...I recently spoke with a Comp Cams sales person at their booth, at the PRI show. I can't recall meeting a more clueless idiot in all my years of manufacturing business. Sad fact is, he and his ilks probably just sit at a desk all day issuing RAs, sending out catalogs, and drive to work in a leased Prius...
It might even have been worse than that Don. He may not even have worked for Comp.
He might just have been the RA guy you mentioned, but as you probably know too, at shows like PRI and SEMA and many other smaller shows, although they may pull someone from the factory to help, they leave most of them back home to do the real work and use a lot of their outside field-sales representatives to man the booths.
Don't know about Comp at PRI specifically, but many of those people are independents and represent several different companies (up to 30 or 40 sometimes). Suffice it to say that knowledge of any specific product is spread pretty thin in those cases.
Biggest problem I see is that many (most?) of them are not even "car guys" and are not that familiar with things like cams. Much less technical specifics regarding the companies and products they "represent".
I know. Before, I couldn't even spell "Sells Injinere". Now I are one.
Sad, but true. And, as you say, it's just the way it is.
Paul
PS: Luckily though, it's not always the case. An old co-worker of mine was the independent rep for Comp in Washington state a few years ago. Now he
WAS a car guy! And a cam expert as well. He could quote part numbers and special notes and new what to recommend and when. He also even knew when a part was on the shelf or had to be ordered.
Don't know if he still works for them, but it sounds like he'd have been an asset in the PRI booth!
