Chattanooga, TN Latest e-commerce site business model sounds good A new website dedicated to the users and fans of professional audio products is scheduled to launch today. WirelessMicrophones.com does more than offer the latest brands in pro audio technology. Their unique business model and user support sets them apart from a highly-competitive and price-sensitive market. A Strange Birth In the summer of 2005, an unlikely band of web and marketing professionals stumbled across an aging collection of web addresses. In this collection was a treasure-trove of URLs that had been dormant since their initial purchase in 1997. Their challenge was to build an upside-down business model. Starting with only a URL, they would spend the next 12 months building a company on the ideals of what a customer would expect from this address and what their optimum experience might be. Where most companies would design a web presence to match their company profile, the WirelessMicrophones.com staff built their business around the URL. The Business Model Looking at the big players in professional audio e-commerce, it’s easy to see that price-leadership is key to any high-volume operation. However, all of the retail sellers are confined to an industry standard, called Minimum Advertised Pricing (MAP). MAP is the lowest price that a reseller can advertise a particular item. Etailers are contractually obligated to sell at or above these prices, which levels the playing field for big and small chains alike. Adversely, potential customers find hundreds of commerce sites with exactly the same price and no additional distinguishable value to choose from. Since WirelessMicrophones.com would also be constrained to MAP policies, they had to build their company based on elements beyond just price-leadership. Some of the top names in sound retail suffer complete sales-force turnover in as little as 58 days. This practice means that a potential customer is less likely to learn about a particular pro audio product by conversing with a retail store employee. In today’s environment, both consumer and professional audio customers are increasingly self-educating through the use of online storefronts, user groups and forums. It was these trends that motivated the WirelessMicrophones.com staff to create an e-commerce solution that not only educates their clientele, but empowers them to make music more effectively. WirelessMicrophones.com beefed up their educational presence by hiring their first Executive Sales Engineer, Tim Waters. This was a bold move considering that Waters would be leading a first-rate sales staff, but had never sold a piece of audio equipment. In fact, Waters was discovered as a well-decorated Independent Recording Engineer on the Nashville recording circuit. Some of his clients included labels like MCA, RCA, Warner Brothers, Sony, Sparrow, BMG, and a myriad of Turner Networks spots on CNN Headline News and the Atlanta Braves. In a market where sales reps are normally taught to talk like sound engineers, WirelessMicrophones.com actually hired professional sound engineers and taught them how to sell. “All of our target customers have one goal in common, “ claims WirelessMicrophones.com Marketing Director, Micah Boaz. “That goal is to have the best sound possible for their dollar. And, there’s no better way to learn those tricks than from a seasoned and well-respected recording engineer like Tim (Waters). His real-world experience is a distinct value to our customers and a competitive advantage for our company.” When scouring through the WM website, the customer-education quest is easy to discern with their targeted user forums for customers to discuss product applications, a complete knowledge base that includes all of the manufacturers’ product manuals, and a customer-driven ranking system for product reviews. Unlike most e-commerce sites, product rankings are based on the relevance to the actual customers that use them. WirelessMicrophones.com carries a complete line of pro audio products including brands like Mackie, Alesis, Tascam, and Shure. Find them online at www.WirelessMicrophones.com.
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