Gearslutz.com - View Single Post - Part of the solution---if you shop at Guitar Center, read this

bexarametric · 15th December 2007, 07:58 AM

I can see all the points here being valid.

I am a manager at the Plano, TX location. I guess I would be considered the guy at my store that sells to the "high-end" recording guy. What I do with the guys in my Pro Audio department has seen some success. I tell them that they need to ask a lot of questions and then listen to what the customer has to say. If they cannot help the customer, be honest and turn it over to someone that knows the answer. If you do not know what a Massive Passive is, please turn the sale over to someone that does.

I also tell them to be aware of the customer's knowledge. If the customer knows more than you do, it's probably not going to benefit you to offer suggestions. If it's a mother shopping for her son for Xmas, do your best with the knowledge that you have and sell the right thing the first time.

I do believe that the majority of the people on this site make up a VERY small percentage of our sales. But that doesn't make you less important. I am always trying to push product knowledge on my guys. The fact is that the majority of the people that come in to our store would be insulted if you pushed GREAT recording gear on them because they honestly could not tell the difference between a cheap Chinese mic and a U47 (used of course) because they don't even know what they're listening for (they just see $100 vs $10,000). I get customers all the time that say things like "I sure do love my Behringer mixer, it sounds great". I can't, for the life of me, figure out why someone would ever feel that way. But they do. And most of the people that walk into the store are like that. They think that Mackie is the "high end". The average customer sees our Midas board and can't honestly tell us that it sounds better than our Yamaha. They don't know what to listen for. They may recognize a slight difference. That's it.

I can see the point that it's very difficult for your average Joe salesman to justify spending the years and years that it takes to gather the amount of knowledge that all the people on these boards have when all it will lead to is about 1% of their sales. They don't have the time or the resources to compare and contrast API to Neve or Telefunken to Wunder. That being said, if you are looking for someone that has that kind of knowledge; we are out there.

As a manager I feel obligated to step in and support the original poster's intentions. I'm sorry that some of you have had bad experiences. I would like to join in and say that I too would like to work to make your experiences better. We cannot deny that bad experiences happen. But we can also come out here and let you guys know that we're here to help. If your local Guitar Center is not treating you right, let us know. If you're not getting the help you need, PM me. I will give you my #. We can chat. I will ship you the items that you want. I just like my customers to be happy with the gear and the price. Then they come back and life is good. We all want to win right?

15th December 2007, 07:58 AM	#79
bexarametric Lives for gear Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Dallas Posts: 849	I can see all the points here being valid. I am a manager at the Plano, TX location. I guess I would be considered the guy at my store that sells to the "high-end" recording guy. What I do with the guys in my Pro Audio department has seen some success. I tell them that they need to ask a lot of questions and then listen to what the customer has to say. If they cannot help the customer, be honest and turn it over to someone that knows the answer. If you do not know what a Massive Passive is, please turn the sale over to someone that does. I also tell them to be aware of the customer's knowledge. If the customer knows more than you do, it's probably not going to benefit you to offer suggestions. If it's a mother shopping for her son for Xmas, do your best with the knowledge that you have and sell the right thing the first time. I do believe that the majority of the people on this site make up a VERY small percentage of our sales. But that doesn't make you less important. I am always trying to push product knowledge on my guys. The fact is that the majority of the people that come in to our store would be insulted if you pushed GREAT recording gear on them because they honestly could not tell the difference between a cheap Chinese mic and a U47 (used of course) because they don't even know what they're listening for (they just see $100 vs $10,000). I get customers all the time that say things like "I sure do love my Behringer mixer, it sounds great". I can't, for the life of me, figure out why someone would ever feel that way. But they do. And most of the people that walk into the store are like that. They think that Mackie is the "high end". The average customer sees our Midas board and can't honestly tell us that it sounds better than our Yamaha. They don't know what to listen for. They may recognize a slight difference. That's it. I can see the point that it's very difficult for your average Joe salesman to justify spending the years and years that it takes to gather the amount of knowledge that all the people on these boards have when all it will lead to is about 1% of their sales. They don't have the time or the resources to compare and contrast API to Neve or Telefunken to Wunder. That being said, if you are looking for someone that has that kind of knowledge; we are out there. As a manager I feel obligated to step in and support the original poster's intentions. I'm sorry that some of you have had bad experiences. I would like to join in and say that I too would like to work to make your experiences better. We cannot deny that bad experiences happen. But we can also come out here and let you guys know that we're here to help. If your local Guitar Center is not treating you right, let us know. If you're not getting the help you need, PM me. I will give you my #. We can chat. I will ship you the items that you want. I just like my customers to be happy with the gear and the price. Then they come back and life is good. We all want to win right? __________________ "60% of the time it works every time." "MacGyver can build an airplane out of gum and paper clips, but Chuck Norris can roundhouse-kick his head through a wall and take it."