I was at a conference in the midlands recently.

As is my wont i like to visit the local upmarket hifi emporiums for a look see.

Anyway in one town i visited the local emporium to find the shop poorly laid out , with gear on the floor and hap hazard on the shelves and covered in dust. Some of the equipment was of the Your Joking price bracket.

Not a single system of any sort set up in any of the dem rooms for a quick listen.

Very disappointing.

Visited the B&O shop.

Nice chap keen as mustard but very little hifi knowledge. All the systems were well set up and i was treated to quick dems of all the music systems, from the top of the range which is gorgeous to look at a dream to use and not to bad sound wise.To The next system down was intriguing because of the size of the speakers and the sound quality was not too shabby.

Looked at the av plasma system this was ok picture wise and sound wise was good.

All this in 45 mins.

Nice chap and if i had the B&O price bracket to spend on a life style system then he would have got me for a few K.

Then futher back towards home went to a NAIM dealer.

Very polite and courteous and chatty showed the main dem room and explained what was in the system. He clicked that i was not in the market so no music played.

We have a shrinking specialist market and dealers seem to go out of their way to put people off.

A bit like a visit to Colchester recently.

Stopped off at the Bentley dealer. Great guy very friendly very enthusiatice about the new bentley let me sit in it etc and said that if i was interested that a loan car could be provided. I let him into the secret that i would have to sell my house. This did not phase him as he said "if you win the lottery come back and see me". I probably would too.

The Ferrari dealer looked down the bridge of his nose at me and did not even approach to have a quick discussion, same for the Maserati salesman.

The porsche dealer WELL WHAT A STERILE UNFRIENDLY PLACE THAT WAS.

How do these people sell cars.

AT that price it should be a wonderful experience with a decent test drive etc.

So off to B&O.

It does what it says on the box.

LOOKS GORGEOUS AND SOUNDS OK,AND IS FABULOUS TO USE.

So HiFi dealers get real.

regards David

David

You walked into to several establishments without any intention of buying, that explains their attitude to you.

As regards to dusty equipment etc, I agree that is a bloody poor show.

Read Sally Kennedy's article in the BAJ, very useful.

Regards

Mick

[QUOTE] "Then futher back towards home went to a NAIM dealer.

Very polite and courteous and chatty showed the main dem room and explained what was in the system. He clicked that i was not in the market so no music played."

Hmmm. I can only comment on my local Naim dealer, The Top HiFi Shop in Christchurch, NZ. Their view is that they'll demo things for me even when I've indicated a possible six month gestation. I'm at the lower end of the audio scale but I'll be staying with Top HiFi because they treat me no differently than I'd expect to be treated if I was a NAC552/NAP500/DBL customer. They are marked by their honesty and integrity. They have been around for a while and I'm sure they keep their customers. They have given me strong advice about purchases that I took and am glad of it - ie: SOURCE FIRST! I take it as a given that anyone who sells Naim in New Zealand is solid, dependable, ethical and friendly.

BTW, what is B&O?

Deane

A good salesman can sell anything to anyone - the difficult thing is getting punters into the shop in the first place. I agree with David.

I bought my car from a Lexus dealer 120 miles away because when I was in Swindon visiting a friend, I popped in to check out the range I was looking at. I had the brochures and was just nosing around a bit. After a coffee and a long chat, and a sit in the new coupe which was the only one in the country at the time, I left very impressed armed with even more literature. I visited my local dealer a few weeks later to buy the car. Before getting too far down the process I decided that I wanted to be at the Swindon dealer instead, so bugger it - cancel the rest of the day I'm off to Swindon. Even though it was a few weeks later, the dealer remembered my name even! I spent £25k.
He knew at the time of the first visit I wasn't going to buy there and then, and he knew I wasn't anywhere near local - but he was good and it didn't seem to matter to him. It may just be salestalk - but he got me and my money eventually. My friends tell me I was barmy.

Fortunatly my hifi dealer is the same - I don't buy much very often, but when I do, I would be embarassed to go anywhere else.

David is absolutely right.

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BTW, what is B&O?

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Deane

If you go here you will see
http://www.bang-olufsen.com/sw478.asp

They sell designer home electronics at atrociously expensive prices, mnost of which sound like crap compared with NAIM.
I say "most" because in fairness they do rather interesting speakers for approxm 10,000 GBP per pair which have a nifty room equalisation system and enough built in amplification to blow your socks off, that might actually be quite good.

regards
GEOFF

The boring old fart

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You walked into to several establishments without any intention of buying, that explains their attitude to you.

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No it doesn't. It's inexcusable in a customer-facing service business whose whole business model pretty much stands or falls on the perception of the customer and the word of mouth generated by those customers, or potential customers.

The point is (at least with regard to HiFi) David no doubt will be in the market for HiFi at some point, even if not now.

Those shops that couldn't be bothered (with the proviso that is they weren't overwhelmingly busy at the time of his visit) have no doubt lost any potential for business whatsoever.

It's exactly this attitude that causes the specialist market to shrink further up it's own backside, year on year.

Frankly those people don't deserve anyone's business.

Andy.

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A good salesman can sell anything to anyone

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I disagree.

A good salesman can sell a person something that they want.

A really good salesman can sell a person something that they want and can afford, and also make sure they're happy so they'll come back the next time.

A bad salesman can put a lot of effort into selling somebody something they don't want and/or can't afford.

A really bad salesman can put somebody off buying something that they do want. (I recall some tw*t of a Peugeot dealer in Leeds trying to lecture me that I should be more concerned concerned about the monthly outgoings with a credit agreement than with the APR or total amount paid back. Result being that I've never owned a Peugeot.)

Paul

Must say that during my sojurn in a hi-fi shop anyone who walked through the door was a potential customer and enthusiast; not necessarily at that time but maybe in the future. Even if they weren't the sales team believed in what they were selling and did their best to convey that enthusiasm.

Anyway you couldn't tell who was a time waster, an excentric millionaire, an educated dustman or a member of the Naim forum. Who cares if the customer is just browsing, create a good impression and they might come back, if they don't they might at least understand a little more about music and hi-fi.

Tom
Actively enjoying it all

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Frankly those people don't deserve anyone's business.

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Could not agree more, as a snotty nosed student many years ago I was treated by one dealer as if I were a human being rather than the 'pond scum' that most other shops seemed to detect. They sold me a s/h Nait 1 and after the usual upgrades down the years, most recently, a NAC52 so it was probably worth it. What is nice is the same guys are there after all this time as well.

And to Rashers point I had to cross the Atlantic to get there!

Cheers

Andy

First time I popped my unshaved face into Audience Bath and said 'I can't stop but you're the naim dealer round here yes?' the guy beamed at me and said 'yes, we're big fans of that brand'. Big fans - says it all really. Little did I know it but that was the response I was looking for. First impressions count.

I've never been able to buy an Audi because of their damn snotty dealers. Probably a good thing. First time I ever set foot in a BMW dealers (again in Bath) I mentioned that I'd just ordered a 3 Series as a company car and just wanted to paw one over in the showroom. salesman took me out the back with a cuppa and let me pootle about in one in the back lot which was being prepared for the showroom (not a customer I hasten to add). No way were they going to get a sale out of me but they were petrolheads and just liked shooting the shit with other petrolheads. 12 years later I walked in and bought a 5 Series off them - so it paid off in the end.

I'm like that with makes and dealers. I'll stick with something for ever if the equipment's good and the dealer friendly.

Cheers

Harry

Andy, Tom,

Thanks for the support, as you put it most succinctly you cannot form an accurate opinion of someone's spending power, status or intentions from looking at them. You HAVE to treat them as potential customers until proven otherwise.

It's worth bearing in mind why we deal with certain shops or people, it's inevitably because we like them. The reason we go to specialists is often because we don't have the expertise ourselves, because of this we are often ill-equipped to accurately assess what they say, we judge upon what results we get, whether we are treated well, whether the loo is clean (the Sally Kennedy interview Mick mentioned is a good read!) and whether we like them as a person, amongst other things.

I'm always referred to as 'one of my best customers' by my dealer. It's plainly untrue in terms of either regularity of spend or absolute sums involved, but it does make me feel good to be referred to that way

It's attitudes like this that will always make me go back there for anything I need, be it advice or actual dems. Lots of customers like this add up to a successful business, with plenty of long-term potential.

Custom is hard to win and so easy to lose, often forever.

Andy.

P.S. I know I've said this lots of times before, but most specialist retailers (of anything) would do well to pay a visit to a local Richer Sounds. Irrespective of one's views on the business and it's brands, it has a lot to teach people about SERVICE, making the customer the centre of attention and making buying a fun task if only they could avoid looking down their often snooty noses at such 'lowbrow' places

I'll never forget the big carrier bag of sweets and Asterix books that I came home with from my first trip to the London Bridge store. They were their usual busy selves, service was slow, but we didn't care, 'cos it was a bucket of fun in there!

I would have to add that here in Seattle, we have a series of HiFi stores along a short stretch of Roosevelt Way that includes our Naim dealer, Hawthone Stereo. Almost without exception, these stores let me listen to whatever I would like, even knowing that I'm not planning an immediate purchase. The fact is that they understand that we are always messing around with our equipment, and a pleasant audition is alwatys remembered when it is time to buy.

In fact, such an audition led me to purchase speakers recentlythat were completely different than the Allaes I had been planning on. So I doubt thay the dealer would consider that Sat afternoon last year wasted time...


Bruce

I was shocked at the turn-off I received from my nearest dealer at one time.(some 30 miles away from my former home)

Having just bought £60 of speaker cable from him. I asked if I could see the dem room. They only had a small shop space visible with very little on display. I explained I was looking for a new amplifier to go with my LP12 & Kans.

"I doubt we'd have anything to interest you" he said and abruptly turned away to chat to his sorcerer's apprentice! (junior box carrier)

I was so angry with my new found cloak of invisibility. That I drove what seeemd like 100 miles. To reach the very next HiFi dealer on the map. Where I bought a 72/180 set and significant upgrades to my LP12.

With the proceeds of the recent sale of my detached, rural cottage (with grounds) burning a hole in my pocket. I might have made quite a dent in the stock of the first dealer. Perhaps he just didn't like hirsute, articulate tweeds and Volvos? Or could it have been the Kans?

Nime

B&O Story - this may or not be true
Apparantly at his first board meeting the new chairman of B@O asked fellow board members "what do we make"
"Hi-fi, they all replied" "Wrong" said the chairman "we make furniture"

I can't agree more with David, Andy and Tom.

The last time that I wasn't in the market to buy hi-fi but just wanted to chat with my local Naim dealer resulted in an engaging discussion, then a home dem, then a purchase of my 282/Hi/Psc/200.

I think back to my University days when I had time to troll the hifi shops but no dosh. Now that I'm making a real living (but have little time) I've always tried to be good to the shops and dealers that indulged me through the years with store and home dems. So far, I think these dealers would all agree that their modest investments of time have paid off.

Let's hope they get the message.

When my dealer gets excited about a bit of kit, I tend to get excited too. It's only when he demos it, and tries to convince me it sounds good, that I lose my excitement. He must know it sounded crap too, surely!

Good service from a dealer - totally essential.

When I bought my system my local Naim dealer could not have been more helpful. Even though I bought Linn from another store as I preferred the sound at my budget and have no plans to upgrade "a little", he knows I will audition the CDS3 etc. when the time comes to make "the jump". FWIW - you cannot buy, or hear, Linn and Naim from the same dealer in Glasgow.

It's also refreshing when you bump into your dealer in town and all you talk about is music........

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Originally posted by PR:
When my dealer gets excited about a bit of kit, I tend to get excited too. It's only when he demos it, and tries to convince me it sounds good, that I lose my excitement. He must know it sounded crap too, surely!

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I think rather you and he had very different tastes or are you thinking of someone else?

Tom
Actively enjoying it all

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Now that I'm making a real living (but have little time)

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Check out the wonderful 'Responsibility' from 'The American In Me' by Steve Forbert. A beautifully written song about financial stability arriving with maturity - and not having the time to have fun with it.

Anyway; back to the point - someone with holes in their jeans is just as likely to be a 'serious' customer (now or in the future) as a sharp dressed man.

A lady friend of mine was treated with disdain by a male car salesman in a BMW dealership and told "Perhaps you'd better come back with your husband".

Her husband had recently died; and she told him so. She also told him that she had the money for a new '3' series, and would be buying it from another dealer.

Nice one!

I have to say, I've never been into a hifi boutique here in the States where the sales staff have been off-putting; in fact, they often let me have the run of the demo room on slow days. Understood is the notion of the skint chap dreaming and saving up for realisation of more utopian hifi kit. I've been back to all those places and bought stuff, too.

Ditto what bec143 said about Hawthorne Stereo here in Seattle. Great lads, and gurus of Naim. Often when I'm just visiting they make me a cup of coffee!* And I've spent very little actual money compared with their "high-end" clients.

*It's my drug.