phone or keyboard can be within my grasp during the day. I often return phone calls while driving on my way home from the shop each night or while disassembling or cleaning parts. But I will never take time away while doing machine work or assembling someone's engine to sell the next one. Going forward I hope you still choose a cpt 836. In my opinion and the opinion of others it is one bada$$ engine for the cost

Chuck Palmucci
CPT Enterprise LLC
609 510 3062

 

[Tyler Zane]

Thanks @Nuklear6! I had no intention of surfacing each builder but the fact that your will to step up says a lot.