Somebody said every great speaker company has a story. The 2 minute story on JBL is enough to make someone a customer without ever even hearing a JBL speaker before:
What do you think separates very successful luxury companies from the less successful
- Thread starter LetSleepingDogs
- Start date
I think this is an excellent and thoughtful post but I have a few minor disagreements with it:
1. A good reviewer should help his audience of readers out as much as he/her can. This can be done by answering such questions as "What does it sound like?" "Is it better than other similarly priced products?" "Is the build quality sufficient to ensure long-term reliability?" "What important new trends are happening?" (FPGA chips as an example). I'm more optimistic that most reviewers (and I know many of them) are genuinely interested in helping the reader. But maybe I am a bit biased since many reviewers are my friend. I do know some that are very focused on what personal gain they will get out of it but I think that is rare and publishers are getting wiser about setting more ethical ground rules. I do think that two issues persist: 1. writing for audio pays just a little except for a handful of people who are on salary at major publications so accommodation pricing is part of the comp so to speak. and 2. manufacturers face a real issue in getting value out of demo products out on loan so there is mfr incentive to sell the gear to the reviewer.
2. The view on business startups is a bit naive. I've been involved with a few high end firms starting. It is an incredibly risky and complex process to actually build complex speakers or even good quality cables. Much of the very high prices are, believe it or not, rooted mostly in covering operating expenses, and less about "luxury pricing" although artificial scarcity and "perceived value" come into play.
3. Some reviewers get a bit attached to brands due to personal experience. However, I'm not sure this is a bad thing. Take Valin for instance. The man really knows Audio Research, a brand I have a lot of experience with. Much of what he writes is based on accumulated knowledge with the brand. I like that informed opinion as a reader and it guides me to consider certain upgrade paths.
4. The comment on brand story is spot on. I think when we want to invest $10K or more in fine speakers, we want to understand we are buying something very distinct and well-made. Like fine watches or handmade suit makers, the high end audio business has a lot of small owner-operators with a high degree of craftsmanship. As a buyer I want a story that suggests longevity in the business to preserve resale value and a story that suggests a connection to music is important to me. We also want a top quality customer service department. My dealings with Audio Research on service are stellar. That gives me some comfort and I keep buying their products.
5. Ultimately it is all subjective like ice cream flavors. If I lean to warmth I go with Harbeth speakers over Wilsons, although they are both pretty neutral in their own right. I think too many take this hobby too serious. I know FAR too many gear heads that get off the upgrade treadmill and are never happy with a system for more than six months. Even though I am planning a big upgrade to Wilson Yvettes, I could live happily with my humble Magnepan 1.7s. They are supremely musical with high quality electronics. But there is much negativity in the hobby around tweaks such as cables, power, isolation, etc. I think the naysayers I run into have a surprisingly high correlation with lack of experience, by which I mean they have not tried the tweaks in question. It is one of life's great ironies that the more famous my pro engineer friends get, the less they understand the importance of clean power and good cables, for instance. The people we entrust much of our music too are remarkably non-curious about some areas that impact sound.
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The high end is no longer just about a high level of reproduction of music. The introduction of the esoteric into fundamentals and also equipment is now marketed as a art form has inflated costs to the consumer. Now a speaker is regarded as a Ferrari or a piece of fine art.....but those are considered alternative investments by those who have the ability to purchase. High end audio was never considered as a investment class.
How many consumers of high end walk in to a dealer and ask "I want to reproduce the actual recording event in a lifelike facsimile"? What would the salesmen say? can't be done....How much money do you have? Sure,I can sell you a system,that can recreate a reasonable Illusion...but it involves more than the equipment it self. Bottom line if you want a true cutting edge high end system....don't count solely on the dealers...do your homework
As far as manufacturers has the quality of reproduction truly kept up with the prices asked....you know what I think...
I think you may be alluding to two things, which may intersect a bit:
1. There is a new ultra-luxury market for high end audio. The fast creation of millionaires and billionaires globally has created a class of people who can buy very expensive gear.
2. There is a new emphasis among some buyers on design. This has led to some very expensive products with more design value than arguably sound value.
My take is that this is really good news.
1. For every flagship speaker and amp set sold, that helps fund the creation and innovation of more affordable designs. So the better brands have better mid-level product.
2. Design seems to be getting better in high end audio.
As for most audiophiles, I think we do care about the best sound quality and still represent the bulk of the buyers of high end audio although given the scarcity of real data in high end audio I'm not sure if it is 70% or 90%. I don't think anyone should rely solely on a dealer as they are ultimately trying to sell what they have. However, a few good dealers greatly helped me along the path, even at time recommending other brands where appropriate.
As for system design, there are two paths I have seen in my travels...find synergies from less popular boutique brands and build up a system that might cost less but have high quality of sound. I chose a second path of buying more established brands after finding some issues with the boutique brands: namely resale value and service. The big factor is resale value. There are simply fewer people in the market for the "smaller" brands. Secondly, service of less available parts or gear from a firm that doesn't stockpile historical parts such as rare tubes, drivers, etc. can create major inconveniences. This is why I have leaned to Audio Research and soon Wilson for my speakers. Plus, it is nice to have a company with a strong track record that has a higher likelihood of being around in 20-30 years or longer.
The only place I stray is with audio cables as I have found some boutiques who do a good job and I upgrade the cables every 3-5 years anyway.
Hi Lee,
I see you went with 10 gauge romex....so did I ,good choice.
I think the point I need to make is stereo is a flawed system and it has or is nearing it's maximum level of reproduction. Cables,grounding,vibration or resonance mitigation can only take you so far. With computer modeling it should not be that difficult to build a very coherent speaker. In other words all this luxury stuff is just fluff or a bigger better mousetrap,nothing substantial,just incremental. For those 1 or 2 pct gains the high end consumer is asked to pay dearly from 80 pct going to maybe 82 percent of a possible 95 pct of information reproduced. As long as stereo is viewed as a 2 speaker configuration you will always have a deficit in the information that is presented to the listener. The answer I believe is time domain correction or psycho acoustics,that's the only way the information level can be raised significantly. The only problem is it requires reproducers setup on different planes and that presents problems of it's own. Now there are speaker manufacturers working on single speaker designs but I don't think that will get them where they need to be.
I think most would love a system devoid of a sweet spot,approach a holographic presentation,and remove somewhat the dimensional constraints of their listening room,a system that can raise the information level into the 90 pct range. The only problem with that is if you can get to 95 pct....guess what the high end market goes away because mid-fi can now compete at a very modest cost. Maybe I'm wrong but that's the new frontier.
Lee, Great points!
My post above is primarily about similarities between high end audio and other luxury industries such as fashion. If one looks at the history of luxury industries, there are a lot of parallels to audio. But, of course, no relationship is perfectly identical. The biggest difference being is that with fashion and other luxuries, everyone wants them! Yet, even if one can't afford a Burberry coat, one can buy a scarf or another small accessory to signal (to yourself and others) you are living the good life!
Pricing needs a more rigorous discussion. But since audio is a luxury, it's a irrational to price medium or low, since so many people will reflexively judge a product inferior based on a lower price. So we have a race to the top that we are seeing. Many brands have realized it, as industrial designs have greatly improved. Many have incorporated fancy face plates. Picking on dCS for a moment, at the small volume of sales that they do, one could (almost) buy a reference quality DAC for the price of 3-4 face plates on their Vibaldi stack. Many will certainly trade 3 of those face plates, and some change for chord Dave.
Pricing is a tricky task since it's hard to judge quality of experience goods objectively. It's never a sure thing to find the right price. If one were to ask the best economists, including all the Nobel laureates, none would agree on the actual price of the IBM stock, or any stock for that matter. So the reality is that no one knows the "right" price. That's why it's a good idea to experiment and trust the free market. There are some less-knowledgeable folks who would pay $20 for a $10 bottle of wine in the wine country. But those folks are tourists passing by, not aficionados or experts. (And experts frequently disagree, so it's a great idea to average their opinions.) In my experience, it's impossible to get most effective pricing without running experiments, failing, learning, and adjusting across product cycles.
My only point about pricing in the previous post was that in all cases, brands and their audio media representatives proclaim that home-made drivers are BEST. Yet, this is not always the case - one has to look at the entire economic case to draw that conclusion. And when those drivers are made in house, it gets baked into the price (since those costs have to be covered) the consumer has to pay up, justified or not.
Also, I agree very much that the guys reviewing a new, upgraded version of a product create a much better piece of work than reviewing something out of the blue. Since they are incentivized to sell the upgrade, they do a thorough job of comparing.
It’s a great observation that reviewers who rarely compare experiences otherwise, go out of their way to point out unique aspects of the “new and improved” version to expand on the perceived value and turn the reader into a repeat customer. Because the reader may already own the product, audio writers go out of their way to show how much more pleasure he will derive from the upgrade.
There’s a reason why people pay $5 for a cafe latté from Starbucks vs a $1.50 cup of java from a gas station —it’s the experience that’s also wrapped into the product. That perceived value of a whole new and better experience is what transforms the newly upgraded product into a sale.
P.S. Best of luck getting the new Wilsons!
LetSleepingDogsLie,
To answer your question about buying blind, if one is familiar with the experience you will probably be more successful than if you are not. If you already LOVE Magico, you can probably easily upgrade from s5 v1 to the new S7 based on people who share their experiences with you.
But if you are not familiar with the experience, such as buying a magico unheard, if you have been listening to wilson for the last 25 years, it's a huge risk. Taking the risk is determined by how much you are willing to gamble by purchasing an expensive product you may have to sell at a loss...
To answer your question about buying blind, if one is familiar with the experience you will probably be more successful than if you are not. If you already LOVE Magico, you can probably easily upgrade from s5 v1 to the new S7 based on people who share their experiences with you.
But if you are not familiar with the experience, such as buying a magico unheard, if you have been listening to wilson for the last 25 years, it's a huge risk. Taking the risk is determined by how much you are willing to gamble by purchasing an expensive product you may have to sell at a loss...
Well it sounds like Wilson opened the door and the market sooner or later will have to adjust to a 95 percent of information delivered to the listener. Of course the price asked for his achievement is certainly in the luxury class. But that will change in time,or will it?
Technology and innovation always in a free market benefits humanity in lower prices for true advances. The question I have will the industry "push" this? I think as consumers and high spenders, should want this or even ask for it.
Well, it looks like OP is interested in how and why people buy speakers, so the poll at the top is where the rubber meets the road. The thread is about what ultimately influences the decision making process.
Considering I'm about to launch a speaker that's going to compete with most all of the companies mentioned I've been thinking about this a lot, and it's a primary motivation for participation in this forum for me. The way I see it there are 2 almost completely separate markets in HiFi audio right now... value-oriented and luxury-oriented.
Value: These folks love audio and are willing to spend some cash to achieve their goals. However, there is a budget that doesn't allow for a trip to the local dealer to put down 6-figures, but that kind of system is what they want. This provides a motivation to make sure that every dollar spent is optimized. In order to optimize spending power they will educate themselves and search out high value, often finding direct-sales companies and sites like AudioCircle. Since 2008 many of these folks have had to limit spending and limit the hobbies they are involved with, and are even more careful about how their money is spent. Being more careful with money has led to the demise of the B&M store as they can't compete on value, it's lead to the hollowing out of the middle market and the current emphasis on low and high end... this is an unfortunate phenomenon that exists across all industries, even Hershey's chocolates restructured their offerings to lower or higher end chocolate bars. It's the result of the demise of the middle class and the current state of the audio industry is simply a reflection of the market.
Luxury: This is harder for most folks to understand as value is no longer a concern, what's more of a concern is getting something special. This is why the story behind a brand is so important, the buyer needs to connect with the brand, really believe they are getting something they feel is extraordinary. Buyers are much more likely to go through a local HiFi dealer, in fact direct-sale businesses have no chance here at all, with very rare exceptions. For Luxury, dealers are super-important... these days there are so few dealers and so much competition the dealer is going to make more money than the manufacturer for selling a nice pair of speakers.
For both Luxury and Value, brand recognition is very important, a brand must remain in the forefront of the industry by constantly letting people know they exist through ads, shows, reviews, etc... If you don't accomplish this you won't get on the short list of possible choices, people will just forget you exist. In audio this is an issue because the market is so competitive, there are so many choices. It's much more likely that people will consider your brand if they have had contact with it on a frequent basis, and in marketing this is called the "7 touches" and this means that people must have had contact with your brand at least 7 times before they are willing to consider it. In audio it might be more like the "1000 Touches", lol.
On industrial design, value buyers are generally willing to sacrifice, often wanting to buy their product in a simple, inexpensive chassis so it maximizes value. OTOH, luxury buyers may be more concerned with design that sound quality! Of course these are both extremes and most buyers want some good balance of design and sound quality in both value and luxury markets, but it's true that value skews toward offering very simple and inexpensive design while luxury is much more concerned with it.
From what I can tell, these markets don't overlap much in terms of cross shopping. It's like trying to tell someone with an Mercedes AMG model that Kia has really figured it out and is offering something just as good for half the price. How many MB AMG owners are going to rush down to the Kia dealer eager to save some money? None, that's how many. Same with audio... and that also answers the OP's question about why some brands are more popular, it's simply branding, image and how many dealers they have. Some brands have been more successful at marketing than others. I can't think of any other way to explain it, because the differentiating factor probably has nothing to do with sound quality.
Considering I'm about to launch a speaker that's going to compete with most all of the companies mentioned I've been thinking about this a lot, and it's a primary motivation for participation in this forum for me. The way I see it there are 2 almost completely separate markets in HiFi audio right now... value-oriented and luxury-oriented.
Value: These folks love audio and are willing to spend some cash to achieve their goals. However, there is a budget that doesn't allow for a trip to the local dealer to put down 6-figures, but that kind of system is what they want. This provides a motivation to make sure that every dollar spent is optimized. In order to optimize spending power they will educate themselves and search out high value, often finding direct-sales companies and sites like AudioCircle. Since 2008 many of these folks have had to limit spending and limit the hobbies they are involved with, and are even more careful about how their money is spent. Being more careful with money has led to the demise of the B&M store as they can't compete on value, it's lead to the hollowing out of the middle market and the current emphasis on low and high end... this is an unfortunate phenomenon that exists across all industries, even Hershey's chocolates restructured their offerings to lower or higher end chocolate bars. It's the result of the demise of the middle class and the current state of the audio industry is simply a reflection of the market.
Luxury: This is harder for most folks to understand as value is no longer a concern, what's more of a concern is getting something special. This is why the story behind a brand is so important, the buyer needs to connect with the brand, really believe they are getting something they feel is extraordinary. Buyers are much more likely to go through a local HiFi dealer, in fact direct-sale businesses have no chance here at all, with very rare exceptions. For Luxury, dealers are super-important... these days there are so few dealers and so much competition the dealer is going to make more money than the manufacturer for selling a nice pair of speakers.
For both Luxury and Value, brand recognition is very important, a brand must remain in the forefront of the industry by constantly letting people know they exist through ads, shows, reviews, etc... If you don't accomplish this you won't get on the short list of possible choices, people will just forget you exist. In audio this is an issue because the market is so competitive, there are so many choices. It's much more likely that people will consider your brand if they have had contact with it on a frequent basis, and in marketing this is called the "7 touches" and this means that people must have had contact with your brand at least 7 times before they are willing to consider it. In audio it might be more like the "1000 Touches", lol.
On industrial design, value buyers are generally willing to sacrifice, often wanting to buy their product in a simple, inexpensive chassis so it maximizes value. OTOH, luxury buyers may be more concerned with design that sound quality! Of course these are both extremes and most buyers want some good balance of design and sound quality in both value and luxury markets, but it's true that value skews toward offering very simple and inexpensive design while luxury is much more concerned with it.
From what I can tell, these markets don't overlap much in terms of cross shopping. It's like trying to tell someone with an Mercedes AMG model that Kia has really figured it out and is offering something just as good for half the price. How many MB AMG owners are going to rush down to the Kia dealer eager to save some money? None, that's how many. Same with audio... and that also answers the OP's question about why some brands are more popular, it's simply branding, image and how many dealers they have. Some brands have been more successful at marketing than others. I can't think of any other way to explain it, because the differentiating factor probably has nothing to do with sound quality.
I really enjoy the back story of a brand I will consider buying. What pushes my buttons is the story of the company and who else uses their products. With Paradigm and Harman it is their connection to Floyd Toole, with Sony it is the connection with Japanese technology and the latest advances. With a boutique firm like Tekton speakers it is how the designer sourced his drivers from pro gear. With cables I like when the designer has engineering credentials. That is just me, others may be different. Most recently I had to decide between Dolby Atmos and Auro 3D when upgrading to immersive audio. I heard Wilfred Balen present his case on a video whicj made complete sense, the 3 layers of sound as opposed to two. Then I see his recording studio and then the commitment from Barco. I see Dolby as a big brand pushing Atmos and it just didn't make sense for music. What instument fires down at you from the ceiling? For Atmos encoded movies I get it but I can still use an Auro layout to enjoy Atmos. But that is a good example of the "battle of the brands" that is happening now.
I do agree with you Kal. Without attaching much importance to it @ all; just a simple observation.
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"Value: These folks love audio and are willing to spend some cash to achieve their goals. However, there is a budget that doesn't allow for a trip to the local dealer to put down 6-figures, but that kind of system is what they want. This provides a motivation to make sure that every dollar spent is optimized. In order to optimize spending power they will educate themselves and search out high value, often finding direct-sales companies and sites like AudioCircle. Since 2008 many of these folks have had to limit spending and limit the hobbies they are involved with, and are even more careful about how their money is spent. Being more careful with money has led to the demise of the B&M store as they can't compete on value, it's lead to the hollowing out of the middle market and the current emphasis on low and high end... this is an unfortunate phenomenon that exists across all industries, even Hershey's chocolates restructured their offerings to lower or higher end chocolate bars. It's the result of the demise of the middle class and the current state of the audio industry is simply a reflection of the market.
Luxury: This is harder for most folks to understand as value is no longer a concern, what's more of a concern is getting something special. This is why the story behind a brand is so important, the buyer needs to connect with the brand, really believe they are getting something they feel is extraordinary. Buyers are much more likely to go through a local HiFi dealer, in fact direct-sale businesses have no chance here at all, with very rare exceptions. For Luxury, dealers are super-important... these days there are so few dealers and so much competition the dealer is going to make more money than the manufacturer for selling a nice pair of speakers.
For both Luxury and Value, brand recognition is very important, a brand must remain in the forefront of the industry by constantly letting people know they exist through ads, shows, reviews, etc... If you don't accomplish this you won't get on the short list of possible choices, people will just forget you exist. In audio this is an issue because the market is so competitive, there are so many choices. It's much more likely that people will consider your brand if they have had contact with it on a frequent basis, and in marketing this is called the "7 touches" and this means that people must have had contact with your brand at least 7 times before they are willing to consider it. In audio it might be more like the "1000 Touches", lol.
On industrial design, value buyers are generally willing to sacrifice, often wanting to buy their product in a simple, inexpensive chassis so it maximizes value. OTOH, luxury buyers may be more concerned with design that sound quality! Of course these are both extremes and most buyers want some good balance of design and sound quality in both value and luxury markets, but it's true that value skews toward offering very simple and inexpensive design while luxury is much more concerned with it.
From what I can tell, these markets don't overlap much in terms of cross shopping. It's like trying to tell someone with an Mercedes AMG model that Kia has really figured it out and is offering something just as good for half the price. How many MB AMG owners are going to rush down to the Kia dealer eager to save some money? None, that's how many. Same with audio... and that also answers the OP's question about why some brands are more popular, it's simply branding, image and how many dealers they have. Some brands have been more successful at marketing than others. I can't think of any other way to explain it, because the differentiating factor probably has nothing to do with sound quality."
@ the end, value is a luxury, and luxury has value. And both can deliver sound quality equally.
It all depends...of the music source playing and of the music recording...quality, medium and artist(s). ...And of the room where this is all happening/playing.
...And of whose set of ears are they. ...All that sort of jazz.
_______
"Value: These folks love audio and are willing to spend some cash to achieve their goals. However, there is a budget that doesn't allow for a trip to the local dealer to put down 6-figures, but that kind of system is what they want. This provides a motivation to make sure that every dollar spent is optimized. In order to optimize spending power they will educate themselves and search out high value, often finding direct-sales companies and sites like AudioCircle. Since 2008 many of these folks have had to limit spending and limit the hobbies they are involved with, and are even more careful about how their money is spent. Being more careful with money has led to the demise of the B&M store as they can't compete on value, it's lead to the hollowing out of the middle market and the current emphasis on low and high end... this is an unfortunate phenomenon that exists across all industries, even Hershey's chocolates restructured their offerings to lower or higher end chocolate bars. It's the result of the demise of the middle class and the current state of the audio industry is simply a reflection of the market.
Luxury: This is harder for most folks to understand as value is no longer a concern, what's more of a concern is getting something special. This is why the story behind a brand is so important, the buyer needs to connect with the brand, really believe they are getting something they feel is extraordinary. Buyers are much more likely to go through a local HiFi dealer, in fact direct-sale businesses have no chance here at all, with very rare exceptions. For Luxury, dealers are super-important... these days there are so few dealers and so much competition the dealer is going to make more money than the manufacturer for selling a nice pair of speakers.
For both Luxury and Value, brand recognition is very important, a brand must remain in the forefront of the industry by constantly letting people know they exist through ads, shows, reviews, etc... If you don't accomplish this you won't get on the short list of possible choices, people will just forget you exist. In audio this is an issue because the market is so competitive, there are so many choices. It's much more likely that people will consider your brand if they have had contact with it on a frequent basis, and in marketing this is called the "7 touches" and this means that people must have had contact with your brand at least 7 times before they are willing to consider it. In audio it might be more like the "1000 Touches", lol.
On industrial design, value buyers are generally willing to sacrifice, often wanting to buy their product in a simple, inexpensive chassis so it maximizes value. OTOH, luxury buyers may be more concerned with design that sound quality! Of course these are both extremes and most buyers want some good balance of design and sound quality in both value and luxury markets, but it's true that value skews toward offering very simple and inexpensive design while luxury is much more concerned with it.
From what I can tell, these markets don't overlap much in terms of cross shopping. It's like trying to tell someone with an Mercedes AMG model that Kia has really figured it out and is offering something just as good for half the price. How many MB AMG owners are going to rush down to the Kia dealer eager to save some money? None, that's how many. Same with audio... and that also answers the OP's question about why some brands are more popular, it's simply branding, image and how many dealers they have. Some brands have been more successful at marketing than others. I can't think of any other way to explain it, because the differentiating factor probably has nothing to do with sound quality."
@ the end, value is a luxury, and luxury has value. And both can deliver sound quality equally.
It all depends...of the music source playing and of the music recording...quality, medium and artist(s). ...And of the room where this is all happening/playing.
...And of whose set of ears are they. ...All that sort of jazz.
I also like the backstory. One of the fun things about attending shows and getting to know mfrs is finding out how these companies got started, how they make the product, and how the product gets used in both the consumer and pro communities. I work at McKinsey advising senior executives so maybe this is just my inner business geek but I also think having an authentic story is a big part of what luxury buyers go for. It's like buying a Kiton suit or Rolex watch. The whole story of craftsmanship and premium parts gives value to something that otherwise looks very expensive.
The only thing that is odd to me is when wealthy people buy a fine pair of Wilsons or Harbeths and then proceed to play the same five tracks. I guess I will never get that but perhaps it benefits us all as Wilson or Harbeth have sold another pair of speakers and some of that revenue winds up in R&D helping all of us music lovers.
Amen, Kal.
The way most people say they buy is usually very different from reality. One has to really observe the customer's actions, instead of trusting his words, to draw any conclusion.
As I said above, any time the customer comes into contact with any aspect of a company, however remote, he has an opportunity to form an impression.
In today’s culture, every type of experience is shared online. Consumers research products online by reading forums and reviews before going to the dealer or show, where they can hear, see, and feel the product. By the time they see their dealer, a lot of their mind is already made up.
That is a good point...
When I was in my late teen/early20s I sold electronics, including audio, then cars. As an engineer (now, when I was in sales I was taking a break from school) I was very good at selling electronics and audio, I could answer questions, appear knowledgeable, and used that to logically find the best product for the customer and then close the sale. I was one of the store's best salesmen... there was a national-level sales contest and I placed 3rd out of thousands of sales people. I got a lot of respect as one of the best salesmen around. The store I worked at ended up closing, the mall it was in got torn down so I decided to try and sell cars as I also loved cars. I knew a LOT about cars too and figured it would be just as easy to make a ton of cash selling people cars. Well, it didn't work and I didn't make much, I was just average. It turns out the great majority of people coming to a car dealership have made up their mind and if you tell them facts about the car they are emotionally attached to and the facts contradict their feelings, it's a turn-off and people don't want to buy the car from you. All people want from a car salesperson is confident reassurance they are making the right decision and you need to be very careful what information you offer them, even when they ask for it. The sales methods required for success are in diametric opposition to one another.
Do you think people's minds are made up as they are with cars, or they are open to hearing facts and learning? Do folks go into high end audio dealers and ask the dealer to use their expertise to put a system together for them or do they tell the dealer I want X, Y and Z?
I think those are the wrong question. The question I would ask is what is the process to sell high end audio? I think your experience in sales was based on your talent, rather than a particular system of selling.
If a customer walks into a high end dealer you don't have to guess why. Simply ask, "Hello, what's the most important thing I can help you with today?" and let them tell you. If you just ask " Can I help you?" if they say no you are dead in the water.
Dave in your business i would ask, " What is most important to you when choosing a cable vendor?"
Then a follow up, " What do you like the least about your current system?"
Finally, " How would you describe the qualities of your ideal stereo or home theater system?"
If you get those three things you know pretty much how to help them./
Hi,
Sorry I couldn’t get back this earlier, as I was on vacation. I think the environment has changed a lot since you were a salesman. Yet, one could probably hypothesize that people form a stronger emotional connection to car brands than electronics brands, and possibly also were able to access more sources of information on autos to come in with their mind already made up.
I don’t know enough about the high end audio industry specific purchase patterns (and different segments such as "buy-and-hold dude", "completely lost gear swapper", "wander until you find your taste gear swapper", "trust your dealer customer", etc.), but one can see patterns from other industries and infer about audio.
Speaking generally, here are some things to consider:
- Traditionally, people would see an ad on TV/ Radio or hear from a friend about a product. They would then go to the store, buy it, and use it.
- Today, the original stimulus can come from TV, newspaper, magazine, family or friend, brochure, catalog, experts, web banners, news, sponsorship, radio, newsletters, etc. After that, people hit their PC or mobile device and check out opinions of family & friends, search engine, product/ brand review/ comparison sites, social networking sites, retailer website, online blogs & forums. Note: this is true for US and western Europe, but quickly catching on in the rest of the world
- Consumers are using much more sources of information today than in the past
Most successful brands will connect with their customers when and how the customers want it, answer questions people want answered, product demos, how-to's, expert advice, etc.
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