The breadth of Paradigm products

[amirm]

I recently decided to create a page dedicated to Paradigm speakers for my company. Then I got the wise idea of putting in all the speakers that we we have on demo in there. Boy, that was a mistake. My finger broke, capturing pictures, finding and quoting reviews on them and such . Half-way through it I had to stop as it was just getting out of control. Here is what I am talking about: Paradigm Speakers.

As much as it is a pain for retailers such as us to carry such large swath of products, I would think that it is of value to consumers that they make so many speakers and so many different series. My question to you all is do you care? Is it nice to have so many choices here? They have three series and inside each, half a dozen speakers going from bookshelf to free-standing with various number of drivers. We had a heck of a time ourselves deciding what to display and stock. I think all in all, they make 200+ different items!

While I have you here how about helping me with an internal debate . As is typical of me, I can't stand doing boilerplate stuff. I could not just cut and paste the marketing brochures from Paradigm as everyone else does and instead, wanted to create that specific piece of collateral. But more so, I thought it was important that I state my personal point of view on this product at the beginning. The feedback from most of my team was to cut out most of that text and just go with the pictures of products. What do you think? Putting your customer hat on, which approach appeals to you more? Is the personal stuff too jarring? Or adds some value?

 

[Randall Smith]

I think putting in the time may make the difference with a few of your customers, but not most. The question is, will enough customers make a buying decision based on your personal description to make it worth your while? I usually go to the companies website rather than the store I purchase them from, but that is simply because most of the local stores do not have a real website. I also prefer customer reviews over marketing copy.

 

[RBFC]

You may also make a simple, clear statement that further information about any of the displayed speakers is an email or phone call away. A one or two sentence descriptor under each model would be quite sufficient.

Lee

 

[JackD201]

I think there's an added benefit to going through with the exercise. You can't man the store the whole time so it can serve as a sales aid for your sales staff. Even if the principals aren't around at least the customers get a gist of your take on the individual products. I think the personal touch de-commoditizes the products and that is always a good thing in my book. Personally, I've not met a client who wasn't interested in product and company history. It's always an easy way to get meaningful exchanges with customers started. For as long it is concise it should look good on the webpages too. As far as stocking goes, that's a lot tougher. 3 items per line and never the line flagship at most, matching centers and subs on order makes most sense to me.

Just my two centavos

 

[Vincent Kars]

There are so many brands.
A clear statement why you have chosen this one I do think helpful.

 

[amirm]

Thanks for the feedback guys. Jack is right on the money. I enjoy the business a lot but am not there all the time. So I can do the second thing I also enjoy doing which is writing about technology. The investment then is "free" as long as the value is there.

Vincent, your point is precisely the reason I wrote that intro.

Lee, that was a great suggestion on offering additional information by contacting us. I just added that.

 

[NorthStar]

Amir, because I am a Canadian, because I use several Paradigm speakers in my Home Theater setup, because I know several Paradigm audio dealers, because I am quite familiar with Paradigm; the company, their philosophy, their products, since their very first inception into this world, many many moons ago ..., I will provide my help to you, I will work with you in making life easier for you.

But on only one condition: bring back the original (regular, normal) smiley emoticon.
{I don't like the newer one; that's why I don't use it!}


Your good friend, the treeplanter,
Bob

 

[Mark Seaton]

I recently decided to create a page dedicated to Paradigm speakers for my company. Then I got the wise idea of putting in all the speakers that we we have on demo in there. Boy, that was a mistake. My finger broke, capturing pictures, finding and quoting reviews on them and such . Half-way through it I had to stop as it was just getting out of control. Here is what I am talking about: http://www.madronadigital.com/Products/Paradigm Speakers.html

As much as it is a pain for retailers such as us to carry such large swath of products, I would think that it is of value to consumers that they make so many speakers and so many different series. My question to you all is do you care? Is it nice to have so many choices here? They have three series and inside each, half a dozen speakers going from bookshelf to free-standing with various number of drivers. We had a heck of a time ourselves deciding what to display and stock. I think all in all, they make 200+ different items!

While I have you here how about helping me with an internal debate . As is typical of me, I can't stand doing boilerplate stuff. I could not just cut and paste the marketing brochures from Paradigm as everyone else does and instead, wanted to create that specific piece of collateral. But more so, I thought it was important that I state my personal point of view on this product at the beginning. The feedback from most of my team was to cut out most of that text and just go with the pictures of products. What do you think? Putting your customer hat on, which approach appeals to you more? Is the personal stuff too jarring? Or adds some value?

Hi Amir,

The battle of the inner audiophile/enthusiast vs. business management is the toughest matter for retailers. Fortunately Paradigm's lines are fairly logical progressions between models within a line. While the hardcore enthusiasts will want to hear the exact speaker before buying, most can decide on the products inbetween what you display, and part of your purpose is to parse out what you feel offers the best value and performance that you would like to see in your customer's homes. The more you can summarize why you have each speaker in the store and what/who it makes sense for, the better things will go. Customers consistently getting/reading the same answer to the question of "Why do you only have these two of the 6 models in this lineup?" goes a long way with credibility and the position of not just willing to schlep whatever they're willing to buy. Confusion or being overwhelmed fosters indecision, and the next salesperson willing to tell them that "this" is the perfect speaker for them wins.

 

[JackD201]

I fully agree with Mark.

I believe I also said that I don't like stocking the flagships within a given line and I think I should expound a bit on this. The first reason is that usually there are price overlaps between the top of one line and the bottom of the next one up. The form factor is usually radically different too. You get a multi-way floorstander vs a bookshelf one line up. This causes a lot of confusion for a new buyer and requires a whole lot of explaining on the part of the sales rep. It's also likely going to be in audiophile jargon that the buyer will likely be unfamiliar with. You'd need a sales rep that really knows his stuff AND is a very good communicator. Tough. Rare gems like that are either snapped up by other industries or move on to bigger things pretty quickly. Second is that flagship lovers typically go for flagships when they are already sold on the line and typically go for flagships for reasons on top of just sound quality. It may be the more impressive size and looks, maybe pride of ownership, maybe some other factor. In any case, they are usually willing to pay a deposit and wait the week or two for an indent order and extremely seldom will they need an actual audition to do so.

Just two more of my centavos

 

[NorthStar]

Mark's and Jack's two above posts just touched the real good points!

 

[amirm]

Indeed. Thanks guys.

It is so challenging to position products and decide the perfect one to carry. The set we have is the result of feedback from customers on what they wanted to listen and we did not have, wanting to cover multiple price points, and having enough to represent this extensive line properly.