6 Pop Songs Great for Audio Demos
Worst DIY Installs Ever Part 7
10 Must-Have Products for Your Next Install
6 Amazing High-End Home Theaters
Print
Email
Comments (9)
Share
How to Make More Money Selling Speakers
So what’s an integrator to do to increase profits in this ever more challenging business environment?
Luckily, very generous profit margins still exist in speaker, cable and projector sales. Some integrators choose to not upsell there. Others have creative ways of demonstrating how better cables create better fidelity. Projector sales are still profitable, but this assumes you are selling to an upscale customer.
That leaves speakers, which for many new construction projects can represent up to 65 percent of the gear sale, and for retrofit it can represent up to 40 percent of the sale.
What can you do today to start making more money on speakers in every project you bid and sell? Here are six quick tips.
Choose a Good/Better/Best Speaker with Margins of 50 Percent or More. You cannot be too hobbyist here. This is your chance to make money, and there are definitely fabulous choices out there at great margins.
Sell by Analogy. When you are in the customer’s home and all through the qualifying process, note which types of products and lifestyle categories they value. If they have lots of cars, explain the speaker upgrade with the BMW and KIA analogy that they are both cars, but we all know the performance difference. The analogy applies to watches, clothes, etc.
Photos: Ultimate Guide to Architectural Speakers
Delay the Speaker Purchase Decision Until Near the End of the Project. Jeff Haggar, chief technology director for Audio Concepts in Boston, includes a lump sum for speakers in the initial proposal for bigger jobs, but delays the actual purchase decision on the speakers until 30 days before the estimated time of installation. He and the client have now spent considerable time together on the pre-installation parts of the job and the client has come to know and trust his judgment.
6 Hidden Gem Audio Companies
6 Great Audio Demos
Burkhardt: Music is the Backdrop of Life
Add Extra Wires for Easy Add-Ons. Make a practice of installing extra Cat 5 wires at the time of the new construction install. So many times a client says he only wants speakers in the main rooms but not the bedroom or kids’ rooms. Then, after he lives with the system for a while, he will call and ask how much to add these rooms. If the wires are already there or hanging out in the attic, it is an easy request to satisfy and very profitable to add the additional speakers.
Create Drama and Tell the Story. Find out which rooms will be dedicated listening areas and which will be background music, and dramatize the reason for upgrading in the main listening areas. Randy Wilson of Wilson Home Theater in Los Angeles literally walks the space and acts out what a small speaker will sound like with cupped hands over his mouth and how a big bass speaker will sound by extending his arms and projecting his voice loudly. It’s very effective and people get it.
Find the Right-Looking Speaker for the Architectural Environment. After you gauge the look and feel of a customer’s environment, choose a higher-end speaker solution that will be just right for the space. This entails really knowing the choices available and showing up with a high-quality picture of the specific product you are recommending.
Subscribe to the CE Pro Newsletter
Read more Speakers stories
AVC Group Adds SpeakerCraft, Proficient, Panamax/Furman; Mark Terry OutWill Bose Soon Be on Your Equipment List?
Imagining a SpeakerCraft without Jeremy Burkhardt
Sonos Wireless SUB Adds Bass to Multiroom Audio
Jeremy Burkhardt Leaves SpeakerCraft, Nortek
More in Speakers
About the Author
9 Comments (displayed in order by date/time)
Service, service, service. We’re in business because of the level of service we provide, the kind of service big retail chains and internet discounters can’t and won’t offer. A key point in the article is how AV specialists, not security, fire and other assorted trunk slamming guys who buy through distribution and pretend to know CE, build relationships with customers. Once you have their trust, they want you to make a reasonable profit. They want you to stay in business to take care of their AV needs for years to come. There are plenty of high quality brands who are unwilling to sell out or cheapen their name to please stock holders. There are enough potential customers in virtually any market who want quality goods. Treat them well and earn their referrals!
Thank you for your post it was very revealing! I didnt know I was about to get answered as that quickly!
Qualifuy, ask them for their three favorite songs, buy CDs or LPs. Set up demo with speakers and subs. Blow them away. Us the best electronics you sell, say these speakers deserve the best, charge full price, say mp3 is cool for portable and whole house but this is what good speakers should reproduce. Sell @ retail, service them andvstay in touch with them.
Speaker margin is what you live on, screw sharing low margin stuff that obsoletS you. Quality., service and musical buddy is what you are. Buy and send music to them!
Deborah,
This is off the topic a bit, but who in the right mind would install a cloud base control system? internet service is the biggest problem we face.
we must addapt to the constant changes of this industry, I love using iPads & iPhones as control interface and in the process upgrade the client to better of everything else.
I have been thinking a lot recently about increasing our focus on hifi. This is difficult for us for 2 reasons.
1) No showroom. Its difficult to capture the emotional experience of a speaker sell with a showroom to showcase the good better best scenario. With profit margins shrinking on all other avenues and the industry trending toward service and commercial work, this becomes a real difficult proposition.
2) Customer enjoy access to music through Pandora, iTunes, etc which are all delivered well by Sonos. However it is difficult to sell HiFi and pair it with a compressed audio signal. I single listening room of HiFi paired with a universal disc player is one thing but making margins on a house full of speakers is quite another when a client wants a product like Sonos.
Thats not to say you cant have a good/better/best for house audio just that “best” may not be a great seller since its limited by the house source when access and ease of use become more important than sound quality in rooms like dining room/bedroom/patio etc.
You should sell 3D audio for the media room.
This is a 9.1 system that compliments 3D TV and all movies.
You have 3 On-wall LCRs, 2 front Left Right In-ceiling, 2 Dipoles at listening area and 2 Bipoles in the Rear
This creates awesome sound and you make more money with 9 speakers and your customer is happy.
For the people that do not have a fixed showroom - Every install is your showroom!
If you are looking for a way to make money online try paid surveys.That is one of the easiest and fastest way to start making money from the comfort of your home.No skills needed.I make more than $3,000/mo and I work only several hours a day!
All you have to do is to register (it’s free).The best company for surveys is:
NationalOnlineSurveys . info
Just follow the link in my profile and start making money today!
Off topic but in regards to “service service service” I read that we should put a premium on our service. That is what our customers are buying and margins will continue to shrink, BUT lets say my Labor rate is $100/hr and I make margin on some items, if I am to not count on making $ on products then I will need to raise my rate. So am I to charge $150/hr,and sell products like speakers at cost? STUPID, but if I charge $150/hr AND sell at retail I will be so far out of the ballpark I will not win any bids.
Can someone help me understand this concept of selling ME instead of products.
Is it me or the business is going downfall? What ever happens if speaker prices drops? (and its already dropping)... Where will we make the money? Sometime I feel that this business and home automation will soon be crushed by the big players like apple, samsung, google,etc. And also by internet…Witch is the cause of wireless audio, wireless video, etc…Even my self as a technician sees the cutting into custom installation.