We appreciate the 226 responses from our distributor customers who participated in this year's Daman Voice of Customer Feedback Survey. Without such feedback, our quest for continuous improvement would be glib to say the least. While receiving everyday feedback is part of our daily routine, the best quality feedback is when our partners take a moment to reflect and more deeply consider how we can improve. Following are the results from this year's survey. We look forward to designing the next steps to optimize our strengths and strategize our opportunities for improvement.
Overall, 97% of responses were in the top very satisfied and satisfied ratings (on a scale of five) for overall distributor satisfaction which leads us to the following more qualitative responses to learn more.
Optimizing Strengths
Customer service and the value of Daman's people is a very strong theme throughout the survey responses emphasizing the importance of developing relationships dedicated to continuously improving and listening to customers needs. Here are some comments from customers about our strengths.
"Great company to partner with. As your distributor we are extremely appreciative of all the great support provided to us on a continual basis by Luke and the inside team. First class through and through; you have great talent working for Daman and it speaks volumes. Thank you all for making our jobs easy in customer service and for providing great resources for us. Your website it one of the best amongst all the manufacturer's we represent; a great tool for all of us!"
"I've been selling Daman for years, never an issue."
"Great partners, excellent understanding of the distribution and small OEM markets. Thank you Daman!"
"I can't think of any issues I have ever had with a Daman manifold. Great quality at a good price."
"Customer service has always been great, staff has always help me with my needs even pointing me to the right direction when layout on manifold was selected wrong. As a purchasing manager I rely 100% on y'all's great customer service."
"Have used Daman Products often for standard manifold assemblies, recently took advantage of the custom manifold design. Very impressed with the level of service on the prototype order."
"Daman always strives to improve, support, and find ways to better serve their partners. This decision makes Daman our preferred supplier."
"Daman is and has been a leader in what a supplier partnership should look like!"
"Daman has very good engineers doing manifold design and pricing and I am typically surprised how quickly i can get a quote from them."
Noted changes in the website seems to overall be very helpful to users. Daman is encouraged to continue to make user experience improvements.
"Daman is the perfect example of a company that finds how to do something well and then continuing to improve it."
"I can see improvements have been made in responding to RFQ's faster than almost a year ago. This is also very important to be noticed."
"You guys do a great job. Would like to see prototypes get out a little faster. Most of our customers won't accept over four weeks, but I realize the work and break in production schedules it takes. You have made strides to improve."
"You guys might not realize it, but competitors are dumping so many sandwich valve products, Daman is coming through with well-priced alternatives at one tenth the lead time that others offer. Daman is in a great niche market."
"Keep improving quoting tools and keep improving delivery times."
"The design team has caught some of my mistakes before chips are cut... Fantastic I consider Daman to be the industry standard for D03-D08 manifolds and all their options. Cheaper from someone else is not enough reason to change vendors. Daman does what they say they're going do and when they say they're going do it. Can't ask any more than that."
"I just discovered I can see inventory quantity and list price on the standard products without having to open a separate file or email somebody for a quote. Nice! The final step for the buyer of the product would be to see when the delivery would arrive to my zip code. Maybe this already exists through the website and I'm just not aware of it."
"There have been a lot of improvements in web tools. With some extra steps it will be even better. I personally am happy with all the improvements I see in the past couple of years."
Strategizing Improvements
Negotiating the price/value relationship is something to always be discussed. As a lower volume producer, distributors mention that Daman's prices may be higher when product commitments are made in lower volumes. This is why programs such as volume discount levels for standard products and the Daman Trigger System for custom products were created, as they allow customers to purchase low volume products at higher volume prices. Many distributors noted that the quality and service far exceed the competition and that Daman's "delivery is competitive or better and pricing is good."
Other comments:
"We are increasing our requests to Daman because of the quality and service and we hope this will lead to more orders for both of us."
"We are being pushed more and more to use internal sources to have manifolds manufactured. Daman needs to be aggressive on pricing so we can continue to choose Daman for all our manifold needs."
"Receive the quotation with quantity breaks and deliveries promptly."
"Good quality and good lead times."
Satisfaction with overall delivery times totaled 92% in the satisfied and very satisfied ratings. Specific comments shared the need for shorter lead times on sensitive custom orders, and better expediting options.
Overall satisfaction with website and online tools totaled 80% in the satisfied and very satisfied ratings. Suggestions included being able to check order status online and track when deliveries will arrive to specific addresses or zip codes.
91% of responses agree or totally agree that Daman's account managers have expertise and understand their needs. One comment for improvement included that, while account managers understand distributor needs, some customers are unclear about who their designated account manager is. Another also shared that the engineering staff can better understand customers' needs at times, while many mentioned that they "appreciate the support that Daman designers offer and their willingness to work for a better solution for my customers."
Further improvement suggestions included the need to improve and promote final manifold inspections for loose zero leak plugs, labeling, and extra parts floating around in manifolds. "Otherwise you’re the best in the business."
Some specific ideas for new product enhancements included providing a cross-reference product list from competitor to Daman part numbers, and offering Daman's version of the top 20 selling sandwich bodies.
Thank You!
Again, we thank everyone who participated in this year's Voice of The Customer Survey.
Please feel free to give us feedback anytime or suggest ideas for featuring projects at our Daman Spotlight page.