Custom Sounds is opening up its massive car AV fit guide to members of the Mobile Electronics Specialists of America (MESA) buying/marketing group.
The guide, called MESA Fit, will be offered “shortly” to select MESA members in a beta version, and then it will rolled out to all MESA members at a nominal fee. “So cheap it’s stupid,” said President of 16-store chain Custom Sounds, Austin, TX and President of MESA, Mike Cofield.
The guide has been built over 7 years and covers data on installation of aftermarket car audio and electronics products, kits, harnesses and interfaces on every vehicle for the past 14 years, he said. Cofield has invested $350,000 in the Fit Guide which is overseen by a dedicated staff member, but he said it has saved his company millions of dollars.
Here’s what it solves. “A guy sells a $19 harness to a consumer and when he gets back in the bay he finds out you need this door chime module that’s an extra $50-$80. The salesman calls the customer who is then not very happy. You get the manager involved who ends up giving the thing away,” he said, adding that a high margin item is given away and the customer is still mad because he thinks you tried to pull a fast one on him.
“We used to have this occurrence every day. We have it less than once a year now,” he said.
The guide lists the idiosyncrasies of each vehicle when it comes to installing dozens of aftermarket options including: add a radio, add an amp, add Bluetooth to a factory radio, add HD Radio to a factory radio, add SiriusXM, add a backup camera, and more.
It offers a drop down menu so you can see notes on installation for a car that has OnStar or a premium sound system or other options and then it tells you what harness or kits or interfaces are required.
Cofield claims the fit guide “transformed our business. It’s salesmen proof. You can take a brand new salesman and instead of it taking him 3 years to become an expert in integration, he can become one in 2 days.”
The MESA buying group has over 75 members.
Source: CEoutlook
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I think I heard somewhere that…
“Knowledge IS power” (but that could be a just a rumor)…
So regardless if you have 2 sales guys, or 40, they should
all be armed, and benefit from an integrated database that
gives them instant, reliable info, to provide “turn-key” solutions to the every expanding OEM Integration challenges.
The end-game for this scenario is for the customer to have
clear understanding from the salesman that, “We got this…”
Thus, taking away any hint of uncertainty, in the mind of the customer, regarding modifying his/her new vehicle, is kinda important, and no doubt increasingly relevant. So the value of this is manifestly apparent.
Not sure that that the talent-pool of 12V retail sales guys is deep enough to permit every shop to have uber-high level of integration expertise in every store, but then again, I could be mistaken, on this…
Not!
Anything that prevents a call back to the customer is good. There nothing like calling back someone then telling them somebody messed up and it’s going to cost more money. Personally I would not make the call at all. I just took care of people and considered it a “Learning Lesson”!
I did tell them abut it though and asked if they would refer a friend to us since we took so good care of them. It work so well that I had third generation clients.
This is a very interesting article above. So what this is telling me this so-called chart will allow anyone to become an expert in car audio in 2 days? YA good luck with that. The real answer is hire someone who knows what they are doing in the first place..
This is the problem with 12V currently.. Between the internet KILLING the industry and things like this, everyone thinks the shortest route is the best route. Good luck with that.
People are experienced for reasons in this field and industry. People are just not will to pay for the to solutions by hiring some one with knowledge and the know how. If manufacturers just ban together and pull there products off the net and lines from dealers then this would not be as big of an issue.
I know I do not want my neighbors son that has been in the industry for 2 days working on my brand new car.
Would you? Just my thoughts.