This is a topic I have written about in the past, but after several phone calls and face-to-face conversations this fall with feedback from current and potential customers either A) thanking us for our transparency or B) actually coming to us to try to get our competitors pricing (!), I thought it was time to revisit the topic.

Once upon a time, you could go to a boatbuilder’s website and see the prices for all their different models. No more. The trend started a few years ago when one company took their prices down, and one by one, every major North American boatbuilder has followed suit. I find this troubling.

If I were a consumer purchasing rowing equipment, I would want to know that I was paying the same amount as the next guy. I’d want the peace of mind that I made the right decision and not only got a good boat, but I got it at a fair price. I’d want to know that I wasn’t swindled by some tactic employed by a regional sales rep working with their commission or sales quota in mind.

I would also want to know that my team’s investment in buying the best equipment possible was actually going towards paying for the best equipment possible; not subsidizing the manufacturers highest-end clients or the national teams they sponsor.  If you think your sales rep is hooking you up, imagine the super sweet deals schools like Virginia or Brown and U-23/Senior National teams are privy to!

Maybe you are indeed your salesman’s best friend and best customer. But maybe you’re not. Usually it comes down to this: the “best” customers are likely the biggest or highest visibility customers, while the smaller programs that legitimately need a break are left paying more. Where’s the fairness in that? I don’t see it.

This lack of transparency is ultimately a fundamental lack of respect.  Respect for you, your program, the product, and the very idea of customer service.

How many of you have been told something to the effect of, ‘You are getting a great deal here’, ‘We don’t do this type of deal for just ANYBODY’, ‘Row it for a while, if you like it, give me $30,000’? Well, you have not heard any of those things from us, and you never will.

We charge an impartial – and fair – price for our equipment. Our boats are the fastest, longest lasting shells built, and they’re worth every penny. You can trust that every penny is going into design, materials and craftsmanship, not in underwriting costs passed on from the very few teams that are getting quite literally a steal of a deal.

By publishing our prices, it also means we won’t trap you on the phone in a long, ambiguous sales pitch. You don’t have to fill out an online questionnaire, only to find out when you’ve finished that “someone will be in contact with you soon.” We don’t hold it against you if you’ve purchased other brands. We don’t care if you are a huge program, or one just starting out.

Good customer service starts before you actually write the check, and it means treating every customer with integrity and honesty.

Want to know how much a new Pocock Racing Shell costs? Check out boat comparison chart, or open up our boat catalog.

If you have further questions, shoot me an email or give us a call at the shop, we would love to hear from you!

– John Tytus