Too little awe in audio?
I was talking with a friend in the audio industry who was bemoaning the lack of initiative being shown by some retailers these days, writes Andrew Everard. He's been meeting resistance even when he’s trying to sell them a product he believes sets new standards, and on which even the retailers seem keen.
Thing is, he’s been hearing from his stockists that the supply of customers has been drying up, that price-cutting on the internet has been robbing the high street of sales and that in general the whole audio world is slowly going to Hell in a handcart.
“Well,” says he, “Why not phone a few of your regular customers and invite them in to hear this new product you rate so highly?” A shudder, then “Oh no, couldn’t do that. That would make us like double-glazing” – pause for effect – “salesmen.”
Perish the thought: so much better to sit in your shop and wait for customers to be driven in by the magazines or manufacturer advertising.
Mind you, even that isn’t a given: a reader contacted me to ask about some speakers around £500 to use with a relatively modest system. I made a suggestion, even found him a local stockist, and off the chap toddled.
He contacted me again a few days later; the man in the shop had said I was a buffoon, and he needed to spend at least £2000 on speakers. Suffice it to say the reader gave up on the idea entirely.
It made me think back to the demonstration given at the Munich High End Show a couple of months back, where Ken Ishiwata of Marantz played the company’s new high-end system through a speaker set-up comprising two pairs of Mordaunt-Short Performance 6 speakers, one suspended upside down above the other. See here for a picture.
It was outrageous and to some eyes and ears downright daft, but one thing’s for sure: everyone at the show was talking about it...
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Comments
There are some superb retailers out there, but sadly also some that are still far too like this classic Not the Nine O'Clock News sketch:
www.youtube.com/watch
How come, that scene looks only too familiar?
I do my research before I go into a shop and almost everytime sales people are incorrect on the facts and specs of their products. I'm never sure if they're plain lying or utterly unaware...
I agree with GSX-R. From Cameras and speakers to washing machines. When they are right, they will be reading from the label on the product. If they tell you anything else, it will most probably be either a lie or incorrect because of ignorance! For example I asked a sales man in Dixons, What is the focal length range on that lens on a camera and he told be how many megapixels is the camera...
Totally agree with all the above. I went into a reputable HiFi retailer in Edinburgh and spotted the Tosh Ex1 playing a demo. I asked them to put in a SD DVD to check the upscaling, to which everyone in the shop replied that they weren't sure it would upscale the image and they had vnever tried it. Then they kept tryig to sell me the benefits of a 10k projector, when I clearly stated that this was an outragous amount of money. Then more opinions but no facts about Blu-Ray vs HD; sharper pictures etc. My last enquiry about the price for another projector got me a price well over that recommended by the retailer of listed in WHSV. Who did they take me for??? I don't mind paying list if the retailer works for their money and can help with useful advice and demos. There are very good places out there (Loud and Clear, Glasgow). Some average ones but too many outright poor ones, who will hopefully be killed off by the power of the internet.
Yes the internet... it is to blame for everything... (most) retailers only have their standard comments ready when you state the internet is cheaper. Internet offers no service (wrong) and no advice (wrong).
I am most "frustrated" about that most retailers take you for a n00b, or clearly don't know anything more about the stuff they sell then just the basics. When asked for an opinion, the guy say his opinion doesn't matter (to some extend true), forgetting that having a nice conversation/discussion about HiFi might actually win me over to buy something. Sales is all about the relationship you have with your customer, isn' t it?
BTW: asking a Dixons salesperson technical stuff about a camera, is a bit like asking for a bad answer imho.
I'd like to shine a ray of sunshine on this miserable day. Yes, the internet has creatd big changes in the way we do things and I know this because I'm a web designer, its what I do for a living, but.... internet retailers cannot possibly compare with a 'good' specialist hifi dealer - the ones who've been there for years and have heard as well as read the reports of the products they sell and know them intimately and will give you an honest and balanced opinion. Sure, they may be thinner on the ground and perhaps a tad more expensive but isnt the little extra worth it for the service and advice?
If you've been following the other forums you'd have no doubt picked up on my post about veneer colour differences I'd encountered with Monitor Audio speakers.
If you'd have kept reading, you'd also have read what great service I got from my specialist dealer and the Australian distributor. Apart from the fact that they'd spent an hour or so lugging speakers and cd's in and for me to listen to, they also trawled out a variety of speakers for me to check the colour once we noticed the previously mentioned variations. Then they trawled out the boxes, checked their system to see what actually was available and what they'd ordered, then contacted the distributor - who checked each speaker prior to shipping them out. Now in my opinion you can't possible ask for better service than that and I for every good story, also have a bad one (dont get me started on Grundig Australia) but we learn as we go and for the one's that fall down flat, we just dont go back.
And lets be clear on what we're talking about here as we aren't seriously drawing Dixons into a discussion about specialist hifi dealers are we?
Oh, and the internet shouldnt be to blame for everything. If the dealers you spoke to complain about it, tell them to get on it - and give me a call ; )
There was a similar subject discussed by Ken Kessler in a (gasp) rival publication this month. He argued that for retailers of supposed luxury items, the majority of hifi shops were either scruffy and uninviting, or to the unitiated, terrifying places to visit.
We live in a luxury consumer society and Hifi shops should be reaping the benefits of this. they need to get out there are sell solutions to the platinum card generation, and not just sell black boxes to guys with beards and tweed jackets.
Let me guess: he mentioned watches, pens and Bugattis?
Solutions for the platinum card generation? Isn't that what Bang & Olufsen do so well...?
True to some degree on the untidy nature of some stores. The store where I recenlty bought my Monitor Audio speakers didn't look good up-front, in fact they also sold air-con and kitchen appliances though for Asian traders, this isn't unusual. Once we got past the strange inclusions and untidy shop front however, I couldn't fault the service. They were pleasant, knowledgeable, weren't afraid to offer an opinion and were extremely helpful.
<p>One problem endemic in the Australian market is the local insistency of retailers and distributors on exclusivity, making it hard to get to see and almost impossible to audition a range of different brands together. I remember buying a pair of Mission 780's in Middlesbrough about 15 yrs ago and long before I moved out here and the retailer had a fair range of different brands which I could listen to - much better. With my recent experience at this dealer it was Monitor Audio or Paradigm or get in the car and traipse around elsewhere.
<p>I handed in my Platinum card long ago as the notes are still all powerful and I prefer to own what I walk out the door with and I've never owned a tweed jacket ; )