Passion. When it’s evident you truly believe in something, it’s an easy start. A good story doesn’t hurt either. You need to believe in what you sell, not only to be successful and close, but because your reputation is on the line. Client trust is the most valuable tool we have as integrators. Some of my closest friends started as clients. As an integrator and designer, you truly get to know the people you’re working for during the design process. You have to click with them and understand their needs. Sometimes that turns into a great friendship. But that’s a story for another time. Back to our Coastal Source journey.
Over the last 25 years, we’ve used all types of outdoor audio. Some impressed us, while others just maintained the status quo. When Coastal Source came onto my radar, I had to check it out.
I reached out to our local rep and learned there was a demo day about an hour away. I wanted to hear these speakers badly. I called my friend and existing client. We were in the design process on our second project together, and he was building his dream house. I asked if he’d join me and told him what I’d heard about these speakers. I had done some research, but I needed to hear them myself. What’s the worst that could happen? Lunch with a friend.
We drove to the Design Center of the Americas (DCOTA) and took a listen. Holy moly. The clarity, detail, and dispersion of this outdoor system were unlike anything we’d ever heard. It was one of those moments that stops you in your tracks. I knew right then this was what my client and friend needed. He agreed. But not just him. All of my clients needed this.
Time to Create a Plan
First, we needed our own demo system. Put hands on the product. It wasn’t cheap. We were told Coastal Source had a demo van that could travel to clients, but that wasn’t for us. Nothing against their rep team, but these were my clients, my friends. I wanted to demo the system personally. My reputation was on the line.
I also wanted to test it in a real home environment. I wanted to find the best placements, hear how separation affected the sound, learn the install process, and understand the system completely before offering it to anyone.
Next came the deep dive. We learned the engineering, weather ratings, wiring, installation best practices, and design software. Coastal Source’s design team helped us get up to speed fast. Now we were off to the races.
We installed our demo system and played every type of music we could think of: compressed, uncompressed, rock, rap, classical, opera, EDM. We cranked it. The ideas started to flow.
The array was so good that I believed we could use these speakers in different markets. We ordered extra cables to make it portable. We made the speakers detachable for easy transport. I didn’t want to box and unbox them every time. With a little creativity and a floating beanbag-style frog pool float named Pierre, we secured the speakers for travel.
Use Your Existing Client Base
I started reaching out to clients. I shared my excitement for a speaker unlike anything I’d heard before. I knew the flagship Line Source 12.0 bollards and 18.0 sub might be a tough sell, but I took the chance. What’s the worst that could happen?
The calls went better than expected. I lined up appointment after appointment, letting my passion open the door while the product sold itself. I contacted clients who needed new exterior audio, those with existing systems from other companies, and even some of our own older installs. I didn’t miss an opportunity.
Don’t Fear Rejection and Move Fast
Image/Nathan Whitman Photography
I expected plenty of no’s. Instead, every call turned into an opportunity. Some clients opted for more entry-level Coastal Source systems, but every call led to a sale.
One client in particular stands out. We’ll call him Bob. Bob is a musician who loves listening to music around his pool. I asked how everything was working and he said the outdoor system we’d installed was his favorite part of the house. Perfect segue.
I said, “Bob, I have the best outdoor audio system I have ever heard. I’d like you to hear it.”
He said, “I can’t imagine it being any better than what I have. You know I have an ear for this.”
I explained it was, actually, better. He shot me down and told me he had just installed this system and was happy with it. He wasn’t looking to do anything in the near future.
I said, “Bob, I really believe you’re going to love this system. Let me demo it for you at your house. I’ll bring it by today. If you don’t think it’s better, at least you got to hear what I’m so excited about.”
He said, “OK, I’ll see you in an hour.”
I packed up the speakers with the help of Pierre, the frog float, and rushed over to Bob’s house. I called a tech and asked him to meet me there. We set up the system in minutes. I had a lot of practice at this point. Then we were ready to go.
I spent hours playing song after song, first on his old system, then on his “possible” new system. Bob was quiet. He gave no indication of which direction he was going. He kept moving his seating position, asked us to move speakers, stop playing on one system, switch to the other system. Now this song. Now that song. My excitement was fading.
Finally, he said, “Send me an estimate.”
I got it done that night, and by the next day it was approved. My jaw dropped. Not only did Bob do the pool area, but he also added his barn, landscape area, and riding arena. All because we weren’t afraid of rejection.
Riding the Wave
From there, it felt like catching a perfect wave. We made sale after sale, day after day, riding a wave of amazement and momentum. It was exhilarating, the kind of feeling that reminds you why you love what you do. Each new demo was another “holy moly” moment, not just for clients but for us too.
The existing client list started to dry up, so I looked for new opportunities. I thought about equestrian arenas, restaurants, and country clubs. Anywhere this technology fit.
I reached out to The National Polo Center. We had just finished a few houses for members, so they knew who we were. I pitched our ideas. They loved them. We did the pool area, which led to the patio, which led to the restaurant. The wave kept going. We reached out to other country clubs that weren’t happy with their audio and were able to sell some Razor speakers to them too.
Get Excited
Sale after sale when you didn’t think you had a shot is awesome. We were doing so much outdoor audio that my techs were asking if we’d ever get back to an inside job. My operations manager, Nick, and I kept feeding each other’s excitement, with one goal after another.
Our initial goal was to hit Gold status in a year ($50K). A few weeks later, we hit it. Then, jokingly, we said we were going Platinum. We even put “Wanna go platinum?” in our next purchase order as a joke ($100K). We hit it on the next order. Talk about manifesting it. We joked that we should try for Diamond ($250K). Every day we asked, “We diamond yet?” It lit a fire in us and gave us an inside joke that kept us pushing, not with a sales team, but with determination and excitement straight to the end user.
From day one to Diamond status was two and a half months. We blew our goal out of the water and achieved a status we never thought possible for our small team. We learned that we were capable of so much more. We had a great time doing it. Most of all, we learned that relationships are important across the board, both internal relationships that keep us pushing and external ones built on trust and knowledge.
Oddly enough, as I’m writing this story, Nick called me and said, “Wanna hear something funny? I called Coastal today and the rep on the phone started to laugh. I asked him what’s up and he said, ‘Wanna go platinum?’”
Anthony Petrone is president of Petrone Technology Group in Wellington, Fla.
