RECOGNITION Store Stars
Dave Haxton Sales
Sounds Fast Bend, Ore. Jamie Lewis, owner: “Dave always provides the upmost in customer service.
He is well known in our town for this reason. Dave also sells with a sense of ownership. A majority of his customers assume he is the store owner due to the level of service he provides. We know that Dave always has the customer and the shop in his best interest.”
Michael Morris, Jr. Lead Salesperson Benchmark Audio Inc. Springfield, Ill. Jeff West, owner (check his title): “He is consistent hitting target sales goals above last year’s sales.”
Azikiwe Seace Head Technician DSP Audio & Video Wheaton, Md. Eddy Lamour: “He has become a strong asset in everyday operations.”
Domenico Cannuscio Sales Autobahn Egg Harbor Township, N.J. Reza Zahedivash, owner: “He provides outstanding customer service at age 21!”
Who’s Your Store Star? Send their name, high-res image and a brief description of their accomplishments to
info@me-mag.com!
50 Mobile Electronics June | July 2012 Perfect Focus
At Streamline Audio in Vancouver, Wash., scaling back has actually helped the business move forward. It may sound confusing, but this targeted approach to
Like its name, Streamline Audio did just that. It narrowed its number of brands to those that offer complete lines of car audio products. As a result, business is good.
taking care of the business and its customers has made all the difference, accord- ing to Owner Jim Hergesheimer. The changeover began about 18 months ago, recalled Hergesheimer, when there
was an active decision to make some cuts in the lines the shop carried. The instal- lation bay/fabrication facility, which is 3,000 square feet, is complemented by a 1,600 square-foot store (with waiting/sales area), which is in a separate building. The operation is manned by a staff of three. “We have definitely scaled back on our number of product lines,” he confirmed. “Think about it: People are inundated with how many options there are out there. When you walk into a big box retailer and see all the choices, it can be very confus- ing to customers.” His philosophy is simple. “We would rather have half a dozen speaker lines rather than 2 dozen,” said Hergesheimer. “When we first started out, we had a lot of product lines, but we were competing with everyone else. So what made us unique at that point?”
Streamline Audio works with companies that offer a full representation of an entire line. “We want to work with vendors that we trust completely,” he continued. “We’re not going to work with a company if they make a good speaker, but not a good amp. If they can’t handle everything, we won’t work with them.” Some of the key “go to” brands are Audison, Digital Designs, and Hertz. Other
key manufacturers are: MTX, Hybrid Audio Technologies, JVC, Kenwood, Parrot, Streetwires, Coustic, Autopage, and Wet Sounds. Hergesheimer is well aware of the trade-off that comes with working with more unique brands than the more “popular” ones. “We have chosen to work with certain vendors that have unique product. It may not be the popular name out there that folks know, but we are working with companies that also mean more profitability for us,” he said. “We view ourselves as a specialist, so this is the right approach for us. These brands cater to a business of our size.” Ultimately, summed Hergesheimer, scaling back brands has also meant cultivating
a certain kind of customer. “Our foot traffic is down, but our sales and profitability are up,” he said. “It allows us to spend more time and focus on each individual customer. We’re not trying to turn each person and get them out the door so we can get on to the next one.”
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68