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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
bjp9738's avatar
bjp9738
64 posts
 
You know what chaps my hide? Mom and pops who sell on Amazon and feel the need to open whatever you buy and stick their gd business card in there. Yes, I admit I am extremely anal. If I buy something new, I don't want it opened before it gets to me. Just put your stupid business card in the shipping box. I'll see it.
bikerbw
108 posts
 
Let me throw out a few thoughts here. If you’re planning to go to a high end store, your main purpose is to physically be in the room with expensive gear you are possibly interested in and to make your own impressions - if you are there to simply browse with absolutely no intent of buying anything from them, you shouldn’t be there. So, as with any other expensive purchase you should insist on individual customer service, and how do you get that? By making an appointment at a time where you and (hopefully) a knowledgeable representative will be there to help you audition the item(s) you are interested in. Why would you expect anything less? You could always go to your local Magnolia store and wait around while some associate who was put in the music area "for the day" tries to sell you something, anything. So OK, not having personnel present any time you want to pop into a store can be irritating, but that restriction has been in place forever - called "Hours of Operation". It’s just a little stricter nowadays. In addition, look at it from the other side - if you were having someone come to your house/apartment/storage shed to do some work for you, would you be OK with "Well, I can do the work for you - don’t know when I’ll show up and I might not show at all, but I expect you to be home whenever and IF I decide to show up". As far as the pressure that an appointment makes on you to buy, that is not exclusive to certain retailers anywhere, high end or not. Ever been to a car dealership, and did you buy the first car the salesman tried to put you in at the price they threw out? How about a timeshare seminar? The pressure to buy is self-inflicted; if you haven’t learned to say NO easily, that skill should probably be added to your priority list of skills to pick up. Once you’re acquired that, you are immune to any high pressure sales pitches. Until then, tell yourself beforehand that you’re going in to audition but you are NOT going to buy anything until after you’ve gone home and considered it, and if you DO decide to buy something you’ve heard, go back to the store/associate, hear it again to make sure, and buy it. I’ve gotten to the age where I don’t waste my nor the salesman’s time; I tell them what I’m looking for, how much generally I’m willing to spend, what my current system consists of, and let them know what I like/don’t like after hearing it.
hilde45's avatar
hilde45
4,795 posts
 
What a complicated question! Just a couple thoughts.

Appointments. I resist them, though I have shopped and purchased gear from brick/mortar. Why? It ramps up the pressure. It almost feels like an engagement. For me, personally, if I'm going to listen to gear that costs thousands, I am really not going to go to a store with an intention to buy. I'm not intending to tire-kick, but I need to feel at ease in order to listen objectively. I have to imagine there are others like me. If everything comes together, and service can help, here, I will buy and it will be at that store. Their expertise deserves to be paid for.

Specialized stores still exist -- mattress stores, jewelry stores, cheese shops, etc. Those lines have found ways to give customers a reason to shop with them, rather than at a supermarket or Macy’s. If hifi could get itself disentangled from consumer electronics, it might stand a chance. But since most people listen ubiquitously (e.g. while they’re cooking, commuting, etc.), this is a challenge. In some ways, it might take the music industry to push this change, but since they want to push content, they couldn’t care less if it was coming across bluetooth headphones.

Best Buy -- upped their lines a few years ago. It’s not hifi enough for me, but there are some good things there. Yes, it’s still a terrible space to evaluate audio equipment, at least one can fall into it while shopping for something else. If HiFI could become part of, say, Nordstroms, there might be a chance for people to both make it a destination and also fall into a shopping experience for hifi.

Combining online with in-person. The Music Room is building a listening space after years as an online seller. It seems that online retailers could follow suit and build or rent spaces to demo gear. That way, when nothing else is happening (e.g. foot traffic) they could just do the online sales/service work they’d be doing anyway.
richopp
760 posts
 
Wow!

This thread is something else.  I choose not to jump in all the way, but, as a former "High-End" (HE) dealer during the wonderful 1970's and early '80's when the inventions were a tidal flood, I can tell you that there are as many types of HE dealers as there are anything else in the world of retail.

A customer's attitude has a lot to do with the way they are treated by "normal" (if there are such things) dealers, but of course there are people who behave the way they do whether they are selling or buying, so individual personalities enter into the equation.  All my fellow HE (and other) dealers back then were pretty nice.  All we wanted to do was make you happy so you would shop with us exclusively.  I had tire kickers, discount-seekers (FAIR TRADE was in effect back then--look it up), and everything in between.  Once, Bill Johnson paid a surprise visit to my shop and told me he did not think my showroom was conducive to selling his stuff--this is when Audio Research and Magnepan were aligned and selling their stuff as a "system."

Anyway, we sold a ton of it, so kind of proved it was the people not the setting that made the business successful.  Some manufacturers had ridiculous rules that small shops could never follow, some could not do enough for you, and others just filled your orders.  SO, from the point of view of the dealer, the customer was sometimes the easiest part of the equation.

For those who find dealers today are not to their liking, TELL THEM, politely, what your perception is and then LISTEN to them.  Some will blow you off--the fool I sold my shop to was like that--some will try to explain the situation and work to earn your business, and others will just hang-up or walk away.  I have no idea why, but if you work with a dealer, more than likely he or she will work with you.  If you are a jerk, and there seem to be several on here from the inane prattle I read in some posters who try to dominate the various threads (you know who you are), you will be summarily dismissed and asked to leave.  The one thing the idiot I sold my store to did was throw out jerks, and being a large person, he could with impunity.  It was not my style, but it worked for him for a while, I guess.  I understand some posters' frustrations, and I am sorry you are having that experience.  Keep trying to find a dealer who will work with you.  I am certain they are out there.

And remember, it is all about the magic of the MUSIC.

Cheers!
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mayoradamwest
429 posts
 
You only needed to make an appointment! At least it wasn’t as bad as Audio Vision in SF which charges $150 for the honor of listening to something in their store, even if you’re a serious customer. Oh, and depending on who’s asking, another $250 for their advice. Hahahahaa. At least there is Music Lovers Audio which is awesome and has some of the most friendly people I’ve met in high end retail.
I actually called Audio Vision first when looking for a system, and the person was so rude I never would have gone there. Went to Music Lovers and over the past 2 years probably spent $350k in there. So the OP is right. These shitty HIFi stores suck and are probably turning people off hifi.
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