shop owners

[DARKHART 10+ year member]

This is common place in the industry today very little protected territory with decent margins for brick & mortor retail sales .The best plan is to sell yourself , your knowledge and service, gain trust and build relationships with your customer base and work hard to carry products that you believe in and brands that are a good fit and try to stick with them.

Its easier said than done, but so many retail shops want the product to make the sale for them instead of building a brand and taking less in margins and sales

This is so very true....it's best to brand YOURSELF and sell THAT brand!!! There are still a few brands out there that offers true protection from the internet. We carry Focal which can only be found AUTHORIZED online at a handful of places and the prices are gonna be the same as what we sale it for, we also carry Phoenix Gold and it's NOT online at all. There was one spot that I found online and they were quickly cut off so now they are trying to unload their remaining stock. Hybrid is another protected line as well as Digital Designs (we are in the process of picking them up). We are a Rockford dealer and stock VERY little of it because it is whored out and only order as needed when someone comes in and request it and then we sell it at full retail.

A shop should NOT plan to make any real money selling equipment, only their labor and accessories.

This is simply the stupidest thing anyone has said!! You obviously have no clue as to how a business runs and what it takes to run a shop and the overhead that goes along with it. Any shop trying to do "labor only" won't be in business long, I've seen people try and the end results were all the same. Unless you are someone on "Bings" level and just have clients lined up out the a*s for months at a time then you are going to seriously need products to sale and make money on because I can assure you that you will not have either enough install jobs lined up every day or those big enough to cover ALL the overhead throughout the month. Hell even Bing sold product to his customers and I bet he wasn't selling at internet prices.

 

[d77543020 10+ year member]

This is so very true....it's best to brand YOURSELF and sell THAT brand!!! There are still a few brands out there that offers true protection from the internet. We carry Focal which can only be found AUTHORIZED online at a handful of places and the prices are gonna be the same as what we sale it for, we also carry Phoenix Gold and it's NOT online at all. There was one spot that I found online and they were quickly cut off so now they are trying to unload their remaining stock. Hybrid is another protected line as well as Digital Designs (we are in the process of picking them up). We are a Rockford dealer and stock VERY little of it because it is whored out and only order as needed when someone comes in and request it and then we sell it at full retail.


This is simply the stupidest thing anyone has said!! You obviously have no clue as to how a business runs and what it takes to run a shop and the overhead that goes along with it. Any shop trying to do "labor only" won't be in business long, I've seen people try and the end results were all the same. Unless you are someone on "Bings" level and just have clients lined up out the a*s for months at a time then you are going to seriously need products to sale and make money on because I can assure you that you will not have either enough install jobs lined up every day or those big enough to cover ALL the overhead throughout the month. Hell even Bing sold product to his customers and I bet he wasn't selling at internet prices.

funny that you brought up Phoenix Gold that will be the line my friend is replacing re with for that reason

 

[DARKHART 10+ year member]

Another thing I find disturbing about some shops is the fact that they DON'T sale the products that they do carry, so many people have become complacent in their day to day lives, they've become ORDER TAKERS and DISCOUNT KINGS....D*MN THAT!!! I go to work each morning to make money and make my customers happy. I do that by SELLING THE PRODUCT. Most people don't know what exactly they want, they don't know all the features of the products that are available. Why pay X amount for headunit B when headunit D offers this many more features for only $10-$15 dollars more. You have to show people the VALUE of their money and their purchases...it's really not that hard...

 

[Side Show 10+ year member]

^^ too true...

 

[neo_styles 10+ year member]

Another thing I find disturbing about some shops is the fact that they DON'T sale the products that they do carry, so many people have become complacent in their day to day lives, they've become ORDER TAKERS and DISCOUNT KINGS....D*MN THAT!!! I go to work each morning to make money and make my customers happy. I do that by SELLING THE PRODUCT. Most people don't know what exactly they want, they don't know all the features of the products that are available. Why pay X amount for headunit B when headunit D offers this many more features for only $10-$15 dollars more. You have to show people the VALUE of their money and their purchases...it's really not that hard...

That being said, what's the number one misconception a first-time customer has going into your shop?

 

[DARKHART 10+ year member]

funny that you brought up Phoenix Gold that will be the line my friend is replacing re with for that reason

He will love it!!! I'm sure that his rep will show him the benefit of picking up Stinger to go with Phoenix and how it will benefit his customers as well. When he installs a Phoenix amp and use the Stinger amp kits on the same ticket, that customers 1yr warranty on the Phoenix amp just shot up to 3yrs.

 

[Side Show 10+ year member]

PG is coming back in a big way, still if anyone can find me some R-Net chips for my ax406a crossover i'd friggen love you long time

 

[DARKHART 10+ year member]

That being said, what's the number one misconception a first-time customer has going into your shop?

That we are only out to take their money. I'm a firm believer in being 100% honest with a client, even if it's gonna cost me a sale, I'm going to tell you the truth period!!!

I don't believe in selling you something you don't need, I'm going to ask you what your end goals are, I'm going to also try and be forward thinking in what you might want later down the line and present that also as an option. That way you can make an informed choice, I do encourage people to do some home work if I see they are on the fence about something. I'm not afraid of the internet or losing a sale to the net. I don't try to meet or beat internet prices either. If a customer comes to me and say that they can get something I carry on the net I tell them to go get it because I'm not the net and will not try to be the net. Most can't believe that I'm so blunt about it then I explain to them why I am. Will I discount a product, yes, will I give it away at a internet price, HELL NO!!!! If you are that person that's got to have the internet price then you truly aren't my customer anyway. I don't sale on price ever, that's not true salesmanship.

 

[neo_styles 10+ year member]

That we are only out to take their money. I'm a firm believer in being 100% honest with a client, even if it's gonna cost me a sale, I'm going to tell you the truth period!!!I don't believe in selling you something you don't need, I'm going to ask you what your end goals are, I'm going to also try and be forward thinking in what you might want later down the line and present that also as an option. That way you can make an informed choice, I do encourage people to do some home work if I see they are on the fence about something. I'm not afraid of the internet or losing a sale to the net. I don't try to meet or beat internet prices either. If a customer comes to me and say that they can get something I carry on the net I tell them to go get it because I'm not the net and will not try to be the net. Most can't believe that I'm so blunt about it then I explain to them why I am. Will I discount a product, yes, will I give it away at a internet price, HELL NO!!!! If you are that person that's got to have the internet price then you truly aren't my customer anyway. I don't sale on price ever, that's not true salesmanship.

Well put. Shame you're not closer as I wouldn't mind coming in just to have a few fun conversations with you about the industry. Online sales are...well...we'll just leave it at that. Love some of my buddies who sell online, but there's something about being able to walk into a shop, put your hands on the product, and share a few good stories about it. Just shames me that there are already generations that will never care to experience that.

Man, I just had flashbacks of the first time I saw Orion product rolling out to my local shops. Kid in a candy store doesn't even cut it.

 

[bigfluke 773]

I completely agree here but! But what if you have a nice expensive sub you saved like 50-100 on from online and it starts to rub... If I was local shop owner and you didn't buy from me I wouldn't do **** except give you an address to ship the sub. If you bought it from the shop and had same issue, he'd just goin back and grab a new replacement. Done. And sometimes that is worth more that the savings.

True, but me personally, I can wait on shipping

 

[will3 10+ year member]

Another thing I find disturbing about some shops is the fact that they DON'T sale the products that they do carry, so many people have become complacent in their day to day lives, they've become ORDER TAKERS and DISCOUNT KINGS....D*MN THAT!!! I go to work each morning to make money and make my customers happy. I do that by SELLING THE PRODUCT. Most people don't know what exactly they want, they don't know all the features of the products that are available. Why pay X amount for headunit B when headunit D offers this many more features for only $10-$15 dollars more. You have to show people the VALUE of their money and their purchases...it's really not that hard...

This is it right here VALUE when the shop is purchasing product to sell from a distributor or direct how much value does this product bring to my buisness and my customers ( PG is a good replacement choice )

To be honest companys that are commited to quality are usually not the ones being refered to as ****** by there dealers

 

[DARKHART 10+ year member]

Well put. Shame you're not closer as I wouldn't mind coming in just to have a few fun conversations with you about the industry. Online sales are...well...we'll just leave it at that. Love some of my buddies who sell online, but there's something about being able to walk into a shop, put your hands on the product, and share a few good stories about it. Just shames me that there are already generations that will never care to experience that.
Man, I just had flashbacks of the first time I saw Orion product rolling out to my local shops. Kid in a candy store doesn't even cut it.

The shop I worked back in the late 80's was ProAudio and when our rep brought in the very firs Orion XTR subs in their very own bandpass boxes I thought I had died and gone to heaven..lol Seems like that thing shook the entire store. It's really sad like you said that there IS an entire generation that doesn't even give a rats a*s about it and all they care about is how cheap it is. Yet they don't understand why ALL the good manufacturing jobs have been moved overseas???? Go figure..

 

[neo_styles 10+ year member]

The shop I worked back in the late 80's was ProAudio and when our rep brought in the very firs Orion XTR subs in their very own bandpass boxes I thought I had died and gone to heaven..lol Seems like that thing shook the entire store. It's really sad like you said that there IS an entire generation that doesn't even give a rats a*s about it and all they care about is how cheap it is. Yet they don't understand why ALL the good manufacturing jobs have been moved overseas???? Go figure..

Lol the first noob question out of my mouth was "Orion what? That's like a bargain brand, right? Where are the Alpine, Infinity, and JL? I want to see that." One look from the owner made me realize how much I was about to get schooled. That look of dismay is something you just can't buy on the internet.

 

[DARKHART 10+ year member]

Lol the first noob question out of my mouth was "Orion what? That's like a bargain brand, right? Where are the Alpine, Infinity, and JL? I want to see that." One look from the owner made me realize how much I was about to get schooled. That look of dismay is something you just can't buy on the internet.

Lol.......

 

[cfox10 10+ year member]

Lol the first noob question out of my mouth was "Orion what? That's like a bargain brand, right? Where are the Alpine, Infinity, and JL? I want to see that." One look from the owner made me realize how much I was about to get schooled. That look of dismay is something you just can't buy on the internet.

If only. I tell the shop here I run IA, Sundown, or AB and want to find something comparable in quality and they look at me like wtf is that? Then proceed try to push power acoustik or audiopipe on me. I ask for higher end stuff and they point me to Kenwood or RF. Not even the excelon line. smh