Thanks avdude.

Oh, and one other thing to add to my last post. Be persistent and don't just accept a no over the telephone. When I first started in business I hounded one rep for two months (he insisted he wasn't bringing ANY new dealers on), calling, faxing and Fedexing him letters until I got my meeting. I got the line.

BTW, Crestron's service, at least for us has been OUTSTANDING. They are IMO one of the best companies out there.

As far as taking things personaly - I guessed you are amazed once again - I do care how my business grows, and i do care about the products and reputation that i carry. When a rep tells me "no" becuase there is a retail dealer down the road selling 2 peices a month of a product we fell fits our needs, I get pissed.



This message was edited by Brijaws on 10/05/03 15:45.

But what does that accomplish for you? Is the goal to get happy or sad on the fortunes of your company, or to sell as much as you can as profitably as you can? If it's one thing I've learned (and need to re-learn) in this business, it is to not burn a bridge. Be nice, be persistent, and be successful. They will come to you in time (it happened to me with a major speaker line, five years later) and in the meantime you can put the guy's name up on your dartboard at home in private.....

QQQ's advice to would be dealers is outstanding!

Preparing a portfolio and a presentation for a manufacturer makes them feel you are really a good candidate for the line. Manufacturers see the attitude of "I can sell anything I want" as extremely unattractive. They want dealers who build the brand, not "cherry pick it".

I have seen dealers who have held their temper, built a strong presentation and waited for months to give the presentation, finally succeed, get the line and years later say that it was a key ingredient to their success.

I have also talked to many dealers who went out of business, saying they "could have sold anything"...

Theaterworks says almost everything, when he says: "Be nice, be persistant and be successful." I would add to that: Be prepared and present well!

Best Regards,

-Eric

Eric Johnson
www.hometheaterpro.com

Phone 1-800-247-7001

Becuase i say "I get pissed" doesnt mean i hide around the corner from the reps house, and jump out and beat his ass when he walks his dog, Nor do i bad mouth him and his company.

Again, it just pisses me off that we get rejected or put on hold - on the grounds that there is one or two other vendors in my county that offer the product.

Theaterworks - Wat receiver and speaker lines to do you currently carry? Do you carry product that basicly competes against eachother? Like "Sonance" and "Speakercraft", or "Yamaha" and "Dennon"?

Brijaws,

I see through what you are typing and realize that you're not going postal... just airing the frustrations that so many of us feel. We would personally like a few products... from reps we know and like very well but unfortunately one of the countrys best dealers is here and has certain lines LOCKED up. This dealer has told their reps over and over that if they open up even the smallest custom installer that they will drop the line in a New York Minute... this keeps the lines exclusively at their shop.

Am I pissed about this...no. A little frustrated maybe and of course a little jealous. These frustrations are aired amongst my partner and I in the secrecy of our shop all the time... kind of the same way we air them here in relative anonimity but amongst the comfort of our peers. The funny part is that some people find it necessary to rail on someone for airng the frustrations as though thats all they do is sit around and cry about it... maybe we should all realize that its just a way of venting and life goes on.

QQQ, as usual, has a bunch of really good advice typed out though. Patience wins. We just got Mitsubishi after waiting over two years and we got it by convincing them that we had enough of our own clients and that we would be simply incrementally increasing their business among those clients... not warring with existing dealers over theirs. At this point we can't get Runco so we get by with Dwin, In Focus and others... we are willing to wait patiently for this to change too.

As I mentioned on an earlier thread... try Integra. AVDude says its whored out in his market but in mine its freakin great... and as you of course know... a Brijaws system is a Brijaws system... not discernable by what lines are in it but the service and design that went into putting it together.

I hear you guys, Belive me.!

Integra is one of the lines we looked into, but got shot down due to the 2 other dealers in the area.

I handle Yamaha and Marantz. I chose Yamaha after having sold it as a retailer and liking the performance and reliability. I chose Marantz for it's audiophile provenance and the remote controls. Used to sell Denon, but no more.

Yeah, Yamaha and Marantz compete against one another, but not inside my store. I sell Yamaha for one type of project and Marantz for a different one.

But there's nothing magic about those two lines. If it were not those two I would get along just great with Integra, Pioneer, HK, you name it. Sell a good product, sell yourself and the abilities of your company, and most of the products are secondary. Do it long enough and well enough and the lines come to you.

I dont think I really made my point? I have no local competitor for crestron, it is an hour drive to the nearest place that has it, they do a great job with it. I like the shop... But they never go into my area. Thay dont really want it.

Crestron is a great product and has great support.
This was not a rant about dissin crestron, just there thinking that they are just another "product" like speakers or projectors, I can be fine without RUNCO, i'll just use another quality brand. They are really a needed component for serious systems.

And after investing a few years learning it, building a userdb, files etc, it just feels like your wife ran out on you because you are not good looking anymore. (Not the case with me LOL)

Guess I will just have to sell more prontos! Anyone here ever looked at "VITY" they have an inwall hard wired pronto!

Just my .02

Yamaha was another brand i was looking into. I have spoken to the rep, and hope to see him this week. Yamaha may not be the best gear on the market, but it offers a huge product selections which is nice.

Brijaws:

I see you edited your post and took out your good questions. You didn't need to. I didn't get pissed or take them personally :-).

T'works, What is the actual response you get from the Crestron rep when you explain your situation? Is it possible to meet with the other Crestron dealer and convince them to talk to the rep with you. (it could be beneficial to them to have another dealer near by) Also, there is a ton of Crestron stuff on the internet. If you really know what you're doing and explain the situation to your customers they will probably enjoy the extra cost savings. Lastly, check out the IPronto. It seems to be very similar in look and functionality to the Crestron touch panels.

No, not in my opinion. I will admit to a Crestron bias, but the IPronto is nothing like it. As of the class I took some three months ago it's an IR remote with a 802.11b web pad, with poorly finished programming software. No feeback, no serial strings returned to the pad, none of that. Just my $.02.

The fact that Obi-Wan is an hour from another Crestron dealer may have something to do with it if Crestron feels its the same market/population center. I wouldn't go looking for help from the other Crestron dealer; I can't think of a compelling reason they should help another dealer get on board.

Well, the rep did mention that I could buy my gear sideways from that other dealer. Basicly buying for cost + 10% or so. Im not sure I like that idea... At that point I may as well buy over the web. I will not be an authorized dealer for warranty? That bothers me somewhat.

That runs totally contrary to advice from my rep in reverse on a dealer (literally!) down the block from me who wanted Crestron for some projects. The dealer contacted me, asking to move it sideways. I checked with Crestron and was told that I needed to sell it to the end user or risk losing my franchise. Huh.....