I want to hear what you guys are doing for your cut of the pie.. Its getting harder and harder to be different and distinguish your selves from others.
Like installers, do you have a trade mark that makes your work different?
And I tell you Ebay has ruined the ****ing market period! < anyone whos feeding this cycle should really look at the long term on how its affecting everything else.

I have chineese companys e-mailing me 24-7 and I reconise some of the products that there showing me, I take it the big dogs are even having problems keeping there prices low enough thats why there farming out the work.

your thoughts?

I don't think in this day and age that there are many installers that can claim that they can do work that no one else can. That was true in the past but not now. The only way to really separate yourself from others is to provide excellent service and be as true to your word as possible. For example for custom work I always add quite few hours onto the time just to make sure that it is done by when I say it will be.

Hows about working on a demo vehicle for a company that you don't even sell. How to sabotage the competition 101. No actually the demo vehicle had a battery isolator die and the rep has known me for 16 years and I was his best choice of venue for replacement. Got the old Kenmore running again.

Very good way to do it, underpromise and overdeliver, just so you will not piss off the customer.

The problem isn't only ebay though. I know of a number of shops that have opened shop just so they can offer they're friends and themselves crazy prices on equipment. Its actually really amazing if one lasts over a year.

But in my opinion the BIGGEST threat, or competition if you want to call it that, is the import scene. These guys are the ones that are targeting the same group of people as we are. In other words they want the money out of the same people we do. Does the person buy a new wing or a sub? A body kit or high end components?

[ May 03, 2004, 09:28 PM: Message edited by: CaptDeth ]

What am I doing to influence the market?

Nothing, I swear..

Jon is right, but shares the same position that television manufacturers, Stereo manufacturers and computer manufacturers do. You are vying for a piece of a very small pie.

What is hard for installers to lay claim to is reputation for reliable work. I have a friend who brought his car to me from Ottawa many years ago for a system. It turned out fabulously. When he sold the car, I was not affiliated with a shop, so I suggested someone seemingly reputable. The installation was a total hack and is still being remedied to this day.

Because of that, my willingness to recommned an installer has become more than tight. The people I do recommend have earned my trust through countless examples of fine work, and the ability to take my badgering and abuse with pride. hahah.. When I recommend a shop or even a product, it's my reputation that's on the line.

If installers have something to aspire to it's to be considered reliable. Forget the fancy paint work and amps mounted on crooked fiberglass blobs in trunks. That's not what makes a name and a career for someone. Doing good installs, of any caliber is.

^^^

Thanks too, Bipin is a great guy who knows that it takes time and some money to get a great system.

Good point brought up about the piece of the pie. I know that in my main store we do about 90% car audio to 10% performance. In the new Nanaimo store it is the exact opposite. I knew the piece of the pie was there for the car audio side but did not realize how large the import scene was. Now one year later it has developed into a destination shop for performance and car audio. I'm sure it will be a quite respectable summer in both stores.

"piece of the pie"...damn that is exactly the term I was looking for but it was one of those nights that no matter how hard I thought about it it was always just on the tip of my togue.

Rob, that sounds like its the "sweet" shop combination at this time. Mixing the audio and performance is a great way to grab that larger "piece of the pie". With the right staff I can't see how you can go wrong. Must be fun trying to figure out what to stock though :eek:

No problem Tim.. I knew you'd take care of him.

The same reason so many shops are doing both audio and performance is the same reason that our magazine is half and half audio. And the same reason all the car audio specific magazines have changes their formats to either emulate us. No shot at them intended, I really like what most of them do.

Now, I am not suggesting that everyone should become a performance parts dealer, we have enough of those already.

Just saying, if you are going to do something, do it well.