training videos, documents, and presentations—all geared to constantly keep the staff as informed and interested as possible. One such company is Florida-based Tint World, where Paul Pirro is Vice President of Operations. With more than 30 fran- chised locations throughout the country, Tint World’s policy is to start their training literally from the top down. “Tint World owners go through an aggressive two-week train- ing in Florida, then we train a week in their stores,” Pirro said. Training internally is one of the first and most accessible tools management has to offer everyone in the store. Whether employees hop on the Web a few minutes before the begin- ning of their shift, during lunch or elsewhere, Pirro stresses the importance of regular training for installers, management, and sales staff alike. “We have to have consistency, so we take it upon ourselves to do our own training. We use many Internet tools to make sure they get trained daily, whether it’s a video we’ve produced or having access to the proper install files.” Retailers aren’t alone on the training front. Manufacturers
like Alpine, Rockford Fosgate, and others have invested exten- sively in online video geared toward making education easy for anyone with an Internet connection. Theresa Anthony, Vice President of Marketing and New Prod-
uct Development for Rockford Fosgate, states that the audio giant has dedicated an entire department to the process of cre- ating and updating a training site. Their job is to consistently crank out marketing and training videos. Some of them find their way to YouTube for the public to see, but most are meant for a retailer’s password-protected viewing pleasure. “We believe in educating our retail partners. We would rather house the majority of the knowledge on the training site,” Anthony said. The universal availability of the Web and brief duration (each is no longer than 7 minutes) of the videos make the training highly accessible. While video will never replace in-person training, both Alpine and Rockford are using these videos to augment their training and market their message regularly. “We find the installers are most interested in how we recom- mend our gear is installed and set up. They look for tips on setting features, tuning, and vehicle-specific information. In the next few months, you’ll see a lot of installation videos coming from us.” Although it seems that the industry has collectively deter- mined the best way to keep installation sales staff alike is to keep them informed, but is that enough to keep them motivated to stay off the job boards?
Directed Enthusiasm Shawn Morris, Manager of Radios, Knobs, Speakers and Things
believes that retaining install talent lies in the heart as well as the head. “When I come to work, I joke around with my guys. I laugh with them, I pick on them and they do the same with me.” Morris believes in the value of creating a lasting, positive rela- tionship with his employees. “I go out and I help my installers in the garage, and they come out to [the sales floor and] help me
Te industry has temporary solutions to training that bring groups of installers together from across the coun- try. One example is Mobile Solutions, which offers fabri- cation and installation trainings by owner Byran Schmitt, pictured here.
as well. I create a fun atmosphere and get to know the installers on a personal level.” Alan Hickman, owner of The Audio Shoppe in Riverside, Calif., echoes a similar sentiment. When asked what the source of the installer turnover issue could be, his answer was immediate. “The problem is more grass roots. It’s lack of enthusiasm.”
Hickman plays mainly classic rock at his shop, advocating an appreciation of the musical and acoustic value the genre offers. “It’s really important to me to get my staff involved in music,”
Hickman added. “I expose them to music constantly. I play Jimmy Page, Clapton, Hendrix, and Stevie Ray Vaughan. With that I can teach them the passion they need to accurately repro- duce quality sound in a car. Without that enthusiasm, I don’t care what you want to teach them, it’s not going to get through.” Love of music is often the beginning of a 12-volt career, but love alone doesn’t pay the proverbial rent. Understanding the modern intricacies an installer has to contend with every day is a big piece of the puzzle, and an even bigger reason they may pack their bags.
Times Change From the 1970’s through the early 90’s, times were simpler.
The method for finding your shop’s next superstar installer came down to a simple action: looking outside your install bay. This recruited street installer was known as the “shop junkie.”
This is the guy who was so enamored with car audio that he hung out nearly non-stop around the install bay. He was half pitied because he couldn’t step foot in the bay for fear of violating the shop’s insurance liability, and half envied for the gleam in his eye any time a stereo was turned on. But in this era of smartphones, tablets and laptops, those once-excited future faces of car audio turned to other professions for a variety of reasons.
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