Although a local dealer will have better inventory and technical expertise not found in big box stores, how would you rate the following in terms of selection and overall assistance (technical, customer service, etc)? This might help those that are in markets where a legit local dealer is not available. Best Buy Circuit City Frys Futures Conns I'm sure there's more so feel free to add it as long as it's a Big Box store.
J. Vigne
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Posted on
There are ocassionaly good, knowledgeable salespeople at any store. Most high end stores are looking for someone with at least a minimum idea of how stereos and systems work and possibly a little sales knowledge. Not all but many high end salespeople spent some time in a Big Box environment. That said the reason they move on is not usually for the money. A good salesperson can make more money at a Big Box simply due to the volume of people available as customers. (A Chevrolet salesman most likely makes more than a Saab salesperson.) A high end salesperson will want to have better equipment because they are curious about what is, quite often, their hobby as well as their profession. A trip to a Big Box over a three month period will normally result in not seeing the same faces on the sales floor. There is very high turn over in the sales staff. This is caused by many factors but the most common is a sales staff that is primarily made up of disinterested employees. Some don't like the regimen of a Big Box, some didn't know sales was that difficult, some move on or move up but most just loose whatever interest they might have originally had for the equipment and job. This results in less service on the sales floor since, even if you find the salesperson who is interested, there is little likelyhood the same person will be there after a few months. This makes it difficult to get a consistent type of help when you are building a system. One of my most frequent tasks when I sold high end audio was to help a client (and there was a difference between a client and a customer) get from point A in their system to point G over a period of time. Not everyone could plunk down big change for a system all at once so I worked out an upgrade system for them. That is difficult to accomplish when the sales staff is constantly changing. The final word on sales staff is Circuit City was one of the last Big Box stores that paid commission. They stopped a few years ago. They decided most buying decisions in their stores were/are motivated by price not merchandise or sales assistance. When they made this change, they fired their top performing salespeople with the explanation they were making too much money. This is a store taking the attitude, "We're #2, we don't try at all". As far as service most of the techs are right out of school and are paid by how many units they fix in a day/month. This means a hurried diagnosis and an even more hurried repair and check out procedure. This isn't all bad since many components today are built where entire boards or chips are replaced or the unit is more or less disposable. But a dedicated repair shop will almost always do a better job. Merchandise is interchangeable between the Big Boxes. There are no exclusive lines until you get to the high, high end of audio/video anymore. Is this good or bad? My experience is bad because it means the reps, who salespeople depend on to get information and assistance, have no loyalty to any store. The reps have to cover all stores and treat each equally, which is the same as minimally (in many cases). Check out the thread under "Amps" entitled "How you buy and sell audio/video" for more opinions.
J.Vigne, you state "The final word on sales staff is Circuit City was one of the last Big Box stores that paid commission. They stopped a few years ago. They decided most buying decisions in their stores were/are motivated by price not merchandise or sales assistance. When they made this change, they fired their top performing salespeople with the explanation they were making too much money" Wonderfully worded. After all, we ALL know in the end, it always comes down to price. In my store, we used to have a saying at that time when you have asked for the sale and the customer goes silent. That saying was "He who speaks first........loses"
J. Vigne
Unregistered guest
Posted on
Yes, most salespeople who have been around for awhile have a story about selling to another salesperson who also knows, "After you ask, shut up!". Neither salesperson wants to be the first to speak and you can sit there in total silence for 15 minutes waiting for the other person to speak first because you think that means you win. It just meant you gave me time to think how I was still going to close the deal.