Why dealers disparage certain products?


Full disclosure...I've been an executive in the consumer electronics business for over 50 years. From small one man "on campus" HiFi sales, to Radio Shack franchise, to a 12 store pure HiFi chain to a 240 store publicly traded HiFi chain.

There are three reasons a dealer will disparage products:

#1...Some other dealer in the area already has the product and supports it. 

#2...The dealer could not get a line of credit for the product and doesn't have the finances to stock and sell the product. And/Or the manufacturer requires a substantial financial commitment.

#3...He/She is an honest dealer and actually auditioned the product and decided to offer an alternative

 

(Rule #1 in retail sales....NEVER disparage a competitor or other products.....NEVER!)

 

rbertalotto

Negative selling never works. Had a dealer in Baton Rouge that I was talking to about some Benchmark Equipment. I was considering a comparable offering from another dealer on Bel Canto. He lambasted Bel Canto and he is a dealer for the brand. Needless to say I will never shop him again and I have the BC gear and love it as I am sure I would like the Benchmark gear too.

 

@dinov So, you’re fanning some flames on me, but that’s not what I did, which was clearly explained in the OP and in subsequent emails from me. What you're doing is uncool and could easily be done to you. You don't want that, and neither do I.

larsman

"if I don’t like his ’individual style’, I will respond to that style by applying my own individual style, which would be walking out of his store and never coming back"

That is the American Way individual, defiant, insistent on a certain practice, tradition, or treatment and accepting nothing less at any cost because liberty, truth, and freedom are to be protected, preserved, and enshrined at every expense you are American!

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