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In Reply to: Re: The problem with Hi-Fi dealers (long) posted by Dr. T on July 20, 2000 at 14:18:13:
I can say that many of my best customers don't drive fancy cars, wear expensive watches, or dress in expensive suits. These folks range the hourly union guy that works on a assembly line to guy that is the presidents/owner of his own consulting company. The common factor they all have that becomes obvious upon talking to them is that they are all enthusiasts about music and the equipment used to reproduce it and from that it is generally quite easy to discern how serious a customer is.
Rich Brkich
Owner, Signature Sound
Hey Rich (or others),I've always wanted to own an Audio shop...ok, I'd do Home Theater too because it sells. But for so many, many years I've heard so many negative stories about the business, on both sides of the coin. So I don't do it.
Now, marketing 101 says find a need and fill it. Well it's obvious that high end audio needs more retailers who can treat and take care of their customers better than the all these horror stories we keep hearing. I've been in other kinds of retail all my life and I know how to treat a customer. But something tells me that alone (and knowledge of audio/video) ain't gonna make a success in this biz.
Bottom line. I'd love to do this cause it's something I'd really want to do for a living, but I can't find enough things about it to think it could be a success (defined as earning $80 to a $100 grand a year salary somehow). I live near Pebble Beach, Carmel, and Monterey California where there's plenty of money, but doesn't seem to be a lot of interest in high-end audio. Home Theater, moreso, but I think I'd have to buy one of the local stereo/home theater stores out to get market share.
I'm the guy who would know how to take care of a customer, but can that be enough in this tough business? Just what is the total formula?
See Ya. Dave
Hi Dave,I have a copy of your Belles 150a review saved on my hard drive--it was one of the key reviews behind my decision to buy one. =) I've been thinking about the audio retail business also although I'm still in college and still a few years away from joining The Real World. Since I like your writing, I'll share with you my top-secret, proprietary thoughts on the audio business. ;)
First of all, the key principle behind any business is you need a demand and then a supply. The supply is easy (there are plenty of hi-fi manufacturers) but what about the demand? People like music, certainly (cf. mp3 craze), but why don't they like superior audio fidelity?
This topic has been addressed quite a lot by the audio press. The top two answers that come to mind for me are 1) the snob view: people don't have sufficient musical training with live acoustical instruments and 2) it's the subjective response (the musical boogie factor) that matters, not the objective acoustic fidelity.
Resultingly, I think there are two approaches to stimulating demand and as a consequent the audiophile industry. The first approach roughly corresponds with #1 above: give people more fidelity and maybe they will begin to appreciate it more.
How to accomplish this? I remember reading a SS! article covering a CES event where NHT had set up a live acoustic ensemble in one room, and their 3.3's playing a live feed of that room in *another* room. Something about this creative attempt really appeals to me. I think more such "random acts of beauty" ought to occur. The artist in me (I've had some training) would love to throw together some publicity stunts. I mean, why must Art (with the capital A) must always be so visual? (I do realize that there are multimedia exhibitions out there--I remember one such at the Hirschorn in DC that used JBL speakers to play the accompanying soundtrack. It sounded good, but could've been better (mo' BASS! =) ).
An idea of mine relating to the NHT exhibit is to set up the same thing at a concert hall. Isn't it natural to target the "refined" music lovers at such events with audiophile equipment? Why not set up a very refined setup at one of those events? I'm thinking a quality diffuse sound field speaker (how about MBL omnis) driven with top notch electronics in the reception room, surrounded by rich tapestries and rich folks hobnobbing with their fancy clothings drinking fancy drinks, and a more traditional head-in-a-vise-sweet-spot holographic setup in a dedicated sound room for the more curious of concert-goers. This would all happen before (or maybe even after) the main event, of course.
My main idea for #1 is just, somehow, get higher fidelity out into the public consciousness. Art and even the commercial version--Advertisements, of some original fashion (think aural billboards or the above concert hall exhibit) would be this first approach.
My idea for #2 is to target the "younger generation" with some serious boogie factor. What about an installation at a "happening" mall, where instead of a Cambridge SoundWorks outlet you have a branch of your own audio business... And instead of the traditional "look at the random piles of somewhat expensive electronic gadgets we have spread around the flourescent-lighted showroom floor", what about setting up a sort of dance club? A kind of back room, dimly lit, cranking out the tunes at a decent (but not hearing-damaging) volume?
I've been to a few dances in my college career and I know that the better dances seem to have better audio equipment. (This usually translates to more subwoofers with less distortion). Why not put together a *real* audiophile dance room? How about 4 REL StudioII's, one in each corner, and some good quality horn speakers (I'm thinking Avantgarde Trios) playing the rest? I'm sure such a dance would be a revelation to the mallrats who happen to stumble in. Once hooked, you could introduce them to the relatively lower-end equipment, in separate sound rooms (well insulated of course). Just make sure to not shake down the rest of the mall complex. ;D
The idea behind my approach #2 is to demonstrate that subjective enjoyment of music IS somewhat correlated to the quality of transduction. I think, if anything, the REL and Avantgarde setup ought to put the fear of AudioGod into them young'uns.
Anyway, as you can tell, I've had fun with these ideas. Hope you did too. There are plenty more where these came from!
Andrew =)
A big theme in your post is stop preaching to the converted. I would agree.And thanks for the comments on my (former) writings. I still have a three channel Belles 150A running the center and rear speakers in my movie rig. Dave Belles offers quite a bit for not a lot of money in his Power Modules Inc. line.
See Ya. Dave
*** Bottom line. I'd love to do this cause it's something I'd really want to do for a living . . .Dave, have you considered opening a shop that specializes in products from some of the smaller companies that now only sell direct?
As I'm sure you know, many of these manufacturers cannot afford to support the conventional retail business model. But if you could offer somewhat more favorable terms, I bet some of them would part with something in exchange for the benefits of a dealer who would floor their work and treat their customers properly.
Also, unlike many major manufacturers, I would think they would let you sell their products over the web, which could be essential in meeting your financial goals.
If you are looking to fill a need in the marketplace, this might be something to think about.
The unfortunate thing (I would guess) is that the dismissive attitude that some salespeople have may not even be known to the shop the work at. I cannot imagine any business owner instructing his employees to be rude and unhelpful yet this is exactly what happens.Your post mentions that you can tell when you talk to your clients, whatever their background, that they share an enthusiasm for music and that's what's important. More times than not, the staff at hi-fi shops would rather sit around and bullshit with each other than come over and help. I cannot tell how how many times I have been in a shop for 30 minutes or more (only customer in the store) with not one employee coming up to offer assistance (usually 2-5 employees working). I travel all over the country and stop by hi-end shops whenever I can so am sad to report this happens far more than it should.
(P.S. the other thing which pisses me off, but has only happened once thankfully, is when I brought in my own disks (Tom Waits, F. Zappa, Michael Hedges) to listen to a pair of speakers, only to be told by the sales person that he didn't want to play what I brought is becasue it wasn't "audiophile music". As far as I'm concernced, whatever I listen to and enjoy qualifies.)
I have never been in your shop so am not saying these things are true for your company, just that it does happen and it is irritating as all hell to those of us that don't own audio stores but want good sound.
We appreciate what you're saying, but there's still a small bit of the point you may be missing. Serious? Just looking today, but buying tomorrow. Aspiring for something a little better is not unusual, you know. Looking at it and hearing it doesn't diminish the appetite. We actually do have other things to do, and didn't just stumble upon your store, most likely. We went out of our way. It is a reality of dealing with us that if we are slighted, without making any onerous and unreasonable demands, we won't be back. Free info that car manufacturers pay $M for every year, only to hear the same thing. A lost customer is usually permanently lost.PS This has absolutely nothing to do with your store, which I don't know and is probably kmiles from me, and is rather entirely general.
Here in Milwaukee Wisconsin the main problem is lack of product choices. I'm not aware of a Krell, Mark Levison or Sonic Frontiers dealer. Not to mention a number of the smaller companys that make quality equipment. My biggest problem has been not being able to buy from one of the two local dealers that I like. I have been lucky even though I have long hair and dress in jeans, Audio Emporium and Sound Investments have always treated me very well. Unfortunately neither one handle much in the way of accessories or a large variety of brands. I just don't understand why some many of these stores treat people so badly.
Jeff
It is hard to comprehend. I have made contact with many pleasant and fine dealers via this forum. I would go so far as to say that the ones who check in here are exceptional, meaning in the least that they're not typical. I know what I want, and right or wrong, BS doesn't deter me.
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