What Happened To The Audio Stores? - October 2023

I recently had an exchange with someone who commented on one of our YouTube Videos "What happened to the Audio Stores?" See it here for reference:

If you have not taken the time to look at our catalog of topics, well, there's 70 to choose from right now with so many more to come. I take the time to respond to nearly all of them. The important thing to note is how we try to take care of our customers and, in return, the respect we need to continue to look at you for far more than what's in your wallet. Without further delay, here's the exchange:

"Sounds like your sales people don’t know how to qualify prospects and turn them into paying customers. Try asking, “what is your budget for this component?”

Actually, that's one of the worst questions you can ask as a salesperson in my 50 years of sales. I don't train my people to look at the wallet but to the person. Just use the experience of looking for a car or truck. If a lot salesman came up to me and asked that question right off the top, then I know he's sizing me up for "if it's worth the effort or not."

The truth is, many people don't really know how much they need to spend to accomplish what they want for a level of quality they want and then the question becomes options to fulfill the customer's wants and wishes. That includes long term reliability, intended use by multiple parties, and the list goes on and on.

It also makes the deadly mistake of assuming the customer also knows what the quality differences are between products. That's exactly why the Chinese succeeded in selling this country a lot of very poor quality products for years because, well, they had the best price on what seemingly appeared to be the same quality of goods on the surface. You name it, food containers, car parts, and the list goes on and on. You don't sell higher quality goods by simply meeting a price point when you could show them something better and give them the choice of doing it or not.

Frankly, that's one of the reasons why the internet has succeeded so well because it presses price first. The second reason, and this was well documented by many retailers, is that people thought it was cool to take the time of the retailer to learn about the product, understand their needs, and the whole nine yards and then go out on the web and buy it. It was called "showrooming" many years ago. It's exactly why many custom installation companies don't itemize their quotes because it simply becomes a shopping list for customers who, quite frankly, are simply stealing time. I have personally had customers take hours of my time, tens of emails, and lots of calls just to do that. I have had that experience in the past and I had it happen to me several times this year.

So, no, I don't agree with asking the question "how much do you want to spend." I'll give them choices and let them decide how to best spend their money.

Lou

Lasting Impressions - August 2023

There are some people in your life that leave a lasting impression despite it not being an important event. I want to share one of mine.

Many, and I do mean many years ago, when I was in the 4th grade my school had, what was traditional then (we were naive to realities), a black janitor. His name was Mr. Kelly. Mr. Kelly was a good soul and would allow some of us to help him clean the rooms in exchange for some basketball time in the gymnasium. Looking back, I am sure that was probably not permitted but for us kids and Mr. Kelly, it was a fine mutually satisfying relationship and, apparently, effective for the school.

One day, when it was really hot, Mr. Kelly said something that I will share: "It's so hot, corn is popping. My mule thought it was snowing and froze to death." Now, this was a sort of cheerful insight provided during an undesirable event. (It was a sort of Song of the South moment, not having seen that movie until a year ago.) It made me admire him all the more as we were all suffering the heat. I suppose it was a defining moment for what would become my sense of humor.

A year later Mr. Kelly was in a terrible automobile accident and did not come back to work for nearly a year. But when he did, all of us were happy to see him back, not because of the gymnasium, but for who he was. So, Mr. Kelly, while nature has reclaimed you, a bit of you still lives forward and I am proud to share it.

Thank you, again, Mr. Kelly.

An Open Letter To Bryston - July 2023

The conversation started over a Bryston CD Player in a basic email thread.

A very short and humble response from Bryston Ltd. (just below) prompted the follow open letter response that we're sharing for this month's blog: Subject: Bryston BCD-3 CD Player Lou, My days of image status componentry are behind me. Bryston Ltd. www.bryston.com

From: Lou Hamilton Subject: Re: Bryston BCD-3 CD Player

Dear Mr. Tanner, As a 40 years veteran of the Audio business, and starting out with Bryston under John Russell, who was a critical mentor, I have watched our industry turn into a tragic run for egos. Gone is the race for performance at the lowest price. It has been replaced with the race for price and status around "I have one of these and you don't." Glorification of greed has become the call best symbolized by programs like Storage Wars where people's greed is portrayed as good while the poor person who could not get back what was theirs in a storage locker goes poorer. It's like the call "Greed is Good" in the movie The Wolf of Wall Street has become not only a national motto but the basis of manufacturing to it. I just was presented with an opportunity to sell from another company a 50th Anniversary 15 watt integrated amplifier for the sum of $3600. I sold those originally for $750. It was a lovely little piece in its day and a stepping stone into Naim Audio by Julian Vereker. As the 2nd longest Naim dealer in the United States, I about spit out my coffee when I saw the price. Oh, but it's value must be based on limited edition. Really? It is just one of many examples that I see today. The other is where terribly expensive parts are used but the end result does not merit it. I call it putting a gold steering wheel on a Hyundai to get the price of a Ferrari. Under today's logic in audio, it would be justified if it was a limited edition. So, what does that mean about Bryston and Audible Elegance? Well, your stuff is a lot more expensive than when I first started to sell it. However, that cost also reflects a vastly superior product with the traditional Bryston build quality and superior reliability. Indeed, there is more expensive equipment out there which leaves Bryston somewhat out of the ego race. But Bryston was not founded for ego, it was founded for music and audio. Audible Elegance was founded upon the same goals as Bryston and remains dedicated to that mission. Frankly, I find it a bit silly that people can wrap their ego around something that few get to see in their house. Want to display your ego like a peacock? Buy a sportscar. What I ultimately find sad is that people find "importance" in possessions. To me, if you have excess money to burn, go to one of those storage places and pay someone's bill so they can get their stuff back. In the end, it makes for a better world. I can't afford that but I have been known to go to truck stops on a holiday, sit down with a trucker and buy his meal. He doesn't really want to be there but that is what he must do in support of his family and keep his job. I can, at least, say thank you in a very small way. So it is. Keep doing what you do and, in the end, I am sure you will be proven right. Lou Hamilton, President Audible Elegance