the BIG interview
“I don’t fear for the high street, I believe that it will change and adapt”
In our keynote Big Interview feature this month, we’re delighted to speak to COLIN RODGERS. Formerly Samsung UK’s general sales manager, Colin has launched a new sales company specialising in consumer electronics (CE) and targeting both national, independent and digital retailers. The business, which is called CRMB Ltd, will provide new and existing brands with channel management and will offer a wide range of services, including sales to physical and online retailers, end-to-end account management, researching and gathering market intelligence, generating new business, sales consulting, additional B2B sales and marketing advice.
C
olin starts by taking us back to the beginning of his story, working in an
industry that may come as a surprise to some. “I started my career in the music industry as a sales representative visiting independent record stores for CBS Records (later Sony Music). This was the easiest sales job in the world at the time, selling music from the likes of Michael Jackson, Wham, Sade, Bruce Springsteen and Mariah Carey to stores who could not get enough of your product. When the music industry was hit with decline due to streaming, I was lucky enough to get a job working at Toshiba, who were at their peak with the Dolby Pro logic CRT and rear projection TVs. I was lucky to work there with the legendary Chris Lucas and Lesley Haines and learnt so much about the consumer electronics industry. At this time, we also had the launch of DVD and digital cameras. I don’t think I’m exaggerating when I say that every home in the country would have had a product in them that I had sold.”
Having mastered the art of CE sales, Colin
moved on, again under the tutelage of a pair of industry legends. “Following Toshiba, I was again lucky to join Sharp Electronics, where I was schooled by Tony Dugdale and Graham Sanders. This was a great time to work at Sharp as they were leading the way with LCD TV, and I sold some of the first LCD TVs in the UK. I still remember the first sales pitch into Harrods for a £6,500 14” LCD TV with cloth side speakers. The team at Sharp was amazing and its members now head up many important sales roles – for example, Andy Wood is now at Hisense, Steve Naylor is at Blomberg, while Jason Kerr and Willie Robertson went to Samsung.”
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www.innovativeelectricalretailing.co.uk An amazing fiſteen years
It wasn’t long before the aforementioned Samsung came calling. “In 1999 I was asked to join Samsung by the one and only Andy Griffiths. I spent an amazing fifteen years running their Independent Sales channel, and was able to contribute in some small way to them being the
number one TV brand for the whole time I was there. I worked on such launches as 3D, Smart TV (if you remember, originally called Internet TV), curved TV and QLED before at the end of October 2020 leaving the company to start my own business.” Colin had firm ideas on the shape his next
venture would take and the industry he would be focussing on. “On leaving Samsung I was adamant that I did not want to leave the consumer electronics industry, as I have made so many business associates and great friends over the years. I think many people find this industry hard to leave even though at times it can drive you crazy. Having spoken to buyers over the years in other industries, I was aware that Sales Agents are used in a number of other sectors such as furniture, fashion and toys, with brands employing them to do all their sales. I came to realise that brands in the consumer electronics market that did not have a sales function could well be interested in having an experienced sales manager running their sales operation for them. This realisation gave birth to CRMB Ltd.”
February 2021
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