Buying and Selling Laboratory Instruments: A Practical Consulting Guide [Hardcover]

Marvin C. McMaster (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0470404019 | ISBN-13: 978-0470404010 | Publication Date: July 13, 2010 | Edition: 1

A time-tested, systematic approach to the buying and selling of complex research instruments

Searching for the best laboratory instruments and systems can be a daunting and expensive task. A poorly selected instrument can dramatically affect results produced and indirectly affect research papers, the quality of student training, and an investigator's chances for advancement. Buying and Selling Laboratory Instruments offers the valuable insights of an analytical chemist and consultant with over four decades of experience in locating instruments based upon both need and price. It helps all decision makers find the best equipment, service, and support while avoiding the brand-loyalty bias of sales representatives so you can fully meet your laboratory's requirements.

The first section of the book guides buyers through the hurdles of funding, purchasing, and acquiring best-fit instruments at the least-expensive price. It explains how to find vendors that support their customers with both knowledgeable service and application support. Also offered is guidance on adapting your existing instruments to new applications, integrating new equipment, and what to do with instruments that can no longer serve in research mode.

The second section explains the sales process in detail. This is provided both as a warning against manipulative sales reps and as a guide to making the sale a win-win process for you and your vendor. It also shows you how to select a knowledgeable technical guru to help determine the exact system configuration you need and where to find the best price for it. Added bonuses are summary figures of buying sequence and sales tools and an appendix containing frequently asked questions and memory aids.

Buying and Selling Laboratory Instruments is for people directly involved in selecting and buying instruments for operational laboratories, from the principle investigator to the person actually delegated with investigating and selecting the system to be acquired. Sales representatives; laboratory managers; universities; pharmaceutical, biotech, and forensic research firms; corporate laboratories; graduate and postdoctoral students; and principle investigators will not want to be without this indispensible guide.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"This is a very useful book, which I wish I had had available when I was engaged in buying instrumentation.
It enables buyers to organize their thoughts about the process so less effort is required to achieve a more
successful outcome ." (Anal Bioanal Chem, 2010)

About the Author

MARVIN C. McMASTER, PhD, is a consultant and Adjunct Professor of Chemistry at the University of Missouri–St. Louis, where he teaches courses on HPLC, GC/MS, LC/MS, and laboratory computing. He is a former researcher and product developer for DuPont, Kraft Foods, and Ciba-Geigy, and previously worked as a technical sales support specialist for Waters, Beckman, and Pharmacia. In addition to this book, Dr. McMaster is the author of HPLC: A Practical User's Guide, Second Edition; GC/MS: A Practical User's Guide, Second Edition; and LC/MS: A Practical User's Guide, all from Wiley.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 160 pages
• Publisher: Wiley; 1 edition (July 13, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0470404019
• ISBN-13: 978-0470404010
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.2 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.9 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,704,419 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Dr. Marvin McMaster is a full-time writer, adjunct professor of Chemistry at the U. Missouri-St. Louis teaching seminars and short extension course on laboratory instruments, selling, and computers, and teaches Bible study at his local Methodist church.

He currently works as a consultant from the St.Louis area, teaches at St. Andrew UMC in Florissant, MIssouri, and is extending his writing into World War II biography, religious fiction and non-fiction. and science fiction/fantasy after having accidentally encountered the royal wishing pig, Aloysius.

His latest published work "Buying and Selling Laboratory Instruments" is dual purposed. It provides a guide to the purchasing process by a knowledgeable sales specialist unconnected to manufacturers. It also represents the first systematic guide to the selling profession by a successful Win-Win salesman who has made a career out of making customer's successful with their instruments.

TANSTAAFL applies to selling as well as to life. "There ain't no such thing as a free lunch!" A salesman who fails to make his customers successful with his products is going to starve to death because he never gets any repeat business. Judge Ziglar was right when he said, "Timid Salesmen Have Skinny Kids." So do salesman who do not support and make their customer successful.

Dr. McMaster has a Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry from the U. Nebraska-Lincoln, laboratory experience as a synthetic and process chemist with DuPont, Kraft Foods, Ciba-Geigy and biochemical/medical postdoctoral experience at Florida State U., U. Colorado Med. School, and U. Michigan. For 25 years he sold laboratory instruments and computer interfaces as a technical sales representative for Waters Associates, LDC, Beckman Instruments, Pharmacia/LKB, and Teknivent. He has also worked as a networking and support technician for MacIntosh computer at Washington U. Medical School in St. Louis.

He began teaching 2-day in-field HPLC courses for Beckman and added evening extensions courses at UMSL and wrote his first book "HPLC: A Practical User's Guide" when he was unable to find a useable textbook. Laboratory computers. GC/MS and LC/MS courses and books were added as this expertise emerged from his selling career.