Being on the vendor side of the consumer electronics industry for nearly 30 years, I have participated in thousands of negotiations with retailers and have come away with five key points that have helped to cultivate great relationships based on mutual goals and respect. These are not the only points to consider and they are not in a particular order; they are merely offered up based on what I believe has consistently generated the most fruitful retailer relationships from the standpoint of the vendor. I strongly believe that better retailer/vendor relationships begin with the mutual understanding that the retailer is in control of the relationship based upon choice of vendor. That choice is made regularly by the retailer which creates a responsibility of the retailer to make that choice based a proper assessment of the vendor.  Rather than bore you with a sterile set of considerations, let’s do a quick role-play. Today, I’m your vendor and we are across the table from each other negotiating our business for 2014.  My goal is to prove to you that I’m a better vendor than the others. Here are five discussion areas I expect you to bring up in today’s meeting: 1. Set…

  “Alternately you could pay a certified installer to do it for you. These days, installation is often cheap and sometimes free.” As if you don’t have enough trouble remembering to create for your consumer what he wants and knows, the quote above comes from yet another reasonably well respected technology source called CNET telling your consumers what to think and want. As indicated in the first sentence quote, it is clear that CNET (600,000 plus Twitter followers) does not have your best interest at heart. The article titled What should you look for when choosing a car stereo?, dated January 24, 2014 written by one Antuan Goodwin, seven pages long (in font size 10) went on to explain to readers and their friends (your consumers) about which head unit to buy depending on reader category; mechless heads, DVD, APPs, Navigation and budget car stereos. It mentioned a number of brands, all of which are available to your consumers at lots of low margin places. It also noted a number of features to look for, large color display, USB port, playback of MP3, AAC or WMA (compressed formats) and a 3.5mm jack. In all seven pages the concept of audio…

  This year Mobile Electronics magazine celebrates its 30th birthday. To mark the occasion, we present an exerpt from the upcoming February/March issue's Editor's Forum:  Thirty is that age when most of us transform from being carried by life to sticking an oar in the water and choosing a direction. The short version of this statement is that it’s when most of us decide to grow up. We go from taking in and evaluating experiences to every now and then being able to spit out some knowledge to others. Then come the questions about who we want to be, where our career is taking us, and if the relationship we’re in (if any) is going down the road to something valuable and long term. You think magazines go through the same thing when they turn 30? Let’s see. Installation News was born in 1984 as a newsletter to so-called shade-tree installers to give them information on working with alarms on the latest vehicles. Relays played a prominent role, and the first copies were filled with wiring diagrams on using the five-pronged miracle boxes to interface with locks, lights and door triggers. As it grew, Bobit Publishing broadened its coverage to…

In December we talked about how specialty retailers might strategically compete with Amazon. It strikes me that it might make sense to analyze how Amazon has embedded itself in the mind of most consumers, including yours. INFORMATION. One of the things that specialty retailers claim to use as a defense against Amazon (any competitor for that matter) is knowledge. In our business, the strongest claim of course is install capability and skills. “We know how to properly educate a consumer” is perhaps the second strongest tool claimed by the specialty retailer. Let us focus on this idea. Specialty retailers know many of the intricate details that make a back up camera, audio system, Bluetooth, smart phone integration, etc… work properly. Often specialty retailers use this information to differentiate themselves from such on-line competition as Amazon. For sure, this is a great strength for specialty retailers and should be used often and with great conviction. That said; take this small “mother-in-law” survey with a few of your family members, friends, customers or just plain strangers. Ask the following questions in this order… Do you buy from Amazon?                  If yes, proceed… Do you trust Amazon?                          If yes, proceed… Do you find…