1. You (the customer) deserve the BEST!

2. You (the customer) can always do BETTER!

3. Shimadzu salespeople sometimes have a tendency to tell you the things they want you to hear, but do they always tell you the things that you NEED to hear?

4. Be sure to request a field demonstration from Shimadzu of any technology under consideration for purchase after reviewing our on-site customer demo guidelines.

5. At the end of 1995, one US dollar could buy nearly 102 Japanese yen. At the end of 1996, one dollar was worth nearly 116 yen. This means that your money should have bought you 14% more of everything imported from Japan with the start of 1997. If you decide to ask for a Shimadzu price quote, be sure to inquire about this ~14% difference!
(The dollar reached a high of 126 yen in April 1997.... did you get quoted anything close to a 24% discount from Shimadzu? Why NOT? Who pocketed this huge difference in currency valuations.... can you say S-H-I-M-A-D-Z-U?)

6. Do you really need that quoted service contract? According to a report in Kiplinger's Personal Finance magazine (2/96), "there are plenty of reasons to resist. Some 80% of service contracts, which guarantee repairs if a product breaks during a specific period of time, go UNUSED. They often duplicate the warranty. And if the company goes out of business, your contract may be worthless. Now you can add another shortcoming to the list: sometimes the service contract itself breaks down." Have you ever been charged for repairs while your Shimadzu product was still under warranty.... e-mail us!

7. Will Shimadzu field and in-house technical support be there when you need them most? According to Mr. Chris Gaylor (East Coast Area Manager), "it is one of the weak links in the organization." Be sure to inquire about the level of product knowledge and expertise of the technical support specialist who might be training you and your staff.

8. Can you tolerate a technical support specialist who learns "on the job" at your work- place using your new Shimadzu equipment? How many times more than you know has this happened?

9. Consider that you (the customer) may have to defend against a lawsuit after reading about former customers that Shimadzu has SUED.

10. Why not call the competition (if they're not courting you already?)