Demo Time

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Hello Everybody,

I want to learn how to better demo equipment to explain the differences in audio equipment.

Background: I quit my last summer job, bad boss.
I need a job this summer, so I asked a HiFi Buys (Tweeter) in Atlanta if I could be a salesman. The manager told me there was a mandatory 4-5 week training. The training is basically how to talk to customers and how to sell audio equipment. He told me I could work in the stock room. I asked if I could have an interview just to talk even though the training is mandatory and he would want me in stocking. So I went in today, I gave him the best speach any want-to-be-employee could give an employer, well maybe not, but I did pretty well to convince him that I am able to be an extremely young salesman. He told me to come in on the 29th with some test cds to demo store equipment with him. Basically I need to bring in some cds, he is going to pull out the Krell equipment and I have to show him the differences with all of the different speakers they sell now.

They have changed their stuff a little bit, they now sell Focal, MartinLogan, Polk, JBL, Bose, Sony, Monitor Audio, and Yamaha. This store is in Buckhead (for those who live in GA) and they sell higher end equipment than most HiFi Buys (Tweeters). I actually have always hated HiFi Buys because most consumers think they they sell the best equipment, but I think most of their stuff is over priced and bad quality, but I they do stock some things that most HiFi Buys do no sell. There was another HiFi Buys near my house and I got in a yelling arguement with one of their employees because he didn't know that digital coaxial cables were just 75ohm cables, and told me that I was wrong and it would not work to use a video cable as a digital coax cable.

Basically I can skip the training if I can convince him that I have the sales ability. And to him the sales ability is showing the customer what the different speakers have to offer. I showed him some of my circuit board designs and gave him a paper I wrote about The Transmission Line Theory. He understands that I am knowledgable about the products, but is a bit hesitant hiring an 18 year old kid with no sales experience and with no training to work in his store.

Please help me!
All suggestions will be very helpful.
If I do this well, I can have a job at HiFi Buys and boy do I need a job to pay for all of my summer projects.

Thanks,

Josh

HiFi Buys/ Tweeter Website
 
frugal-phile™
Joined 2001
Paid Member
I was always a "long term greed" sale person as opposed to the all to common "short-term greed guys"

The former treats the customer with respect & works hard to find out what the customer needs. He would rather not sell anything than the wrong thing. the net of that is that the customer keeps coming back. And back....

You need to have a good repotuire of well recorded music with good tunes. And they need to hi-light something.

Good vocals. Female & male. Articulate bass. Instruments that stand out. Stuff with stuff going on well down in the mix.

dave
 
In terms of how to convince this guy to hire you, and how to demo the products, ask him if he will let you audition the products yourself first, so that you can familiarize yourself with them.

Then, when he says to demo, ask him if he'll play the role of the customer coming into the store. Ask what he is looking for, and what his budget is - that should get you started.

Ask lots of questions to find out what he's passionate about, what he's willing to spend his money on, what his "buying buttons" are. Then start showing him what you feel will meet his needs, and why. Match product features to customer preferences.

Don't "sell" - don't tell the customer all this "stuff" about a product - listen to him tell you about himself and simply match your products to his needs. Ask him if he likes a particular product during the demo and why - get information. The customer will like and respect you if you really want to get to know him, rather than try to dazzle him with all your technical expertise.

Finally, when you're confident you've met his needs and he shows signs of interest, ask him for the sale. This should impress the guy you want to hire you at least as much as your knowledge of his products. Sales is about building rapport and trust with the customer - no matter how good your wares are chances are he won't buy anything from you if he doesn't like you.

If you don't get the sales job take the stocking job - you'll get your foot in the door and you can start to learn about the products then. Be patient as well as persistent, and sooner or later the next sales opening will be offered to you.

Hope this helps - good luck and let us know what happens.
 
Dave,

I'm working on CDs to bring.
My favorite test cd is the Tarzan soundtrack. The imaging is like nothing else. Also a good representation of stereo bass.
But I don't have much to show off midrange clairity or anything like that.
The only song I have right now for highs is David Grey - "Please Forgive Me". There is a triangle and only with certain tweeters can your really hear the shimmer and ever single vibration of the triangle. Other than that, thats about it.
Other artists I was going to bring were Joshua Redman, Liz Wright, and Steely Dan. I would like some other suggestions that I may have in my cd collection.

sdclc126,

I will ask to audition the speakers by myself for an hour or so before demoing infront of him.
I believe the point of this excecise is not to actually sell to him, but actually just be able to put in words the differences between products. I think he wants me to know the jargin (which I don't think I know enough of) and how to explain what different terms mean.
So, perhaps he just wants me to be able to differentiate the sound of different loudspeakers and put the differences in words.

Thanks,

Josh
 
IMO you should always have a good rock album, cause where there is JBL, there are people who like rock.

id reccomend a nice remastered DSOTM, VERY well recorded, good low bass, good bass punch, and soem fantastic imagine in Us and them.IMO no audio salesman should be without a copy!
 
I'm not much for specifics; but I'd suggest having a fairly broad selection.

Small group jazz, orchestral classical, vocal with someone like Diana Krall or Peggy Lee, Broadway show, "classic" (Credence Clearwater maybe?) rock, Beatles, early Rolling Stones, big band jazz. (The remastered 2 disk Ellington at Newport is great; drum solo, crowd voices, lush winds.) And of course current rock. Maybe a rap album. Dark Side of the Moon as mentioned above is always dramatic. Jazz at the Pawnshop is a longtime favorite demo piece. Rodeo (Copland) excerpts, Wagner excerpts can be good.

The skill is in listening carefully to the customer's budget and taste, and meeting their needs and desires, without imposing your own values on them. If you think they are in error, and heading towards choosing something they will not be happy living with, do not argue, but tactfully demo also something that might be more in line with what they actually want. But if they persist, again do not argue. At some later point you'll spell out the store's trade-up policy. If they have technical misunderstandings, usually just let it pass. Too many audio salepeople forget that they are not on a mission to correct the thinking of those who do not share their tastes or knowledge. Never be condescending about even the most modest purchase. This should be a pleasant experience for the customer; they may be stepping into a new world, and they may have been dreaming about being able to do this for months or years, and now they are. It should be a happy day, leaving them with the feeling that they have done well.
 
Well,

I went to both Best Buy and Tower Records today to purchase Dark Side of the Moon, neither had it. During my trip GM gave me phone call about this thread. He told me many music suggestions and advise on what I need to be listening for when critically listening to these speakers.

GM told me of someone named Takashi Ohi - "Time Steam" and I want to order it, but I can't find it online. Has anyone heard of him? Is my spelling correct? Where else can I look?

I will get Dark Side of the Moon by the date.
I am definately bringing Tarzan.
Lizz Wright, if you haven't heard of her, she is very good.
Joshua Redman definately. Not sure how to describe his music. Jazz, no vocals. Saxophone, organs, drums, bass (Flea plays bass in a couple of songs), synthesizers (lots), vibes, clarinet, guitar, trumpt, etc.
Steely Dan, I was planning on bringing Aja. I have pretty much every Steely Dan album and and open for bringing other albums.
Dave Brubeck I'll bring as well.


I'm listening to Linda Ronstadt right now.
Diana Krall is next (I have a DVD-A)
My dad has a couple of Duke Ellington for me.

Others:
I have lots of other music I'll mention a couple other Artists and if anyone one knows of something I may have that I should bring please tell me.

Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye, Al Green, Dave Matthews, John Mayer, Bruce Springsteen, Van Morrison, Jamie Cullum, Coldplay, U2, some Motown, Red Hot Chilli Peppers, John Legend, and my Dad has a pretty good selection of music as well, our taste is pretty similar he has a lot more female artists though.
He brought me up pretty well, I must say I really don't enjoy rap. There are a couple of songs, but I don't own albums.


More demo suggestions?

Thanks,

Josh
 
Ex-Moderator
Joined 2002
Josh, don't get hung up on the music. The shop will probably have a fair selection, much better to just spend some time critically listening to two or three tracks so you can recognise differences in systems. Most punters will probably bring their own CDs along anyway.
 
pinkmouse,

As of now, I'm not to worry about how I will be acting towards customers. I have pretty decent people skills and I've been working with customers since I was 11.

Right now I'm just worried about trying to get hired. But at the same time, I'm somewhat clueless as to which music best shows of different parts of speakers.
-Detail is pretty obvious and GM and I talked quite a bit about the relationship between efficiency and microdetail.
-And I think if I find a track like GM described I can tell the difference in XO quality.
-Imaging is made easy with my Tarzan soundtrack.

But I'm not sure what can show of midrange, or some bass for that matter (bass, I know a bit more of and have some tracks in mind, but am open to more suggestions). Basically I'm asking for music which I know shows off certain aspects of speakers. So with the different speakers that I have and my heardphones and I can see how certain parts of songs change with different highs and mids and lows.

Thanks,

Josh
 
diyAudio Member
Joined 2004
I wouldn't recommend going too deep with the technical aspects of a playback system.

Techno speak can be a real turn off for some potential customers. These folks aren't interested in how it works, they just want something they can be happy listening to. Confuse them and they get offended, my parents are a prime example of this, steadfastly old-school, straight down the line and no BS.

You'll get a feeling within the first few minutes of the knowledge that a potential customer has. Its likely the manager of the store will be looking for convincing customer relations, perceptivity and then knowledge.

In this cut-throat world we live in the important thing in sales is to be able to sell ice to an eskimo. The real pro salesmen generally don't know half as much as a dedicated DIY'er but they do know how to make people think they need something.
 
Shin,

I must agree, although I guess I have never really followed that idea (I enjoy explaining), but I have watched as my parents, brother, and girl friend tell me to stop when I explain to them how things work. I will keep in mind to keep my mouth a bit more closed than usual when talking with customers.

On Tuesday I'm going to write the Manager a thank you email for giving me the chance to talk with him and have an interview with him. I can't decide, but I was thinking about asking auditioning time before hand. Should I ask for auditioning time before hand?

Thanks,

Josh
 
Update,

I went in to HiFi Buys today to pick up cd player for a client. While I was in there I checked out the listening room with the Krell stuff in there. I believe the manager is going to tell me to demo in that room. In there are Krell: KAV - 400xi , 280p , 2250, and the SACDStandard. There is also Martin Logan: Summit, Vista, and Vantage. And last but not least is a Focal Profile 918.

The room has the two nicest ML on the left and the Focal and cheaper ML on the right side.

When listening to all of the ML what should I look for? What will allow me to distinguish between the different MLs? Is there a sound typical of ESLs or ML in general? What should I pay the closest attention to when listening?

Thanks,

Josh
 
Hmm well the focal's from what i've listened to sound very similar if they share the same inverted titanium dome tweeter. This tweeter has very good dispersion and may sound very bright at times. I listened to the Profile once at tweeter to see if i wanted the focal as a future tweeter in a project. The sound really really hooks you in at the first minute. Its more of a pleasant brightness than anything.
BTW what do you think he's really expecting you to pick up on in telling the difference between speakers.

Good luck with the job. It's nice to see more young people around here. I myself am 16.
 
edjosh23 said:

But I'm not sure what can show of midrange, or some bass for that matter (bass, I know a bit more of and have some tracks in mind, but am open to more suggestions). Basically I'm asking for music which I know shows off certain aspects of speakers. So with the different speakers that I have and my heardphones and I can see how certain parts of songs change with different highs and mids and lows.
If I can chime in here, "All Night Long" by Lionel Ritchie. It starts with a very tight sounding, damped bass drum. That will immediately tell you what speakers have tight bass, vs. bloated bass. As the song progresses, the high fidelity really kicks in, with the brass, the people parting, and you can also here a lighter flicking, on the left channel in time with the music. (I don't want to know what they were lighting) The flick is on the up-beat. We may take this song for granted, because we hear it in grocery stores, but it is an excellent example of what multi-tracking can do.

Dry vs. wet: The Mapleshade discs that I've heard, seem to be close miked, and sound superb. (dry acoustics, as if the performer is in front of you) but on the other hand, the Chesky discs that I've heard sound superb also, and they have a lot of natural reverb, (larger space, mikes farther away) You could try using those to hear differences in the original room acoustics.

Harry Connick Jr. "When Harry met Sally". Used by Stereophile for a long time. Harry again "We are In Love" http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000002743/002-9202930-9108017?v=glance&n=5174 The song Heavenly is him and a few guys Acchapella, and sounds stunning.

Good luck!

Dave
 
GM,

Yes I got your message. I will probably be emailing you later today about picking up a copy of Takashi Ohi. I'll bring a copy of Tarzan for you as well. Infact, just tell me what times would be best for you for me to drop by?

I'll check out the ESL forum, but I'm not sure what I'm looking for.

angsuman,

I too am happy to see some youngins on the forum.
I'm not exactly sure what he wants to get from this, but I think it is mostly that when demoing equipment for customers I can push them in the right direction to help show them the differences between different speakers.

DaveThreshold,

I'll ask my Dad, he probably has some Lionel Richie. I appriciate you telling me what the song is good for testing and which part of the song to listen to.

Thanks,

Josh
 
frugal-phile™
Joined 2001
Paid Member
This Wailin' Jennys has been getting a lot of play time around here for evals.... some really outsatnding female volcals as well as a few places that emphasize whether the kit has bass definition (or just bloat)

B0002IQGMQ.01._AA240_SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg


http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...f=pd_bbs_1/104-9825082-2771966?_encoding=UTF8

dave
 
But I'm not sure what can show of midrange, or some bass for that matter (bass, I know a bit more of and have some tracks in mind, but am open to more suggestions). Basically I'm asking for music which I know shows off certain aspects of speakers.

Try to find a re-mastered copy of Taj Mahal's "Recycled Blues And Other Related Stuff"... Excellent male and female (young Pointer Sisters!) vocals, steel guitar, and acoustic upright bass. Well recorded live tracks too... I have it on vinyl original pressing so I dunno how a re-ish cd would sound. Best bet is if it's at least a '90s re-ish.

I've listened to the top tier Focal Be Utopia standmounts a few times. While the highs are refined and open, IMHO the mids are closed in and lacks resolution compared to the tweeters (C-J tube gear using an upsampling Consonance tube buffered CDP). I guess the midbass drivers can't keep up with those Be inverted dome tweets. Maybe the Profile line would provide a better balance. ML's sound dark and a reticent (Electrocompaniet amp/preamp and MSB dac). Although they sound good on some piano tracks and small ensemble classical, for me they still lack HF extension and overall dynamics. The bass is just so-so.
 
Hmm for bass Blue Man group is amazing. Lots of nice punchy bass and a great variety too. For a midrange recording i'd chose female vocals such as Diana Krall. I use some recordings with flaws too. For example most Eva Cassidy recordings are a bit too bright and on a bad speaker can become very sibilant. So sometimes problem recordings can be really helpful in diagnosing a speakers flaws. I have Diana Krall's "The Girl in the Other Room" and The christmas songs recording both of which are impeccable in quality.
 
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