FEATURES
-Here We Come to Save the Day!!We provide a plethora of accessories that manufacturers assure you will provide excellent margins.
-For Those Who Make Lesser Publicized Instruments, We Salute You!!For the first time, we pay tribute to instruments and products that get little press coverage. We provide a well-deserved spotlight for these products!
-And the Bombs Keep Coming!Another big lawsuit is filed
against the industry.
This time, there are many
more defendants.
-Drumming to Their Own BeatHow well is the drum industry holding up during these difficult times? We call on three industry experts.
-Guitar Center, Fender, and NAMM Sued
-The Health of the Independent Dealer M&SR’s fourth annual independent retailer roundtable features a new twist. For the first time, manufacturers, hand-selected by the retailers, contribute to the story.
-Born In the USA! We feature manufacturers who produce a majority of their products in the United States. Why do they make products in the USA as opposed to Asian countries? Find out.
-…And the Show Did Go On! The economy took a big bite of Summer NAMM in Nashville, but there were still bright moments.
-Jockeying For Position How is the DJ business holding up during these tough times? What’s the next hot technology? We asked the experts.
-What A Gig! Find out about plenty of manufacturer employees who still get out to play gigs. Our second annual edition is another fun read.

-Tarina Dunwoodie got to see the moment Graph Tech was born and has served the company since she was 17. She has moved up the ladder quite a bit since then.
-Stacey Montgomery-Clark Find out how SABIAN’s Stacey Montgomery-Clark juggles two young boys at home and a huge job as vice president of marketing. She loves interactive programs at the company, most notably the Vault Tour.
-Cathy Duncan Seymour Duncan’s co-founder and chairman, received a ton of on-the-job training. But she has excelled. Creativity is one of the company’s hallmarks. Find out much more about her.
-Bee Bantug Yes, the Internet CAN be your friend as a retailer. Bee Bantug, who has provided several NAMM University sessions, can help. That’s why she co-founded Retail Up! in 2002.
-Dale Krevens For Tech 21’s Dale Krevens, being vice president is not a job. It’s an adventure. Find out why.
-Melanie Ripley Grundorf Corp. Vice President Susan Grund handles a plethora of duties at her job, but she also has jammed with the Beach Boys and makes sure the bond with the company’s employees remain strong. Learn how she juggles everything at one time and changes she’s witnessed in MI.
-Susan Grund Grundorf Corp. Vice President Susan Grund handles a plethora of duties at her job, but she also has jammed with the Beach Boys and makes sure the bond with the company’s employees remain strong. Learn how she juggles everything at one time and changes she’s witnessed in MI.
-Toby Nady graduated from college with a degree in clinical psychology. What does that have to do with music? Nothing. It’s been a long, strange trip for her. But a very good and successful trip.
-• Shawna von Behren.
-• Berenice Chauvet
-• Sue Kincade
-• Tish Ciravolo
-• Vikki Hayward
-• Roxana Ramirez
-• Susan Lipp

In this story, learn:
• General advice for selling pro audio products
• What to focus on if the customer still isn’t convinced
• How to overcome the problem of having some products behind the counter
• Why you should consider installations for houses of worship
• Future trends in the pro audio industry

Selling pro audio products is certainly no amateur effort. Ringing up sales on any item can be a challenge today, especially ones with pleasant margins. Pro audio is no different. In fact, a definition of what a pro audio product is can even be debated. For our purposes this month, we’ll discuss microphones, speakers, and installations, although many more products are under the broad pro audio auspices. We invited a group of manufacturer panelists to serve up advice. Our panel comprises Cliff Castle, co-founder, Audix; Trevor Gibson, North American sales manager, Peavey; Gil Soucy, outside sales manager, Behringer; Dawn Birr, product manager, Sennheiser; and Ken DeLoria, product manager, Community Professional Loudspeakers.

Castle began by talking about an industry trend he’s noticed. “The one recurring theme is that salesmanship in the pro audio market is a dying art. In other words, there really aren’t any young salespeople coming up through the ranks who specialize in pro audio. That’s the biggest problem we face as a supplier of pro audio gear. That’s the most important point we can make. That lays the groundwork for how we proceed in marketing our products.”

Castle added he has seen this at both large and small MI retailers and he said education and training of store salespeople has become his company’s primary focus.
But let’s say you do have a pro audio specialist in place, or perhaps you have a smaller store and you’re the pro audio specialist. What tips can our panel provide when selling pro audio products?

“It’s certainly good to know the customer and their basic needs,” said Birr. “First, you must know what their goals are. What’s the application they plan to use it for? What budgetary boundaries do they have?”

“Listen to your customer and properly qualify the customers’ needs,” added Soucy. “Once you’re comfortable with what the customer may or may not know about pro audio, give them information or your sales pitch in a way that is clear and precise, and in terms they understand. For example, not every customer looking for a compressor or a power amp knows exactly how they may work, so keep it simple for them, and only as they become more educated should you start using a more technical approach.”

“We spend a lot of effort getting out into the field and working with the guys on the shop floor of the retail environment—the managers and the guys who are out there in the trenches every day—we do our best to educate them as to why we believe our products have better attributes than competitors,” said DeLoria. “That helps tremendously. The more equipped the salesperson is with information, the better the chance they have of hitting a home run.”

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