# Help with Purchasing



## reedashton (Mar 12, 2014)

I want to purchase new speaker/home theater setup (including surround sound, tv, blu-ray player, etc.) for my living room, and I'm going to do it through the local electronics store in my town because I prefer to talk to people and get personal help. Are there any specific things I should ask to make sure the salesman knows what he's talking about? Are there any specific things in-store that I should be looking/asking for? I just want to make sure the salesman is really knowledgeable about these things. Thanks!


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## caoman911 (Feb 16, 2014)

I believe you should look at soundbars to connect with your choice of tv. This will reduce the clutter of having an av receiver and lrf, center channel and rear speakers for complete the surround system. My choice of soundbar is the b&w. For a blueray player go with oppo. Another important piece of advice is to buy the best your budget can afford. Good luck.


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## tcarcio (Jun 27, 2007)

If you are going to buy from your local store you can let us know what they carry for your budget and then someone could help with those choices. We could recommend many things but if your store doesn't carry them it won't help.....:dontknow:


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## Blainetsuds (Feb 12, 2013)

I have only been in this hobby for a couple years my self. What I have learned is to do plenty of research. Firstly you need to decide exactly what you want. Are you only concerned about surround sound for movies,or would you also like 2 channel music listening as well. Do you expect your movies to sound close to what movies in theatre sound like. Room dimension can limit your selection as well. I was lucky with my first system, built with on sale items and got good room sound early.But quickly got the bug, could this system be improved.Once you know what you want, you can begin to develop the right questions for the salesmen/women. Hope this helps.


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## reedashton (Mar 12, 2014)

I apologize for not stating this earlier, but here is the main reason for this post. I am a business student at college. I am attempting to help advise a local electronics retailer on how to improve his store, since he needs to compete with Amazon. One of the areas in which my group feels he can improve is his customer relations and sales staff. We are wondering - are there any specific things his sales staff should be good at? Are there any major things they should know about basic theater systems? Everyone saying "do some research" while that is a good idea, my group wants to know that the store's staff is knowledgeable enough about their products that any person doesn't have to do research before entering the store.

My group felt it was better to just ask general questions about a home-theater setup rather than describe our situation. Can you please help? What brands/items/etc. should a good local electronics salesman know? Are there any good questions we can ask to essentially "test out" the store?


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## rab-byte (Feb 1, 2011)

Put on you're cow patty detector and start having a conversation....

IMHO they should be well versed in A/V theory and be able to apply it to different products and systems. They should understand their products inside and out. They should know the key differentiators between product lines and be able to compare/contrast them. 

What arena are these guys playing in? There are electronics retailers who sell basic box systems and TVs in addition to appliances. There are custom installation companies that sell high end AV systems and home automation.

What is the goal? UPT/RPT? Close rate? Traffic?


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## vidiot33 (Dec 12, 2013)

Another important element for sales people is attentiveness. Ask the customer lots of questions and listen carefully to the responses. Tailor the advice to the individual customer's unique situation. They won't care how much they know if they don't know how much they care


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## rab-byte (Feb 1, 2011)

In my sales background I've found the customer needs to do most of the talking. My job is to connect their wants and needs with my offerings. There is no one size fits all. 

As I speak with my clients and they tell me what they want out of a system I'm mentally highlighting some products and eliminating others. It's like those Carmax ads on TV. 

I'm only good at my job if I can understand the differences between features and benefits and convey to the client the benefits they'll get from a feature. I play in the retail meets custom installation/integration arena. As such I have a very wide assortment of products to offer. Smaller shops may only carry a handful of brands or limit the models they stock. Still it's not Sony or Onkyo that makes on product more suited for an application than the next. It's the feature set. 

I think we (this community) have a tendency to know more than even moderately train stale staff because we truly love tech. 

I guess what I'm saying is passion and integrity make a good salesman great.


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## rab-byte (Feb 1, 2011)

reedashton have you done your basic SWOT analysis yet?


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## willis7469 (Jan 31, 2014)

The salesman should definitely get out of the way. Let the customer talk, and really hear what they are saying. Most ppl think HT gear is too expensive anyways, and if you can help them put gear in place that delivers what the salesman says, they will come back for years for trusted results. Features are of utmost importance, but just as much is knowing what features are useful in the customers space. Recommending a sound bar when the customer wants discrete would be useless. Also knowing products limitations is crucial. Also keep bias out of the equation too ppl don't like hearing about alienating, especially if you do it to something they like. This is a bigger topic than one can cover here, but that's what I've got for a few things.


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## Tonto (Jun 30, 2007)

People coming into the "box stores" are *generaly* limited in access to equipment or not knowlegable about it.

Many people get into this hobby & figure out the want better equipment soon. So it is very important for the staff to be able to figure out what the customer wants & give options to fulfill this. They have to be able to explain why this is necessary over that, so that the customer can understand it. Like subwoofer frequency responce, how low does the customer want to go. And don't fall into the marketing trap (i.e. esoteric cables--ok to have them, just be honest about results). Nothing will turn off a customer faster than finding out he has been hoodwinked--and word will get around fast.


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## chashint (Jan 12, 2011)

reedashton said:


> I apologize for not stating this earlier, but here is the main reason for this post. I am a business student at college. I am attempting to help advise a local electronics retailer on how to improve his store, since he needs to compete with Amazon. One of the areas in which my group feels he can improve is his customer relations and sales staff. We are wondering - are there any specific things his sales staff should be good at? Are there any major things they should know about basic theater systems? Everyone saying "do some research" while that is a good idea, my group wants to know that the store's staff is knowledgeable enough about their products that any person doesn't have to do research before entering the store.
> 
> My group felt it was better to just ask general questions about a home-theater setup rather than describe our situation. Can you please help? What brands/items/etc. should a good local electronics salesman know? Are there any good questions we can ask to essentially "test out" the store?


Very interesting.


reedashton said:


> I'm interested in purchasing and installing my first high-end home theater system in my living room. I live in an area with many small consumer electronics stores, and am comparing them to see which one offers the best deal for my money.
> What are things I should be looking for with each stores? Are there any specific things I should ask them?


It is not nice to jerk people around that are genuinely trying to help you.
Perhaps paying more attention in ethics class could be beneficial to your future.


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