Thread: Custom crate engines.

Tweet

Ummmmm, maybe I'm missing your point, but the terms "custom" and "crate" don't seem to go together. Most think of a crate engine as an off the shelf configuration that is "mass produced" (loosely used) to save money. By definition that would require the buyer to make compromises on configuration that he either learns to live with, or modifies from the base configuration because it offers a cost/availability advantage over the classically defined "custom" engine. Most folks I know, myself included, basically back into the decison based essentially on hp/$ and vendor reputation, with possibly some secondary considerations like personal preferences for 4 bolt crank or not, brand loyalty, flat or roller tappet preference, and so forth. I'm mainly refering to street engines in those thoughts as race stuff (except for the possibility of "claimers") is almost always custom.

It comes down to how you want to market your business. And I admire you for wanting to grow/improve your business. Any of us who've ever had to make those decisions about our business have had to wrestle with these types of questions. Do you want to do business the same way as most of your competitors (and how your customer base defines/perceives who they are means more than your definition/perception) and fight for the thin profit higher competitive part of the marketplace? Or do you want the higher profit, more discerning, and ultimately more rewarding in many ways, portion of the potential market? The first choice is the easy one, that's why most businesses occupy that portion of the market. Differentiating your business from the others takes more effort. As one example; pick any business category, go to the yellow pages, look at how the ads are worded, the claims made. In most cases you could switch the names on the ads and the message still fits. If the customer doesn't know much about the particulars of any given business then in his eyes they're all the same so the choice is made on other factors like price, or who will come out or deliver first. As a business person who understands your product about now you're probably thinking, no, I REALLY am better than the other guy, or my product REALLY is better, or more reliable, or a more economical choice than his is. The challenge is to convince the customer of that, or better said, give yourself the chance to educate the customer about how to tell the difference between you and your apparent competitors.

Which might be what you're really trying to ask about. If you're proposing to have a website that has tools to allow your potential customer to "custom build" his own engine from a series of menus then I would say that's a start...............of sorts. But that concept assumes the customer has some level of knowledge sufficient to a) do that, and b) give himself the confidence to attempt to build the engine. Now, if you think that taking a shotgun approach and having people "play" on your site virtually "building" engines, then you're a free video game. As a business owner, my preference would be to use the site as a mechanism to capture the attention of "serious buyers", and identify them to me so that I can engage them in a discussion (perhaps written at first, leading to a one on one conversation). Successful sales for the small business owner is about educating the customer for two primary purposes. First is to help them make better decisions for their needs (afterall, isn't that what happens on a site like this, and don't folks like you who demonstrate competence gain the confidence of the reader? That's the sales process in it's purest form), and second, to recognize that you're the business that will best meet those needs. Most business people will never wholly get those concepts, that's why they wallow in the cutthroat end of their business sector. It also explains why we get so many stories like we see here about bad experiences with unmet promises, blown budgets, and shoddy workmanship.

BTW, polling is interesting, and sometimes fun, but it's what you get from it that matters. With all due respect to our friends here, I would guess you'll get lots of opinion/speculation here, but I'm not sure you'll get much more than that. Personally, if I were in your shoes I'd survey my existing customer base to determine why they bought from me, if what you're thinking about doing would be of interest to them or not and why. Beyond that, you can also learn as much or more by polling those who contacted you and DIDN'T buy from you but did buy from someone else. The best opinions/feedback will come from people in your target market (actual buyers of assembled engines), not those outside of that circle.