Is it possible to be honest and a successful Hi-Fi salesperson?

[Purité Audio]

I would really like to hear your experiences with buying Hi-Fi, probably best not to name names but just the overall experience.
I haven’t been into a Hi-Fi shop for thirty years, my dealer when I was a young man was Howard Popeck who sadly just recently passed away.
He was always I recollect pretty straight up with me but then I purchased an active Meridian system and really only sought his advice when I needed a new cartridge for the turntable, this was early 1980’s probably before the Tsunami of ‘everything matters’ hit.
Keith

 

[Talisman]

Probably yes, we can be honest and successful, the problem is if we introduce the third variable, real competence.
Here's what bro
- honest
- qualified
- Successfull
you have to choose only two.
Many vendors really believe in what they are selling, they really believe that dac sounds airier, and that cable is hotter etc etc....so technically they are not dishonest.

 

[Purité Audio]

Yes but… it only takes half an hour to put together a level matched unsighted comparison so in all those years all those hi-fi retailers …
looks like wilful neglect to me.
I tried to use my time to try everything and really draw some conclusions as to what really mattered.
Keith

 

[TSB]

I guess it's possible, but it's probably bad for business. Proper blind testing and scientific measurements will make the make market more efficient, pushing consumers to buy lower-margin products.

 

[Turambar]

Maybe, but it's easier to get a camel to pass through a needle's eye.

 

[Bjorn]

I live in the belief it is, but it's not easy for sure. The market is becoming more and more a niche market and being to some degree boycotted by magazines and audio exhibitors is a fact and makes it harder.

 

[Elkerton]

I 'retired' from the audio business in '93 because my income was pretty much steady state and the cost of living kept rising. I qualified customers Very carefully so that I could direct them to what they needed, but that didn't account for what they wanted, so they often bought elsewhere. Better salesmen sell the sizzle, not the steak.

 

[TonyJZX]

i think this is a hard ask in just about every profession

you sell what you have on the showroom floor, you sell what has the biggest kickbacks, you sell what has highest profit margins

if the customer wants a $100 monster cable hdmi then why push him into a generic $10 cable?

it comes down to psychology too... a $100 cable might make the customer happy about his purchase and if it fails, its on monster

you push a $5 generic cable and it fails, its on YOU

also i will tell you this... in my profession, i will recommend a good builder or contractor or industry plumber, electrician

if i have a client with money I will push work to a contractor i like... client has money to spend, wants gold service, i send a guy who i like a lot and want him to earn money

and cue

 

[Chester]

Most I have come across don’t seem all that interested in hifi themselves and don’t seem to have a great deal of actual knowledge. Their knowledge seems to centre around long established audiophile myths mainly.

Last time I was in a hifi shop a few years back, the dealer started raving about the PS Audio Direct Stream DAC. I stopped him early and referenced this site and the review of said DAC, but he mis-interpreted and was like “Absolutely man, that site is just the worst”. I made my excuses and left.

 

[Doodski]

Better salesmen sell the sizzle, not the steak.

That's funny but it's the stuff that a cliché is made of.

 

[AudiOhm]

If the consumer shopped with knowledge rather than money, then Yes...

Ohms

 

[sq225917]

As a student I shopped around in Sheffield for hifi. Only one guy out of all the dealers was focused of putting only what I wanted to hear in front of me, no bullshit about power cable or interconnects or accessories, just an open an honest demo of a couple of sets of cd players amps and speakers.

Blind, level matched wasn't a thing and I wouldn't has asked for it anyway.

Take a bow Adrian at Moorgate Acoustics.

 

[Zensō]

Is being a “hifi salesperson” even a thing anymore? At least around here, there are no shops left to employ someone who fits that description.

 

[ahofer]

I think it must be tough. A lot of customers will want you to frame your responses in objectively untrue and hopelessly vague ideas. So it ends up like being an honest astrologist - “I don’t really know, because this is basically bullshit”.

You’d have to occupy a small niche, and I’m not sure it would pay the rent.

 

[BlackTalon]

A salesman is a salesman -- if they are 'good' (i.e., successful) they can sell just about anything, whether it is good or bad, whether or not the 'believe' in the product, and whether or not it is a type of product they would purchase personally. And it is difficult to survive as salesperson if you have strong morals -- often you need to regurgitate the BS the manufacturers and distributors feed you.

That was not to offend anybody. But the successful sales people I know have alluded to what I wrote above. Sales is their JOB, just like engineering, electronics repair, IT, etc. is job for many on this forum. If you are in IT, you work with the equipment the company purchases. Sure, you may be able to guide decisions on what they buy, but you generally don't refuse to work on the Windows 11 desktops because you thing Windows 10 is better, etc. And you generally don't refuse to perform load capacity calculations on concrete because you think steel is better for the environment long-term.

 

[Purité Audio]

A salesman is a salesman -- if they are 'good' (i.e., successful) they can sell just about anything, whether it is good or bad, whether or not the 'believe' in the product, and whether or not it is a type of product they would purchase personally. And it is difficult to survive as salesperson if you have strong morals -- often you need to regurgitate the BS the manufacturers and distributors feed you.

That was not to offend anybody. But the successful sales people I know have alluded to what I wrote above. Sales is their JOB, just like engineering, electronics repair, IT, etc. is job for many on this forum. If you are in IT, you work with the equipment the company purchases. Sure, you may be able to guide decisions on what they buy, but you generally don't refuse to work on the Windows 11 desktops because you thing Windows 10 is better, etc. And you generally don't refuse to perform load capacity calculations on concrete because you think steel is better for the environment long-term.

I take your point that a good salesman should be able to sell anything, my question I suppose is how do you live with yourself knowing that you have persuaded someone to part with a sum of cash over and above for a component you know won’t offer any benefits in terms of sound quality.
I guess a good salesman doesn’t even consider the ethics, they just sell.
What is the first question a Hi-Fi dealer asks when you first go into their shop?
Keith

 

[thecheapseats]

... Last time I was in a hifi shop a few years back, the dealer started raving about the PS Audio Direct Stream DAC. I stopped him early and referenced this site and the review of said DAC, but he mis-interpreted and was like “Absolutely man, that site is just the worst”. I made my excuses and left.

learned a valuable lesson a few years ago... my brother in law is a smart guy as well as a doctor - but he seemed unable to diagnose his own advanced, debilitating and chronic case of audiophilia nervosa...

he continually asked me for advice over the years - and like a broken record I always explained that what I did and equipment I used (proaudio stuff) had little in common with consumer audio 'stuff'... not the same thing at all - and any opinions I had would be useless...

after years of prodding I agreed to go with him one saturday afternoon when he was shopping for some new equipment... big mistake... I dummied up thru the 'sales-visit' to his preferred retailer (details I'll omit here) - and finally it was over...

afterwards he wanted to know what I thought about his planned system upgrade purchases (appx $43k u.s. for a new dac, new speakers, super cables, etc.) - and I really tried to be polite...

but after continual queries, I mistakenly told him what I thought - which flew in the face of his long-time retail audio sales person's advice... and in my brother-in law's eyes - I went from 'hero' to 'zero' within a few milliseconds...

lesson learned? - never come between an addict and his supplier...

 

[LTig]

Probably yes, we can be honest and successful, the problem is if we introduce the third variable, real competence.
Here's what bro
- honest
- qualified
- Successfull
you have to choose only two.

You can find such sales people which ...

Many vendors really believe in what they are selling, they really believe that dac sounds airier, and that cable is hotter etc etc....so technically they are not dishonest.

... do really know about audio in those shops where the pros buy their equipment. At least in my experience with our local shop they try to sell what you need, not what sells with the highest margin. They know that a customer comes back again and again and again when he knows he got good advice. Some years ago I searched for a good mic preamp to feed my RME ADI2 PRO fs for measurement purposes and the sales man immediately said that I should keep clear of all those fancy high price channel strip preamps because all of them are designed for a special sound and hence not neutral.

I also know a shop specializing in highend audio who treats people with low budget similar to those with a high budget because he knows that some of those low budget customers will some day come back with a high budget, remembering the good treatment.

 

[Purité Audio]

learned a valuable lesson a few years ago... my brother in law is a smart guy as well as a doctor - but he seemed unable to diagnose his own advanced, debilitating and chronic case of audiophilia nervosa...

he continually asked me for advice over the years - and like a broken record I always explained that what I did and equipment I used (proaudio stuff) had little in common with consumer audio 'stuff'... not the same thing at all - and any opinions I had would be useless...

after years of prodding I agreed to go with him one saturday afternoon when he was shopping for some new equipment... big mistake... I dummied up thru the 'sales-visit' to his preferred retailer (details I'll omit here) - and finally it was over...

afterwards he wanted to know what I thought about his planned system upgrade purchases (appx $43k u.s. for a new dac, new speakers, super cables, etc.) - and I really tried to be polite...

but after continual prodding, I mistakenly told him what I thought - which flew in the face of his long-time retail audio sales person's advice... and in my brother-in law's eyes - I went from 'hero' to 'zero' within a few milliseconds...

lesson learned? - never come between an addict and his supplier...

So true the ferocity with which concepts once adopted are defended, always surprises me, it truly is easier ‘to fool someone than convince they have been fooled ‘.
The psychology is way more interesting than subjective/objective arguments
Keith.

 

[Galliardist]

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The owner of this store has toned his rhetoric down a bit over the years, shall we say... at least they try. I don't understand why they started selling Isotek power leads though?