2. misc-audio
  3. 170550-1285

One big reason why brick and mortar high end audio dealers struggle.

I live in a major metropolitan area with several close by high end stores.  I never go in any of them.  A dealer just opened a new location 5 minutes from my house.  Major dealer with Magico, Constellation, McIntosh and many other serious brands.  I went by a couple weeks ago mid day on a Friday.  Door locked, nobody there.  I call today to make sure they are actually open for business.  Guy answers the phone and says that they were out on an install when I can by and that they are short staffed.  No problem, I understand.  But from that point on the guy takes a subtle but clearly defensive and pissy tone.  He states that they recommend setting up an appointment for customers to view their products.  Sure, and I recommend never going there.  Off my list.  Back to buying online.  Here's the issue.  So many of these high end dealers are only after the wealthy guy that comes in, spends less than an hour there and orders a complete home theater or 2 channel system and writes a check for $50k or more on the spot.  That's there customer base.  I get that it can be annoying to allow a bunch of lookers to come in and waste their time and not buy anything, but isn't it good for business to have more customer traffic?  If someone comes in, spends an hour there, listens to some amazing gear and then buys nothing, doesn't he tell his friends and family and coworkers about his great experience?  Isn't this word of mouth valuable?  These brick and mortar dealers almost universally are unwelcoming and unfriendly to people that want to come in and just look and listen and not buy.  Sorry, but the vast majority of potential customers are not going to spend 20 minutes by private appointment to order their new $100k system.  Why not encourage people to come and spend time with zero pressure to purchase.  I have purchased dozens of high end speakers and electronics over the many years I have enjoyed this hobby.  I might well buy from a dealer if they were actually nice, friendly, and encouraged hanging out and getting to know their gear.  But they don't.  I would never go to a high end store that required an appointment.  Because this creates a huge pressure situation for you to purchase that day.  I'm not ready to purchase on my first visit.  And neither are thousands of other potential customers.  If they can make a good living just catering to the wealthy one time buyers, then, ok, good for them.  Doesn't seem like they can though since so many have gone under.  Maybe it's time to try a different approach?  Step one, no commission sales people.  Step two, welcome people to listen and not buy anything.  Encourage it.  This will create positive word of mouth and significantly increase customer traffic and ultimately create more paying customers it would seem.  I don't get it.  Rant over. Please don't respond that you have an amazing dealer.  I'm sure they exist but they are the exception.  What I am describing is the typical customer experience.
jaxwired
jl35
3,938 posts
 

are the high end stores that have survived this far actually struggling ? ... in any of the stores I'm a "regular" I certainly wouldn't think of myself as a customer in a $1.3M system room they were setting up for an actual customer for the system...I would expect to be politely asked to leave !!!

rocray's avatar
rocray
1,448 posts
 

I buy gear on the used market. If I were to buy new,I would definitely buy from a local shop.  Because I KNOW I'm buying used,I can't justify going into a shop,and knowingly waste someone's time. I would rather buy blind than do that. I worked retail sales in the past,and that is not a very good feeling to have someone walk in that you know isn't going to buy from you.  

denverfred's avatar
denverfred
252 posts
 

All of the excellent stories above serve to illustrate in technicolor the dilemma faced by anyone trying to sell music retail. Back in the day I sold pianos and organs at one time and then hifi gear at another, and I confronted the contradiction. Even remaining record stores have to face it all the time. I’ll describe two intolerable situations:

1) A music/instrument/hifi store is being run by just 2 or 3 people, all of whom are busy with customers or housekeeping chores. None of them are making much above minimum and all of them have been there since 9AM when two people walked in and then left without buying anything. The phone rings occasionally but who’s to answer? If they’re on commission, they may not have had a paycheck recently or have run up a tidy debt to the boss to repay the "draw" they've been paid against future earnings. I figured out that a commissioned salesman in a failing store will inevitably earn what amounts to belowa minimum wage! "This isn’t a concert hall!", I remember a colleague spitting after spending 2 hours with a classical lover who left without buying anything. Playing a Steinway or a Hifi for a half-hour to entertain a man whose wife is in a nearby store rubs the wrong way. The inevitable result is retail burnout. It occurs to sales staff in any retail business and unfortunately afflicts long-term employees first. Then the infection spreads and turnover results. I had a sales manager in a high-pressure TV store tell me, "Nobody drives all the way down I-35, looks for the turnoff, negotiates the access road to the parking lot and then walks all the way across that lot to get to our store just ’to look’!"

2) A customer walks into a music store to buy a few accessories and look at a possible new pre-amp plus advice. Should he go tubes? Separate power supply? But everyone is busy: in the back, with a customer, cleaning up Aisle 6, in the loo. Finally he is offered a fixed appointment to play the Steinway, or the new Magicos at leisure the following day.

Who’s wrong!? It’s a cycle of abuse. Any really experienced retail salesperson will gladly ask you to "Walk a mile in my shoes." This dilemma exemplifies the tensions that have accellerated retail’s nosedive. RETAIL BRICK/MORTAR HIFI IS DEAD!!
D-E-A-D! When the customer/salesman relationship turns adversarial, it’s all over! This does not bode well for a nation experienceing late stage capitalism.

The slope is slippery and we’ll see how steep. Only the Golden Rule can save us!

 

drugolf
29 posts
 

The customer is always right, but man, can they be A holes! 😁

Like all business, it can be done correctly and it can be done wrong. Some of these guys are probably really busy too and tire kickers really can be an issue. They just need to be more proactive about how they go about it I guess. Seems like a good formula would be to be by appointment only most of the week and maybe open on Friday and Saturday?

These can be substantial puchases so there is no reason appointments can’t work.

mitch2
3,706 posts
 

I can hardly imagine a tougher business to be involved in.   Those still operating B&M audio shops must have a real love for the industry.  Back in the day, high end audio shops were amazing places to visit, where you could hear new gear, and dream about what was possible in your own home.   Circumstances including the onset of the internet, direct to customer purchase options, and demographic changes in younger listeners/buyers have made it very difficult to profitably operate a B&M high end audio business.  When profitability declines, business owners cut unnecessary costs so it is not surprising to see dealers carrying less product inventory, reducing their hours of operation, cutting sales staff, and spending less time on customers who do not appear to be ready to make a purchase.   I have friends who worked in promanent local audio shops, but I have not been inside of one in 15 years, ever since I started to purchase gear off of Audiogon or directly from the manufacturers.  I refused to waste their time.

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