Yes, We Do That!

Here is what a potential customer said this week:

“I’ll admit, I simply didn’t believe you when you claimed 11-year+ product availability on your processor boards.”

The engineer had researched us in the past and simply assumed that 11+ years is just words that marketing throws out there as click bait.

This week the engineer was listening to a brief presentation about Trenton. The electrical, mechanical, and BIOS level design capability is so engrained in our mindset that we really don’t even think to emphasize it; so the Trenton presenter just briefly mentions our design capabilities and moved on.

The engineer held up his hand, stopped the presentation, and intended to call “B.S.” in front of everyone in the room.

“Wait, you’re telling me that you design your own processor board.”

The Trenton presenter sheepishly said, “yes.”

“That’s impossible, period.”

The engineer was still skeptical. After all, how many companies in the world actually design and manufacture computer boards?

The engineer reiterated the same question again,

“Here in the US, you actually make the boards yourself?”

Yes, we do that.

We then talked in detail about how Trenton designs down to the resistor level on our boards. We are actively working on motherboard designs that will use Intel’s next generation CPUs that are scheduled to be released in 2021. Those boards will be available until at least 2032!

The engineer sat up straight in his chair and said,

“Well, that’s a game changer! Now I believe your 11+ year product availability.”

(as an aside, we actually average over 11 years availability on our processor boards…but who’s counting?)

Fast forward a few minutes in the presentation and the topic of BIOS comes up. Again, here at Trenton our in-house BIOS design capability just seems natural & normal.

We had touched on a sensitive point for this engineer.

“I would order 10 motherboards from my other supplier and get 3 different BIOS.” “Yes, we can lock down your BIOS revision and never change it if that’s what you would like.” The engineer’s reply surprised us, “Wait, you have revision control on your boards…including the BIOS?”

When I heard this my jaw almost hit the ground! How could our competitors NOT have locked down their AVL and BIOS? That seems so fundamental.

As the conversation continued I was shocked one more time. The last slide of our presentation had our contact information including the tech support phone number (770-287-3100).

The engineer noticed a 770 area code. He had lost some of his skepticism by now and quietly asked “Is that really the phone number for support?”

Again, I don’t think much about it. “Sure, call Nancy, John, Ian, etc any time you want. They’re great.”The engineer raised one eyebrow and asked again, “so I can get a real, live person on the phone and ask technical questions if I call that number?” “Yes. We encourage you to call them any time you want.” I’m not joking, the engineer questioned a 3rd time to verify that this was, in fact, a real tech support phone number.

I sympathize with this engineer. Talk is cheap and many of our competitors claim design capability, longevity, revision control, and support. Trenton has almost 30 years of standing behind our capabilities and proving that we actually mean what we say. We strive to be better than any of the others. We listen when customers talk. We are fellow engineers who want to exceed expectations. Yes, please call 770-287-3100 and talk with a real, live person.