Best Buy could do a better job for Klipsch

[Jeff Matthews]

I went to my local Best Buy last night just for the heck of it. I thought I would check out the Klipsch just to see how they display them and maybe hear these series that I've never heard.

They have these display gadgets where the receiver is locked inside a box, and you press these outside button configurations to sample the speakers. The thing did not even work.

Here, we have a seller who is supposed to be selling speakers that are supposed to set themselves apart from the run of the mill crud out there. But nobody could test them. What a joke. I'd suppose the only people who would buy Klipsch are those who know something about them to begin with. So much for expanding your market.

But I bet Klipsch was delighted to sell to Best Buy for volume's sake alone - even if a better job could be done. But think about this, Klipsch. If Best Buy was doing it right, your sales through them might even double. I'd put a force together of sales reps who go monitor and correct things like this.

I've seen a few similar posts to mine in this forum, so I know my experience was not an isolated incident. Klipsch, make me an offer, and I will get this under control.

[PrestonTom]

Jeff,

I had the same experience last night in Connecticut.

Admittedly, this is the holiday rush with many inexperienced staff running around, but Klipsch is not shown to its best advantage. Perhaps Klipsch is best experienced in conventional stereo store, rather than a warehouse setting. Or perhaps I am just a old guy remembering how things used to be ...

Good Luck,

-Tom

[ricktate]

I agree with Jeff... Klipsch needs to force Bestbuy to make Klipsch displays atleast work, the only other dealer in KC area is Accent sound and they dont have Heritage on display.Rick

[dtel's wife]

I agree also. At the time, we purchased our first Klipsch speakers New Orleans, LA had one of the best upscale audio stores around, Alterman Audio. Alterman actually doubles the warranty on all electronics you purchase from them. They were a Reference Series dealer only. Best Buy was not marketing Klipsch at the time. We went to Hattiesburg, MS, which is the same distance as New Orleans from our home and found a dealer, for the Synergy Series. In fact, Alterman Audio has recovered from Hurricane Katrina and is currently opening other locations in the Southeastern Louisiana area.

Having been in sales myself, for over thirty years, it would make sense to put together a marketing team that could provide in-store training for Best Buy, as well as any other audio outlets that may want to sell Klipsch. Personally, I believe expanding the dealership list would go along way to increasing Klipsch's recognition. Being able to "test drive" Klipsch speakers in a knowlegable audio environment would surely help, especially with WAF.

[Amy]

We are working on this as best as we can with training, personal visits, etc.

You have to keep in mind the number of Best Buy stores in the country (guessing over 500?), factor in their employee turnover rate to re-train them consistently, and then consider they probably have more stores than we do employees.

It's a large undertaking for us, but this area is not being neglected.

[Frzninvt]

Hah! My area Klipsch dealer has been selling Klipsch for years and has never even seen the area representative much less talk to him or get information from him. What a joke! These guys move some gear too, my buddy is part owner and is pissed that the guy get's comissions on there sales but has not lifted a finger to do anything!!!!

This is unacceptable behavior, I would have fired him by now!! Give the job to someone that is willing and enjoys doing it for crying out loud. Don't take my word for it though KLIPSCH, call my friend Dave at Alpha Stereo in Plattsburgh, NY and he can tell you first hand. I have a good job but would love an opportunity to promote and support Klipsch in this area since your current employee is NOT!

[Amy]

I will pass this along.

[Frzninvt]

Thank you Amy! []

I want to be able to see and hear some Heresy III's on their showroom floor, I think they would sell well if they can get them in there, but they need to be able to speak and work with a reliable Klipsch representative for it to happen first.

[Mighty Favog]

I want to be able to see and hear some Heresy III's on their showroom floor

They definitley have better bass....

[Tony Reed]

I check out the Klipsch "display" every time I go into Best Buy in Little Rock, AR. It never works! I think it worked one time when it was brand new.

Tony

[ygmn]

Actually all the floor displays are for crap at BB...not just the Klipsch ones...

the only time they are in good shape is when they first put them out....then it is all down hill from there....

But at least it allows people who have never heard of Klipsch ...see klipsch....and maybe they will research it further...and become forum members...hehehe

[Jeff Matthews]

Glad to see Amy's thoughts and to know they are aware of the issue. Me? I think it's pretty simple. A handful of regional guys that do little more than run around checking to see that displays are tidy and operational.

What I can't fathom is why they would EVER be non-operational. I connect all the cables to my stereo, and it NEVER becomes non-operational. Once you set it up, it should work forever. The only thing I gather is the sales goofs at Best Buy keep swapping components and maybe selling displays. That way, they are constantly messing around and risking getting beyond their limited skill sets - like many don't know it's red to red, black to black. I'd set my displays up so that the sales goofs could not get in them - the same as customers. I'd also set the speakers up so they are not salable as display items. Some sort of mounting or something to make them not desirable for taking home. This stuff at Best Buy is way fungible - not like Klipschorns where the mom and pop dealer needs the option of selling the display.

But really, there's no excuse - not just for Klipsch but Best Buy as well. If they say they are too swamped during the Holiday Season, they should keep in mind that it is this time of the year when these items ought to go like hot cakes. Think of all the missed sales - not just folks who would buy then and there, but folks who wondered what Klipsch was about - and if they HEARD it, might decide to put some priority into saving or planning for a future purpose. These folks are not likely to return, having not been given a special reason to do so. So, they go on, still not knowing about Klipsch.... and later, not recalling what the funny named speakers were called. They just forget it. Big time lost opportunities! If I was Klipsch, I'd pay to do it myself before I left it in the hands of a gorilla institution like Best Buy.

Reason? Their JBL display did not work. Their "this" did not work, and their "that" did not work. Really, nothing worked.

[thebes]

Until recently my local Best Buys (plural) had sound rooms that never

worked. The Bose display always worked but the Klipsch display

only worked once out of the dozens of times I was in both stores.

Now the store closest to me has them in an aisle which is useless for

demoing.

Lots of lost opportunity for sales there, and it has almost nothing to

do with sales people , most of whom know nothing about most of the

products they sell. Best Buy does a better job allowing you to demo

computer speakers than they do on their better stuff.

[Jeff Matthews]

I'll throw this in as a suggestion to Klipsch as well. I don't think putting alot of money into training come-and-go sales guys at Best Buy will remotely pay-off.

Just a working set-up is all that is needed, along with a sales rep who is given the lattitude to crank it. The speakers should sell themselves.

Me? I don't know alot about what makes these speakers stand apart from Bose or Pioneer, nor do I even care. You can tell this by my previous posts, asking some of the why's to these questions. Fact is, what I've learned will not change my opinion. I got the speakers FIRST because I heard them when my brother bought them. Hearing them is all I needed to know.

So, all that is needed is working displays. Make them tamper-proof - even as to sales goofs, and make them so they can't be stripped for sale as demo components. I'd say you'd be 95% there.

Klipsch, please send your check in the amount of $10,000 to my attention for this great advice. Alternatively, a gift card in the same amount will be fair compensation as well. Unless you have a more long-term lucrative offer. []

[SteelerFan]

My local BB must Klipsch Rep must be pretty much on the ball because I check the Klipsch display evey time I go in there and it's always been working. Sort of on this same subject...I was just in BB last week and I did what I always do, I get the Klipsch display rocking and then go around and turn the rest of the displays all the way down and leave it that way.[6]

[Mighty Favog]

They need a display setup that doesn't allow customers (or window shoppers) to screw with any connections.

Now if we could find a rep from Bose sabotaging a Klipsch display, that would be something.[:@]

[earthaziel]

Ok, read through the thread and I thought I would give an insiders look

at this issue. I have worked in the Best Buy home theater dept.

for about five years now. Someone mentioned that they don't

understand how displays become non-functional because once you connect

everything it shouldn't be disconnected unless it has been done

by sales people. I'm sorry, but that is not correct. I have

trained my people pretty well not to touch cables in my speaker

aisle. The ones who pull things apart are the customers

themselves. You have no idea how many times I have seen people

pulling cabling out of connections for no apparent reason. Some

people just like to look at the back of the speaker...others

just...well I don't know why else you would need to do it. That

is also the reason why you may see displays that don't let you adjust

volume or ones where you can't see a receiver at all. Also

someone mentioned about x-mas sales staff. It is true that there

are some "interesting" people who work at Best Buy during the xmas

season, but that doesn't exscuse missfunctioning demo products.

Saddly although you may thing different this is NOT the season for

Klipsch with Best Buy. Sure we sell more home theater during the

xmas season then during the summer, but the BIGGEST time of the year

for home theater is really around Super Bowl time and also March

Maddness. An easy way to see this is just to watch ads. The

best deals will be done in late january through early march. Also

it is around this time that you will see a lot of seasonal employees

being terminated and also you should see a lot of the stores around you

cleaning up and getting everything up and running perfectly

again. This isn't to justify equipment that doesn't work.

My store is just as busy as any other, but I manage to keep everything

running in tip top shape, at least for an hour or so before a customer

decides to play with buttons.

As for the speaker aisle itself...yeah its a bad idea. I had been

against it from the begining and am still fighting to put the speakers

back into a speaker room. My store has found a way around that

aisle though. We have most of the Klipsch packages set up in

different areas of the hometheater department in 5.1

configurations. Also that former speaker room will (hopefully, if

I can convince my management) be turned into three living room pods

with two of them running Klipsch equipment. This isn't really

something all stores will be doing... in fact I haven't had much luck

convincing my superiours to even do it. Unfortunately I am just a

peon...a peon with experience marketing entertainment ( I work in minor

league baseball during the summer) but a peon none the less so I doubt

my talking will do much. Oh and Amy, if Klipsch is looking for

someone to do trainings in the MI area or to do any type of liason work

with Best Buy I am always looking for opportunities to get out of

retail.

Matt

[hooting_monkey]

I donno about other Best Buys, my local one displays Klipsch much better than any other product there. They use Klipsch SF3s to show off the TV of the week. It's a setup that consists of F-3s, highest end Yamaha goods that the store has, a Logitech Harmony remote, 2 theater style recliners, 2 SW-12s, a C-3and 2 S-3s. That is a better setup than what alot of stores give Bose. Of the the salesmen there said that they sell on average about 2-3 times more Klipsch equpment than Bose.

[Jeff Matthews]

Here might be a shot at testing my theory. Hooting-monkey always sees Klipsch displayed well at his local Best Buy. Compare sales of Klipsch at his Best Buy to say, the Best Buy at the 9000 block of either I-10 (Katy Freeway) or Old Katy Road in Houston. It is probably known as Old Katy Road and not Katy Freeway or I-10, but I gave them all so a comparison can be made.

[colterphoto1]

Hah! My area Klipsch dealer has been selling Klipsch for years and has never even seen the area representative much less talk to him or get information from him. What a joke! These guys move some gear too, my buddy is part owner and is pissed that the guy get's comissions on there sales but has not lifted a finger to do anything!!!!

This is unacceptable behavior, I would have fired him by now!! Give the job to someone that is willing and enjoys doing it for crying out loud. Don't take my word for it though KLIPSCH, call my friend Dave at Alpha Stereo in Plattsburgh, NY and he can tell you first hand. I have a good job but would love an opportunity to promote and support Klipsch in this area since your current employee is NOT!

Sign me up Amy!