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I use experience

Our business model is different. We don't get involved with voodoo, snake-oil products and philosophies in the first place. If anything, the President of my company subscribes to the Julian Hirsch school of amplification comparisons, and he gets off on screwing with the minds of audiophiles. Not new folks walking through the door of course, but friends he has accumulated throughout the years who consider themselves audiophiles.

In my job, I have way too many other factors at stake to pursue that which I can't prove consistently to a prospective client. Of course, my clients are more basic than the average, self-described audiophile. Showing the benefits of proper component matching, acoustical remediation and being frank about the differences between what they want aesthetically, often times VS what they want acoustically is the key to success. I also have to be frank about budget VS expectation. If you're expecting the Mercedes, and your budget is Honda, that would be impossible for me to accommadate.

I also have a responsibility to use my client's money wisely, so with "House Music" equipment for example, I stay pretty low on the budget. My reasoning? Because the client is trying to create some ambiance, and no one is sitting in their kitchen critically evaluating Mozart with a pair of In-Ceiling speakers. Just doesn't happen. Where things get expensive is the control folks want over the system remotely, and just what kind of control they want.

When a client walks in who is looking for new speakers, I ask lots of questions. What equipment do they have currently, what do they like or dislike about it, what are the dimensions of the room and most importantly, what sort of experience are they looking for in a new pair of speakers. From there we talk more. Sometimes, all these folks need are acoustic treatment, which of course I find out when I visit them in their homes before a purchase is even made.

I like to have fun too, so I take them into one of our rooms where we have a nice turntable set-up and play them some records. I've sold many tables that way, just because in so many cases, the client hadn't listened to vinyl in so long they forgot just how good it can be with a pretty decent rig. On the other hand, I've had clients say, "That was really nice. But I'm not interested in records anymore. When you come to my house, you can take my old collection away if you want".

I tell them where all the local used record shops are, tell them what records I love, etc. You know how it is......you can lead a horse to water, and you can at least make them look at it.

We don't advertise, so my referral business is how I make 85% my living, and business is very good. Beating folks up for cable and wire and matched tubes is not where we're at business wise. We deal with the physically obvious, and educate our clients so that they make the decisions, and preferrably, ones they love to live with.


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