Why haven't I heard about your marine alternators before?
Why does my marine supply store say that they don't know anything about ZENA alternators?
Retailers and national distributors worry about profits and profit margins -- NOT always about what might be best for their customers.
With a bit of research, the retailer discovers that:
Even ZENA's smallest (150 amp DC), and least expensive alternators, have a 100% duty cycle rating. Higher than the brand name alternators most often advertised to boat owners.
ZENA's Three Year Limited Warranty is a longer warranty than that of the most popular top of the line marine alternators -- and, for that matter, the longest warranty offered by any alternator manufacturer.
ZENA alternators, and charging system components, have built in troubleshooting features -- making ZENA alternators are very easy to service in the field -- even in far off locations.
One-to-one advice and customer support is available to all ZENA customers -- both before, and after, their purchase. Knowledgable -- high quality -- USA based!
Your would think that the ZENA alternator would be the first thing that the retailer tells their customer about. But this is not always the case.
A typical dealer's thought process is shown below (based on actual conversations with prominent marine retailers / distributors over the past 19 years):
"Since direct from the factory ZENA marine alternators typically sell for less than the comparable products that I sell, many of my customers will change their mind and buy a ZENA alternator."
"It's true that if I chose to sell ZENA alternators, I'd make the same profit percentage as I do with my current line -- but, if I normally get $100 in profits when I sell the conventional marine alternator, I'll only get $60 from the ZENA sale -- putting less into my pocket!"
"ZENA alternators are designed to be user serviceable, upgradable, and easily re-buildable -- they have a long warranty -- and, they have a low cost factory direct flat rate repair/rebuilding policy.
I make a lot of money selling replacement alternators. And, if a standard alternator does comes in for major repairs -- and the customer finds out how expensive a major repair can be, I usually sell the replacement. If they buy a ZENA alternator it is VERY unlikely that I get to sell a replacement -- ever!"
"I just don't think that I can afford to sell a ZENA alternator -- and, while it's clearly a very fine product, I'm going to make sure that my staff do nothing to help a customer find out about this profit destroyer!"
Of course, at ZENA, Incorporated, we don't agree with the logic that seems to permeate our throw-away society. We think that things should be built to last indefinitely -- not to find their way to a land fill ten days after their warranty term ends.
And a close look at who is actually buying our alternators, and why, brings up points that our friend above misses:
Yes, it's probably quite true that some customers will buy a ZENA alternator instead of the usual marine high amp replacement unit -- based on price alone.
Further, because of it's lower purchase price (and low cost of ownership), many customers may be able to purchase a larger ZENA alternator, and still stay in budget.
But price is not the only criteria -- performance and long term reliability are even more important to people who need every system on their vessel to be working -- and, if not working, easy to repair wherever they find themselves. A key reason why we don't mind helping and consulting with our customers -- before their purchase -- to insure that they know just what to consider to meet their individual goals.
ZENA's support staff also has an excellent understanding on how alternators, alternator controls (including voltage regulation components), solar panels, wind generators, and solar/wind power controllers interact -- and on how to set up a system that will work perfectly with multiple sources of energy working at the same time.
Our marine equipment dealer/distributor would certainly sell ZENA alternators to more customers than they were able to before. Customers who, otherwise, might not be able to afford high-quality high-amp charging equipment -- but who need it desperately none the less.
And, since the conventional retailer / distributor is bypassed by factory direct sales, our customer's savings is even greater. And top quality customer assistance guarantees success with their electrical system upgrade.