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In Reply to: It was ME!!! But let's look at facts and some of your earlier posts posted by Kevin Deal on February 14, 2007 at 18:43:18:
You're in business. You have competion. That competion not is longer just from the dealer down the street; it's internet sellers, Audiogon, eBay, privately sold used equipment in general, and the grey market. It's up to you to convince the customer that you have something more than other options.If you offer services these other sources don't, then you have to make that a selling point. But don't feel you're "doing the customer a favor" by demoing equipment, offering advice, etc. No, you're offering the customer an enticement to buy from you: he's doing YOU a favor by listening to your equipment and your advice / bullsh!t. So just stop whining: if your bricks & mortar business model isn't working, get out of business. That'll show 'em, right? Maybe they'll miss when you're gone -- or maybe not so much.
Bill Bailey
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See my stereo config ... but always looking for cost effective improvements
Follow Ups:
Mr. Bailey, while you are not incorrect in your description, the business has changed and your description of the customer relationship is a bit simple. I would contend that there exists an amount of time and/or effort to make a sale whereby the sale iitself is actually DETRIMENTAL to the business. In simple terms, if the business requires a gross margin per day of $5,000 to cover overhead, salaries and real estate costs and you are FORTUNATE to maintain a 15% profit margin on average, then you need to sell MORE THAN $33,333 per day. So, if it is going to cost this business person 2 hours plus of his/her time to set up and show these products, that customer MAY be unprofitable. If the customer stated, "I will BUY one of these 3 speakers after demoing them at your location", then the response would likely have been different. If you absolutely hated all of the speakers, Kevin nor any other dealer would force a transaction. They must however allocate their time wisely to run a solid business. I have had wonderful experiences with Upscale and Kevin, but then I am not looking for someone to dontate their kidney to me....I always ask if it is a good time for me to call and he answers honestly. I would have made alot of bad purchases without his advice and I have made alot of good purchases SOLELY because of his excellent guidance based on his years of experience.
...naturally he'll be unhappy, but it's up to him to correct the impression. Like it or not, qualifying is just part of sales.
Dealers are there to serve the customer, which is what keeps their doors open and the bills paid. If the dealer does a good job of serving the customer, the customer not only spends their money there, they come back and bring friends with them. Sometimes, these friends are brought with directly, sometimes they are sent via referals.If it were the other way around i.e. the customer had to meet qualifying standards that the dealer set, customers would walk in like scared little animals behaving as best possible waving gobs of money in their hands. Since this is not the case most of the time, it is up to a dealer to show the potential customer that they are qualified to serve the customer and that they deserve that customer's business. Nobody wants to do business with someone that doesn't inspire confidence or trust.
Besides all of that, most audio dealerships have salespeople sitting on their ass complaining about how slow business has been. When they are met with a potential customer, rather than do their best to work with the customer and secure that potential sale, they make a half-assed attempt to offer their services. In doing so, the customer can tell that the salesperson feels "put out" since they had to get off of their lazy ass to see what they wanted.
Obviously, not every person that walks through the door or calls is going to be a paying customer. If one can't deal with that fact, this type of salesperson needs to find a job that they are better suited to. Cleaning toilets might be right up their alley. This type of profession might give them something more to relate to than working with actual human beings. Sean
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"Qualifying" is a critical early step in the procedure. It's a triage of sorts, and no one in professional sales training dismisses the possibility of blowing off a useless customer. (That does not mean that one need be rude.)From a few manuals on the subject:
How to Qualify Sales Prospects
"When you're striving to grow your business, it's easy to get caught up chasing every lead that comes your way. But all prospects are not created equal; some are more likely than others to turn into sales.
"To avoid wasting precious resources, you need to weed out the long shots and concentrate your efforts on prospects apt to yield a return on your investment of time, money and energy."http://www.allbusiness.com/sales/selling-techniques/1360-1.html
Techniques for Qualifying Prospects
"It is essential to accurately track these calls and designate whether a prospect provides low or high customer potential. When organizing your call schedule, move the lower-potential prospects to the bottom of the list."
http://www.gmarketing.com/articles/read/40/Techniques_for_Qualifying_Prospects.html
Etc.
clark
are useful for increasing individual sales; but are short-sighted and harmful to the business in the long run. The people writing those books, and trying to sell you expensive seminars on 'The power of saying no', are looking to profit on people with weak business models.
They're the useless ones. Also you must realize, there are some (many?) weirdos out there who just want to waste other peoples' time. You have to learn to blow them off! Unless, of course, you're just sitting on your hands most of the day, in which case you *already* have an unsuccessful business model.
Clark,The approach suggested by the sales manual will result in the salesperson generating a negative signal, and this will almost certainly be perceived as such by the potential customer. Most people are surprisingly sensitive to these signals. As a sales organization, if you approach people with anything less than a desire to be of service or even worse a frown and a negative attitude, the potential customer can only think that they are not welcome. If a sale professional were to follow that advice in the 'sales manual' you quoted, productivity would almost certainly suffer in the long run. One must accept that not every opportunity will result in a sale.
nt
what is your definition? I think that phrase has different meanings to different people. Do you consider reviewers tire kickers? Do you know why it can be a good thing for someone to have their tires kicked? Do you think that all tire kickers are bad? If you have so much business that you feel that you must cherry pick your customers, maybe you should consider expanding. If 90% of your traffic is tire kicking and not buying, don't blame the tire kickers.
Tire kickers are customers who have little idea how to shop or how to ask intelligent questions.Qualifying is not "cherry picking", the references make that quite clear.
"Tire kickers are customers who have little idea how to shop or how to ask intelligent questions".The average consumer is typically not well educated when it comes to sorting through a wide variety of electronics, nor are they well versed in the proper lingo or terminology. This means that they are less than "good shoppers" and not very likely to ask the most pertinent questions. In effect, everyone BUT dedicated electronics enthusiasts could be called "tire kickers" by your own definition. Even then, many dedicated electronics enthusiasts can be difficult to deal with, as many of them simply like to browse and "talk shop" with other enthusiasts, professional or not.
With that in mind, it is the dealer's job to help the "tire kicker" find the product(s) that are best suited for them, educate them about their options and help them obtain the best performance from them. If a dealer can do this, and offer any needed support AFTER the sale, they are more than likely to establish a great reputation and repeat customer base. If they can't do ALL of this relatively consistently ( we all have bad days ), they are more than likely going to have problems supporting their business in the long term.
As a side note, the more advertising that one does, the more "tire kickers" they are likely to encounter. That's because the uninitiated don't know who to turn to with their multitude of questions, so they turn to those with a higher visibility factor. As such, if you don't want to deal with those that are less than educated about the products they seek out, stop advertising.
When one takes this approach, the majority of customers that they'll end up dealing with will either be repeat customers / referals or those that are already familiar with the basics and have sought out what they consider to be a worthy dealer. While this approach narrows down the prospective list of clientele, it also allows the salespeople to spend more quality time with those that took the time to seek them out and / or were previous customers / referals. It is a win / win situation for all involved, so long as the dealer maintains that high level of customer service and their customers spread the word. Sean
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..."Tire kickers are customers who have little idea how to shop or how to ask intelligent questions" I should have added, "yet they come with attitude -- the attitude that they know everything.Sean, you (of all people!) seem unable to grasp the fact that some folks (like a dozen or so here on AA) are simply not worth dealing with, you'll never get through to them.
That doesn't mean that i can't try. An education, even if it is very slow, time consuming and clumsy, can be a powerful thing. It is rare for anyone to have a change of heart at the drop of a hat. As such, incessant tire kickers get the benefit of learning the how's & why's through extended conversations.In this respect, many "tire kickers" become the best, most loyal clients. You've not only show them the ropes, but that you truly believe in what you do and are willing to take the time to help others understand too. After all, customer service is what breeds customer loyalty. Even if they aren't customers yet.
I'm very much the optimist in real life, even though i may do a lot of bitching about "incompetence". I have faith that with enough education and coaxing, people will do the right thing. While it is true that many won't come around, i'm still too young to want to believe that. Bitterness is for the old and disgruntled, who have pretty much given up on mankind. I'm still trying to change the world.
Oh good. For a minute there, I thought I was a tire kicker.
so i can see what i'm doing wrong. At this point in time, i've only got about two months worth of back-logged work to catch up on. I need more work to put me deeper in the hole....All of this without every doing ANY advertising whatsoever. If you want to call the most generic of listings in the phone book an advertisement, i'm guilty of that. I've never had to advertise since my customers do it for me. Their referals are what keep me busy. Then again, i realize that without them, i wouldn't be able to pay my bills or keep my doors open. Since every person that comes through my door could be a potential customer, i treat them as such.
When i start conducting my business by what a manual tells me, i need to get a new job. That means that i would be working by the book, not by the heart or head. Customers are humans, not mannequins with a wallet. They need to be treated as such by another human, not categorized, sized up and qualified by a sales robot.
It is this lack of personalization in retail sales that allows the internet market to prosper while brick and mortar shops are failing. Why bother with human contact and risk aggravation, rejection and ridicule when you can buy what you want over the net with NONE of that taking place?
The only thing that a retail sales outlet has going for them nowadays is "customer service". Without that, they have absolutely NOTHING to offer a potential customer that can't be found elsewhere for a lower price with less potential for hassle. When business owners and salespeople start recognizing that fact, they'll start prospering again. Until that point, they'll be stuck working from out of date manuals that will only further compound their problems. Sean
>
PS... Like any other industry, there are people that are good at their job and those that are bad. Consumer electronics is no different. Kudo's to those dealers and salespeople that know what they are doing and have their customers best interest at heart. When one can do that, they'll not have to worry about pushing people in directions that they don't want to go, just so that they can pay their own bills.
...truly prospective customers. Suppose a bum enters your high-end shop; are you going to put your arm around him? How about some ambulatory alcoholic who can barely slur her words out? Someone looking for Sony?There are times when you must draw the line.
Everyone's line is different, but they must recognize that it's there.
That's called "qualifying".
Example: A Lamborghini dealer has a different line from a Chevrolet dealer.
Facts of life.
Clark,In reference to your comment on ambulatory female alchoholics (I've met quite a few in the pub at closing time) and Sony customers; I walked into the Sony Store almost three months ago and spent few hundred bucks under $20,000.00 in cash. It took me about thirty minutes to complete the transaction and leave, at which point the salesperson could concentrate on helping another customer. The reason I chose Sony for a second HT system and a system for my parents is because I had a problem with a Sony TV about six months ago and Sony went the distance to solve that problem and assure my satisfaction. Was I putting them out to fix the problem? Yes. But I returned as a serious customer the next time around, and for moderate HT needs both now and in the future, I perceive Sony as the solution of choice. Even though I've bought Sony equipment, I've also spent almost 60k on my 2-channel audio system thus far and am gearing up to drop another 35k to 40k in the next few months. Just because I bought Sony does not disqualify me as a prospect for higher performance audio-only gear. I wanted to point out that the trouble with disqualifying people so readily according to some archaic or theoretically unproven sales manual is that one is bound to pass over and lose decent opportunities. Even worse, in persisting with such a philosophy one runs the risk of being perceived unfavourably in the community that accounts for most of the potential prospects.
...as a likely-to-be-useful customer. How they treated you afterwards, is the different subject.However: Your phrase, "some archaic or theoretically unproven sales manual" is pretty amusing. "Archaic"? So show us the modern one. "Theoretically unproven"? Even funnier! Ideas about sales techniques are not theoretical, they are practical, empirical, and well-proven on that level, the only one that counts.
You are fighting a losing battle, which is why methinks you had to address a different subject.
clark (many years in sales, rarely lost a customer... in fact, some of them are now very good friends)
I probably wouldn't have a chance in your little shop of horrors. I've purchase twice from dealers in recent times, once from the subject of honor here and once from a dealer who was recommended by the manufacturer though he was still 150 miles away. I was given the hard sell by KD, "If I give you a price are you ready to buy right now?" Had a problem with it right away and guess what, had to pay to have it shipped for warranty work. Ok we have to have a thick skin. The other, who had little time invested because I purchased by phone and it was drop shipped to my house by the manufacturer, referred all questions to said manufacturer. Both of these buys left a bad taste.I've lost count of the number of purchases I've made online, only had one bad buy and it was made right by the seller.
Do you think one just wakes up one day in their midlife and says, "gee now that I can afford it I think I'll plunk down 10, 20, 30k on a stereo"? I doubt it. Many, I think worked their way up the chain and along the way got banged up a little by being qualified and ignored by salesmen who didn't have time to answer newbee questions because well our time is just too damned important. So we (I) found another way...the internet much like Colt...the great equalizer. Research it online, you can't tell what it should really sound like in a shop any way. Buy it online, I've had to go the manufacturer for help in both my experiences anyway, and when you get ready to sell it's back to the internet where you'll get true market value.
Are you still wondering where your customers are going?
I did have a very positive experience when I was starting out many years ago. An area furniture store, very old building with plastic draped where it rained in, had a small cramped area packed with audio. No advertising just word of mouth led me here. The proprietor was an elderly gentleman who'd had a stroke, his left arm in a sling, eagerly and graciously introduced me to hifi. The twinkle in his eye was enough to convey his love for the hoby. I could have listened all day if I wished. I bought two whole systems from him, had to borrow every cent of it. I'm sure glad he didn't qualify that long-haired kid with acne and holes in his jeans. Sorry to run on but I'd just like to remind you that if you give everyone a chance maybe some will surprise you, if not today perhaps tomorrow.
Quote by asubdud"""I was given the hard sell by KD, "If I give you a price are you ready to buy right now?" Had a problem with it right away and guess what, had to pay to have it shipped for warranty work."""
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My policy is better than most anyone in the industry. We exchange truly defective product in the first 30 days if it a product we still carry. Most dealers don't do it in the first week, or even day.
And we typically handle shipping during that period. So what I want from you is your name then we will look up your purchase and subsequent "problem"
"My policy is better than most anyone in the industry. We exchange truly defective product in the first 30 days if it a product we still carry. Most dealers don't do it in the first week, or even day."No dealer I've dealt with (or know something about) in the NYC/NJ area would refuse to exchange a defective product in the first week, let alone day. How could a dealer who refuses to do that even stay in biz for a week?
After looking at my records it wasn't right away as I recollected, it was 5 months from purchase to repair. I'm sorry for making that mistake. I stand by the rest of my statement. The point that I wanted to make is that you were rude and I see many references to your rudeness. Im sure it was fun for you at one time maybe you could regain that somehow.Kevin, no one wants to see you harmed here. I want choices and UA is a damned good one but I won't spend what I consider serious money where it's not appreciated.
When you buy it used, and it breaks.....I'm suddenly a great guy------------------------------------------------------
hello kevin,
you come highly recommended... from just about everyone.I am having a problem with my unico...
the left channel will be there one second and then fade to nothing...
a second passes and the come back in.
it could be something as easy as changing a tube.. but i don't know...I then have a Macintosh 6100 that seems to be really soft in the left
channel.
again... I don't know. In stereo it's noticeable, and in L to RL it
is horriblewould this be something you could help with?
thank you in advance...
What makes you sure this guy didn't send a similar email to a dozen dealers, hoping to hit the jackpot somewhere?Yeah, it makes him a cheeseball probably, but that doesn't make you the One True Savior of all things audio.
I'm sure you told him to eff off.
You really need to excavate that large chip on your shoulder and start READING what people on this thread have to say. Too many negative stories, too many criticisms of your style, too many to ignore. I don't recall seeing this sort of thing about any of your contemporaries who enjoy national fame (and notoriety, as in subject at hand) among the audio cognoscenti.
There are several of those who enjoy a great reputation across the country and on these boards... Wally, Bill Baker, Venus, Galen Carol, to name only a few. Every one of my locals in Atlanta is extremely gracious and usually generous with his/her time (the fine lady at Audio Alternative being an example of the women in audio, few in total, who work extra hard to earn their stripes in this male-dominated field - but that's another story).
We don't see vituperation about them here, don't hear about them telling their customers to get effed. I have dealt with several of them and they are always courteous and helpful, even on the occasions I told them upfront (ie, the first thing after 'Hello') that I wasn't likely to buy from them this time but was just needing a question answered. Guess what? They obliged, without using any effing eff words. 'Obliged' being a key term here. One day, I hope to return the favor to each of them by voting with my dollars, and have already done so with several.
Judging solely from your spelling and grammar, you did not have the benefit of a good education. Judging from your manners, you did not have the benefit of a good upbringing either. I suppose pointing this out may be bad manners in itself, but my folks would probably pardon my making this exception.
For you to say the following"Judging solely from your spelling and grammar, you did not have the benefit of a good education. Judging from your manners, you did not have the benefit of a good upbringing either. I suppose pointing this out may be bad manners in itself, but my folks would probably pardon my making this exception."
When you know nothing of my character, of of me personally, is a bit much. I don't get the obsession you have but don't need to. But I will tell you at the end of the day....you won't feel better about yourself for slamming people....be that the case.I make the decisions here, and stand behind, and in person made ammends to people when needed. But not because KKC told me to.
Though I'm open to suggestions. See...I operate like an open book. I don't push people toward sales....in fact the opposite.But with all that in mind I have a great time with customers I can say I love, my business is successful enough that I no longer need to work and that gives me the luxury of saying no to the people I was once forced to say yes to out of desperation to make my next house payment. Now we are the #1 U.S.A. dealer for a few major brands, pay our bills early and enjoy a good reputation....though I don't think this forum, any more than rec.audio.opinion is a place I measure our success.
Now I pay my employees fair, supply benefits like health insurance, and a profit sharing plan I fund for them 100%, and and have made sacrifices for the love of my life. Mistakes here and there? Sure. Basics in place the way I want them? Yes.
...so be it. I won't be responsible for your smarmy analogies, nor endorse them.I once called you to ask about the ASL items you had on your sales page. I was ready to pull the trigger on an integrated there. Almost immediately, you launched into a diatribe about how poor their QC was and that I would be much better off buying a Primaluna (for which, it's interesting, you have no USA-based dealer competition). You ended by calling the ASL brand 'shit'.
My head was spinning as I hung up. Why would you bother to list/advertise for sale items that you yourself would call 'shit'? (Whether they are or not is immaterial; don't bother going there. The point I am making here is that you advertise them and then criticize them. I suppose you call this 'classy', in your own peculiar brand of street lingo).
It was a short check from there to find out that you had once been a dealer for ASL but the relationship ended badly. These were your leftover inventory that ASL would not take back, and rather than donate the 'shit' to the junkyard, you decided to let your customers have them. Or... is this bait and switch on your part? I notice, more than a year later, all the same ASL items (or nearly all of them) are still on your sales page. What's happening there? Do you like people to call about the brand just so you can tell them it's 'shit' and steer them to a product that only you sell in this market?
You still don't get the point, and I agree with clio09 that you never will. No matter how many audiophiles, manufacturers and fellow dealers post here in general disapprobation of your techniques, you will remain, in the worst sense of the word, an original. Just not with my dollars (I know, I know, you are/were successful, you don't need them, you don't need to work, blah blah. So when's the retirement party?)
Problems with the ASL stuff were so widespread that I put those disclaimers about all sales final. I wanted them to go to guy that knew their way around a circuit board. If I were a dirtbag, the first thing I would do is take your money...not sit of stuff for three or four years.I bought three pairs of Hurricanes as my last purchase and asked the importer directly if they were problematic. He said they had some isues, but it was fixed now. At the same time the EL-34 amp they shipped in their last delivery had a problem. If you used a new old stock 12AU7 in place of the stock JJ 12AU7.....EL-34 in the #3 position would run away. And the last shipment of headphone amps needed a grid-stop resistor installed because they woul oscillate.
So here I am with these three pair of Hurricanes. I stopped selling all of it. There was no PrimaLuna at the time I made the decision, and in fact I said "no" to even the idea of PrimaLuna because I didn't think it could be done right. I had enough with Chinese stuff that didn't work.
So the expediant thing to do is tell everyone it's great...get my money, and run. Is that what I should have done? The three pairs of Hurricanes were here for years because I would warn people they should not be "beginners". So tell me the truth now that you know the facts.....what kind of person does this make me?
So I warned people as hard and honestly as I could, and that can be mis-read. Of those three pairs of monoblocs......all three failed. So I made no money, was at least true to myself, but the customer is left holding the bag.
How would you handle it?
I accept your explanation of the circumstances. I too am aware of the QC issues ASL has had (was not aware when I called you, but within a couple of days of that my research dug that up).If you had taken, say, a minute more to explain: "Mr Customer: (copy your text above here, or most of it). And that is why I'd rather see you buy something with good QC." That would have been better than summarily calling them 'shit' and saying not much else. After all, you cannot assume that I, or anyone else, automatically knows what you mean by that.
You can be a consumer advocate (the role you claim to have taken on above, and which, in good faith, I accept that you intended) while still maintaining decorum and respect for the customer's sensibilities. In other words, don't treat people like they are know-nothings and would not understand a basic explanation like the above.
I also maintain that continuing to list the poor items for sale is puzzling, and duplicity may or may not be among the reasons for doing so. I cannot tell you how to run your business, but if it were me and the calls were taking up my time to the extent that it hurt my business (how this thread got started in the first place), I would talk to my accountant of donating these to some sort of auction where they would be sold as is, no recourse, but at a significantly lower price to a buyer who knows his way around a circuit board. My 'benefit' would then become the tax writeoff and the savings in time and headache that finally dumping that stuff would get me.
As I stated, your continuing to keep the items there in light of your and my comments above is what is questionable.
You have explained your POV, I have explained mine. They don't have to coincide.
nt
In this world, everyone is a potential customer. Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, maybe not even next year. I simply deal with the customer as the cards fall and leave it up to their discretion as to whether or not they think that i can help them. This even applies to knuckleheads calling or coming in to ask questions about products they bought elsewhere. Sooner or later, that "thing" that they bought will need to be repaired or replaced. Hopefully, i'll be just the person they'll turn to when that time comes. Then again, i'm in it for the long haul, not just the quick fix. Sean
>
nt
Bill Bailey
___________________________________________
See my stereo config ... but always looking for cost effective improvements
You say, " I would contend that there exists an amount of time and/or effort to make a sale whereby the sale itself is actually DETRIMENTAL to the business. " Yes, this is true under certain conditions and it's up to the dealer determine when they apply.In the purest economic terms, if the incremental cost of completing the sale is greater than the incremental revenue arising from the sale, then the dealer should not attempt the sale. Cool, so what does that mean?
I'm sure you'll argee that "time and/or effort" cost nothing if the dealer or staff are just standing around. If the dealer has to pay the salesperson overtime to serve a particular customer, then there is an incremental cost. The most common circumstance of incremental cost is "opportunity cost", that is, where spending time with one customer might prevent a sale to another customer. Also, if a component has to be opened and becomes floor or demo model that can only be sold at lower cost, that too becomes an incremental cost -- but only if the component wasn't eventually going to be demo anyway.
The incremental revenue is often the markup of the product, but this isn't always the case. If the dealer cannot return a product or cannot do so for full refund, then the incremental cost become the full cost to the dealer less the refund if any --this is often much more than the markup. But wait! the incremental revenue he stands to loose is potentially more than even this in the longer term.
By refusing to demo a product and/or being rude to a customer he suspects will buy elsewhere, he may come out ahead in the short run, but loose in the long run -- especially if that customer condemns the dealer to other potential customers: bad word travels fast. This is usually the most important consideration but the dealer will decide.
Bill Bailey
___________________________________________
See my stereo config ... but always looking for cost effective improvements
that they are supposed to do triple flips and crawl around the floor really fast every time someone makes an impossible demand, offers to pay less than cost, or merely wants to waste countless hours of time audio yacking and validating a purchase someone has already made elsewhere?
Most of the dealer comments I've read so far in this thread come across in a somewhat "if-it-doesn't-serve-my-interest-in-the-here-and-now-then-f**k-you-and-don't-waste-my-time" attitude. A strong reputation of customer service excellence (including respect), trustworthyness and value are probably the most powerful assets a dealer can have in any business. Sure there are people who can be a pain, but its critical to view each potential customer in a positive light. Qualify, but do it with respect and patience.
It's up to them whether they compete and stay in business.
Bill Bailey
___________________________________________
See my stereo config ... but always looking for cost effective improvements
The poster that suggested I keep my mouth shut was right. The potential customer has to make a one sided satement, and I have to explain the entire qualifying process behind any business meeting and the way we operate.Here's a couple answers:
One poster mentioned "you would think he smuggled the speakers in". The Sumiko policy is they will not sell parts into speakers that were not shipped to U.S. dealers by asking you for a serial number, hence stopping trans-shipping from dirty sources from overseas. Other companies do it too. Going both directions. More so now with the weak dollar maing U.S. goods cheap in Europe.
I have been very lucky and thankful to the customers that have made us do fine business-wise, and made the decision a couple years ago that if I smell trouble to steer clear of it. After 30 years in this biz my intuition is pretty good. If I lose a couple sales it's unfortunate, but what I gain in having fun with the customers I love and enjoy, ad maybe adding a couple years to my life, is worth it.Most of my business is repeat and referral, and after losing some people very dear to me I have learned life is too short to regret the price I paid for one waisted day that God has given me. You can't put a price tag on that.
But regardless some customers are abusive. This guy was nice enough on the phone. But if I see that his last purchases have been used, and he even stated "my policy is that if I demo it I will by it from the dealer" but has nothing to support THE ACTION, words are cheap. Even his purchase from me....I'd be happy to give you the details on with his permission. I keep every e-mail and every invoice from day one.
I have a guy named Ken M and his caller ID says "CTY of STA CLRA". He has wasted hours of my time, time after time, when indeed he was dealing in damaged goods he was buying/selling on A-gon. I finally demanded he stop calling me. He the started disguising his voice and using fake names but isn't too smart about caller ID. I get stuff like this daily...not the exact same motions, but same effect. So when he does that, he reduces the time I have for real customers. I finally a week ago got both his home and work number and next time he calls I'll give him one warning: I'm calling your boss if you do it any more.
So am I perfect? No....and never will be, But we have been successfull and have a very good formula, and most of all I look forward even after all these years to get to work. Most guys burn out. I started at 8AM and it's 11PM now
One day I will put up our favs. I have BS sessions about some of the "known offenders" that are so notorious that every dealer and company know of them. But that 5% sure make it tough on everyone else, and I'm truely sorry for collateral damage to those that don't desrve it. This is a pretty dumb industry that eats it's own young.
If you notice, the people that bitch rarely will give you a full ID on themselves. Besides that this year has been the busiest and most demanding ever.
It is up to you if you do this.
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