ANOTHER HUB who has lost business as a result of being called a “Protoype Hub with low tolerances and prototype quality materials?” shocking! That’s about 8 or something for the number of hubs who have checked in with lower orders. And since TALK is read by a very few of us, it would seem that we are hearing from very few of the entire represented data here. Many hubs are probably losing customers without being aware of it.
-------------------------
Why would your orders go down? Well, lets look at your hub, which I will rank on a scale of 1-5.
Quality of prints: 10. Your photos of your prints are excellent. In fact, some of your prints are better than I have seen from some HQ hubs.
Tolerances 10. Can measure that, but your stepper motor holder sure looks like it fits PERFECTLY.
Hub Quality 10. Great presentation, description, etc.
Reviews 10. Appears to be a perfect score. Reviews like “Very knowledgeable with CAD, 3D printing techniques/strategy. Provided recommendations to improve quality, even fixed a problem with STL file” “If I could give 6 stars …” Great communication and customer service " “Pierre made special adjustments to his equipment in order to print my parts with the best quality.”
I also see you print 2 ft x 3ft with your FDM printer. AND you deliver, do cad design.
------------- I can see no reason why your orders would have dropped of -------------------
Or perhaps the customers came to your site and found that you do prototyping materials, and went to a different hub.
Or perhaps the customers came to you and was shown a “can i help you choose a material” which aims your customer at a different hub, and thus went to a different hub.
Or perhaps it was the “Disclaimer” that warns the customer that FDM is not a good print quality.
Or perhaps the customers got the point of placing the order, and was told they should “consider a different material” which directs them to SLA and SLA and went to a different hub.
Or perhaps the customer saw that 3dhubs does low quality prototypes in prototyping material, and went completely to a different 3d printing site all together.
Or perhaps the customer saw that 3dhubs does low quality prototypes, and went to an FDM printer farm.
But they don’t say which hubs.
“a competing website full of FDM printers”
Yes, this is what I fear most, a split in the marketplace as a result of "opening the door to competition."
This is classic “voice of the customer” training for anyone in marketing. Keep your base happy. Show EXTREME loyalty. Do not show any disloyalty. That’s how competitors get a foothold.
Particularly with 3dhubs business model, which is to match a growing “COMMODITY”(vendors) with a growing customer base (end users). 3dhubs will likely not want a full press split in the market, and I absolutely don’t want that either.
How they did not work to protect existing hubs and customers on this was just amazing. That would have been step one. Marketing 101. Whatever you do, improve your base first.
Don’t expect any figures. I am not sure you should even expect them to come back to this thread.
"The data so far seems to indicate it’s working, no fewer FDM orders, but increasing print quality ratings "
" Success means high conversion numbers, for a variety of materials, without decline in terms of absolute numbers."
“Also, to be clear, 3D Hubs cannot benefit from any change if it does not benefit our Hubs”
This is a classic misdirection, but you can certainly read between the lines on those statements.
Yes, well, we know which hubs these changes are meant to benefit, don’t we? Its such an amateurish mistake companies make during growth phases, when they hit the death valley of the cost of customers vrs. the revenues of each customer.
This is like makerbot, back when they owned the market, saying they were focusing their market on more educational and industrial markets, because there was untapped money there. They then tried to show how bad their old printers were, in all their marketing, and tried to show how well their new printers were better. They also cut off all their support for their old printers, in the hopes the customers would move to better printers. They even deleted their old forum postings.
They tried to redefine the market.
They are now 1/3 of the company they were (at least as a division), and Flashforge stepped right in and stole their market, with A COPY of Makerbot’s old printer. I can give 20 other examples just off the top of my head, where companies who owned the market began to belittle (or complicate the messaging of) the actual market they were in charge of, to upsell their customers, and lost a TON of money, created competitors, or simply vanished. Makerbot was supposed to be the next Apple…
This is so scary to me. The lack of loyalty. I do not really want to see a 3dhubs competitor chip away at their market. But as my wife said- if she went to a competitor, (such as the printer farms that are popping up here in the states) and they described FDM as quick, inexpensive, and HIGH QUALITY, she would order from them over 3dhubs that defines the prints as low quality prototypes printed with prototyping materials.
It is all so sad to watch. This is just step 1 of “How to walk off a cliff.”
For me personally it is just disappointment. I’ve enjoyed telling people I am part of 3D Hubs and explaining how it works. Now I just feel FDM was a stepping stone for them and not looking after the people why got them there.
FDM is not a stepping stone for them, if they just fix some things in the correct way. The materials, qualities, etc., can all live together well. But they have just not been smart about how to go about it. They should listen to us.
Hi @Steelmans,
I’m happy to schedule a separate call later this week. That would allow to dive in on your own Hub as well, as I’ve noticed that some comments are more directed towards that. I’ll just go ahead and schedule something. Lmk if that works for you.
The rest of you I’ll speak to later today!
Best,
Filemon
Hi Simon, I’m available at 3h Amsterdam time today but only for 20min. Alternatively I’ve send you an invite for another option. Let me know what you prefer. Cheers