Industry leaders agree: demonstrating audio is the key to profit.

"Home audio can stay relevant if it focuses on delivering upscale products that offer superior performance that is obvious and easily and quickly demonstrable on the sales floor. Equally important is that the sales floors take the time and effort to properly demonstrate audio. This is also very much tied to how demonstrable the upscale components are in a world where we are trying to sell to non-enthusiast consumers..."

- Sandy Gross, President, Definitive Technology (Excerpt, TWICE - "How to Stay Relevant" - 1/5/2006)

 

"Because of their size, dealers are in the semi-unique position to offer the personalized and consultative sales approach consumers also want. One of the most important elements of this customer-oriented appoach is the product demonstration. 'The demo represents the intersection of product knowledge and customer service. This is where dealers have a substantial opportunity to differentiate and ultimately improve their bottom line. After all, CEA reaserch has shown consumers are more likely to buy from a store providing a product demo."

- Steve Koenig, CEA

 

“We saw that the art of the controlled [audio] demo was dying, due to emphasis on video sales and custom installations, where we sell in the customers' homes.” said Gary Yocoubian president of MyerEmco AudioVideo. MyerEmco put an emphasis on audio demos in their store, training its people, upgrading equipment and testing their sales people, often demonstrating performance audio systems to customers who came in only for flat-panel TVs.

“...we started with audio sales going down 8 percent. We started our program and audio sales were up 10 percent and they are up again so far this year, so our program is working,” Yacoubian noted...“See what they like and sell the experience.”

- Excerpt, "PARA Roundtable Addresses Audio Market" - TWICE - 5/23/2005

 

[George Liu, founder/president of Audio Visions South] said that better performance audio systems “must be shown with flat-panel TVs to show what the consumer is missing.” But he emphasized, “Selling performance audio is really missionary work...we must really push good, quality sound. The big guys won't do it.”

- Excerpt, "PARA Roundtable Addresses Audio Market" - TWICE - 5/23/2005

"The growth of the digital music player has radically increased the time consumers spend listening to music. Never have so many listened to so much...This is fueling unprecedented demand for audio solutions...from whole-house audio systems, to...systems for offices, dens and bedrooms...We see more consumers who are willing to play their music more than ever.

- David Kroll, Product Development Director, Boston Acoustics (Excerpt, TWICE - "How to Stay Relevant" - 1/5/2006)

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