Sound Marketing

helping music brands be heard

Category: B2B

You had a great NAMM show, what comes next?

The party’s over, now the real work begins... It was quite an event, without question a memorable one for me personally. At dawn on Friday, January 17th, I was crossing Katella Avenue after preparing for a vendor meeting at the Starbucks across from my hotel. In a freak accident, I was struck by a pickup truck and thrown to the curb. The laptop bag I carry on my right … [Read more...]

Sales Reps – Preparing for a successful Winter NAMM show…

The annual trek to Anaheim beckons; are you ready to maximize your time there? It’s a musical instrument and pro audio industry ritual, and for many of us on the east coast a welcome getaway from cold weather. Ah yes, the splendid sunshine of Southern California, rekindling longstanding relationships, visiting with vendors and dealers, and in general setting the table for … [Read more...]

How to distinguish yourself as a sales rep

I’m now fully engaged as the owner of Reflex Marketing, a manufacturer’s rep firm serving the MI and Pro Audio industry. My fondest memories during a four-decade career were those years when I was a district sales manager for Ensoniq, covering a sizable region, and Korg USA, where the geography was much smaller, but the product lines also included Marshall and VOX. It’s not … [Read more...]

Tools of the trade — processes for developing a robust dealer network

Utilizing the sales funnel in the musical instrument and pro audio business

Any student of our craft has likely heard of or implemented a “sales funnel” during their career. It’s a tried-and-true method that defines the steps from prospective account identification to the delivery of an opening order. There are tools available to automate this process, but … [Read more...]

How technology has changed the life of the field sales representative

Musical instrument and pro audio road reps have the world at their fingertips today

One sunny morning in 1987, I drove north on Route 15 from Frederick, Maryland, to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. I had recently taken on the Mid-Atlantic Region for Ensoniq, an up-and-coming manufacturer of synthesizers and sampling keyboards. My wife and I had pulled up stakes and … [Read more...]

Reciprocity – the key to a successful vendor-dealer relationship

Mutual respect, empathy and understanding are at the foundation of great business

  When examining “how things work” in the musical instrument and professional audio trade, the working relationship between vendors and dealers is top of mind. This is a critical component within the supply chain, involving both people and policy. The shared goal is to create … [Read more...]

Key Account Management Basics for Musical Instrument and Pro Audio Brands

Multitouch, team-based management brings the best results with mega-accounts

As a musical instrument or pro audio vendor, chances are a large amount of your revenue is derived from a handful of key accounts. The consolidation of retail channels over the past two decades further amplified this concentration of business activity, making it doubly important to have a … [Read more...]

Managing Sales Representatives in the Musical Instrument and Pro Audio Industry

Getting the best possible results from your field representatives

Manufacturers and distributors in the musical instrument and professional audio verticals typically choose between maintaining a directly employed, “captive” sales force or farming out field sales work to independent rep firms. In many cases, larger companies chose the former, expecting more focus … [Read more...]