In the early 80's I lived in Grand Rapids Michigan and wondered into Steketee's Audio (McIntosh dealer, among other things - long gone). I had always loved music, but knew nothing about the high end. I was poor and in my early 20s.
I'm an inquisitive guy and the salesmen there always took the time to answer my questions patiently. I would wonder in once or twice a week and they took to greeting me with "Hey John, you have to hear this..." Each time, showing me everything from new albums to new equipment at all different prices. The taught me a lot about audio and introduced me to a ton of new music.
Very quickly I was planning my purchases and started with a used cassette deck, followed by an integrated amp, new speakers, a turntable (cartridge, etc.) and a new, far more expensive cassette deck. Even when I moved away I went back to purchase a few more things. At the time I started buying from them, I was making less than $20k per year and I was spending $1-2k of it with them. Not a fortune by everyone's standards, but it was for me at the time - I would buy as much as my wife would allow.
Since that time I've probably spent over $150k more on equipment and countless thousands on records and CDs. I have two pretty high-end systems in my home and I've advised dozens of friends on their purchases.
The guys at Steketee's Audio knew what all good audio salespeople knew in those days. High End customers have to be grown, they don't just walk in off the street. Trust is built over time and life-long customers/audio enthusiasts aren't created overnight. Unfortunately, no one seems to take the long view any more.
I'm an inquisitive guy and the salesmen there always took the time to answer my questions patiently. I would wonder in once or twice a week and they took to greeting me with "Hey John, you have to hear this..." Each time, showing me everything from new albums to new equipment at all different prices. The taught me a lot about audio and introduced me to a ton of new music.
Very quickly I was planning my purchases and started with a used cassette deck, followed by an integrated amp, new speakers, a turntable (cartridge, etc.) and a new, far more expensive cassette deck. Even when I moved away I went back to purchase a few more things. At the time I started buying from them, I was making less than $20k per year and I was spending $1-2k of it with them. Not a fortune by everyone's standards, but it was for me at the time - I would buy as much as my wife would allow.
Since that time I've probably spent over $150k more on equipment and countless thousands on records and CDs. I have two pretty high-end systems in my home and I've advised dozens of friends on their purchases.
The guys at Steketee's Audio knew what all good audio salespeople knew in those days. High End customers have to be grown, they don't just walk in off the street. Trust is built over time and life-long customers/audio enthusiasts aren't created overnight. Unfortunately, no one seems to take the long view any more.