Loud and Proud

Based in Oklahoma City, DD Audio’s entire staff is at its headquarters where its flagship subs are still hand-built. The sales and support team from left to right: Douglas Dustmann, Jack Smith, Aaron Trimble, Lewis Jackson, Kevin Holden, Seban Helms, Kevin Doyle and Shane Chandler.

WORDS BY JAMIE SORCHER

With a strong SPL heritage, brick-and-mortar business model, unwavering respect for its dealers and solid Midwest values, DD Audio delivers not just the goods, but its good nature to all.

Deep in the heart of America, based in Oklahoma City—a place nicknamed the Big Friendly—is where DD Audio has made its home. The company’s products, including marine, mobile, home, professional and industrial markets, as well as OEM, are American-designed and manufactured.

“We are very well known for our big subwoofers,” said sales and service manager Kevin Doyle, who has been with the company for nine years and is one of its 35 employees. “Our heritage is competition.”

Always Available to Assist Dealers, Above and Beyond

Today, DD Audio not only continues to carry that torch, but also maintains the incredibly strong rapport it has built with its dealer base. Part of that foundation comes from DD Audio’s sales team that is armed with solid product knowledge, and equally important, availability above and beyond what might be expected.

“We’re different from a lot of companies in that we don’t work through any outside distribution or rep firms,” Doyle said. “We have four salespeople domestically and every one of them has a pretty

in-depth knowledge of the products, how they work and the technical issues. Our sales team can talk most of our dealers through just about any situation they might have. Whatever the question might be, nine times out of 10 it is going to be the rep who should be called— and in today’s climate, the reps are very accessible. They have to be. Our reps are constantly monitoring Facebook, their personal phones, work email and office phone.”

For the infrequent situations where there is a need for back-up, there are two service techs and a manager who handles administrative things like service

tickets. He also works in tandem with the techs when there are dealer questions on enclosure design or if there is a need to troubleshoot a tricky install. This group addresses any issue that may arise that the dealer can’t seem to figure out.

Considering that each of DD Audio’s customers may have a preferred way of interacting and getting information and support, the sales team has to be on its toes on many fronts. “There are plenty of times when they are taking calls at 10 p.m.,” Doyle said. “We are centrally located in Oklahoma, but we are servicing the whole country and our domestic reps also handle Guam and Puerto Rico. It is their job to take care of the customer so they have to be available to those customers.”

Kevin Doyle heads up sales, service and support for DD Audio. In car audio and getting a real paycheck since 1998, he has been with the company for nine years.

DD Audio Dealer Lounge andOther Avenues of Support

Social media has also changed how dealers seek out information, and Facebook has been a quick go-to for many installers. The DD Audio Dealer Lounge, Doyle said, was started four years ago and is a closed group. It is only for authorized dealers and offers a forum for DD

Audio dealers to share information like “Hey, have you ever had this issue?” or “I’m doing this kind of install; has anyone ever had this problem?”

“It is a reliable space where they can voice their concerns in a network of DD Audio dealers and see if they can get helpful answers there,” Doyle said. “The page is moderated by the entire sales team. Both the international and domestic sales teams are involved in moderating because Facebook is an international forum. We have people everywhere from Finland to Mexico on there so everyone around the world is interacting.”

Another resource for support is the company’s YouTube channel. “So many people turn to YouTube for how-to videos on everything from car audio to plumbing,” Doyle said. “We are in the process of spinning out more and more videos. We have done them in the past, but it hasn’t been a main focus.” That will change this year and going forward, Doyle added, as YouTube will be given a higher priority.

The company’s website is also a solid place for information and support, but is not as vital a resource as other avenues, according to Doyle. “We don’t think it is as vital a resource for us because we deal solely with brick-and-mortar shops,” he said. “We don’t sell online to any customers. We get very few end-users who contact us. If we did have a lot of end-users then, yes, the website would be a better place to turn because it can be more generic and there is really no backand-forth. There is no real feedback you can get. We have not put much energy into it.”

There are basic FAQs available, he said. “But it is the availability of the sales reps and the dealer lounge that are the two main tools for support, and those seem to be an efficient means of communicating with the dealers,” Doyle explained. “Even if it is an issue that the rep can’t handle himself, our technicians are also on the dealer lounge and they are also available via the reps. A rep may reach out to the tech and say, ‘I’ve got someone working on a box,’ or ‘We’re getting a weird noise,’ and between the two of them they can resolve the issue for the dealer.”

The DD Audio website, regardless, is well-done and easy to navigate. There is a product support section that offers detailed information on Box Design, Box Plans, Amplifier Set Up and Product FAQs (Can I run my amplifier at a lower

Taking part in industry shows and getting face-time with dealers is a must for DD Audio, shown here in its booth at one of the three KnowledgeFest events that the company attends each year.

impedance than what the specs say? What should I tune my box ports to?) There is also helpful information on the company’s service policy, how to return a product and how to register a product. On the less serious side, the site also features a blog, The DDownlow which has features like dealer spotlights, product spotlights, news, tech talk and random articles—such as “Reasons Why A Sound Upgrade is The Perfect Gift Idea for Mom!”

Most importantly, on the Support tab, there is a call to action that simply says, “We’re Here To Help.” There is an email contact form and a reminder to call for assistance if a reply isn’t received within 48 hours.

End-users can always be assisted during business hours, but Doyle wants to make sure the dealers are looped back in with any issues—large or small. “We are going to direct those end-users back to the dealer,” he said. “We are very dealer-focused. We don’t want one of our customers trying to bypass the dealer and then coming to us once they’ve started working on an install.

It’s important that the dealer is involved in the install. “When an enduser calls us, he might tell us that he just got something installed at a certain shop. We will definitely speak with him and address the issue, but then we will call the dealer and let them know we just got off the phone with one of their customers,” Doyle explained. “We bring them up to speed so they can reach out to follow up. Dealers appreciate that, but also the end-users appreciate that we took the time. Still, we want to direct those end-users back to the dealer who should be their local expert and should be the most timely and accessible resource for solving any issues.”

DD Audio prides itself on being an American design and manufacturing company. Caleb Marx is seen here doing a hand-build. The company has a long heritage in competition audio and is well-known for its big subwoofers.

Face Time at Trade Shows and Events Proves Invaluable

With such a strong retailer base, trade and industry shows continue to be an important part of the mix. “We are brickand-mortar focused so the person to person interaction is still key,” Doyle said. “We are invested in KnowledgeFest. We do all three shows, Indianapolis, Long

Beach and Dallas. On each of those trips, we double dip and make it a two-week trip for the sales guys so they will go out to California for the show, but we will take a wide swing and hit as many dealers as we can.” This involves getting in touch and making appointments. Doyle said it’s important to determine whether they have any technical needs that can be addressed.

“For instance, do they need DSP training? Or we ask if they have any questions or specific needs with some of our products. Beyond that, each salesperson makes one to two trips to see their dealers per year,” Doyle added. “The salespeople set up appointments, see how the product is being merchandised and address any questions or service issues.”

Once the rep is in-store, Doyle said, dealers tend to open up. “A lot of times they won’t say anything, but then when you show up in their shop—on their home turf—they let you know what’s going and if they need anything,” he said. “Luckily for us, most of the time these visits are all about the good news. They tell us they appreciate the integrity of

The Z series is all about world subwoofer domination. It is the culmination of DD’s ultimate engineering goal—to push the limits of delivered energy by using high-performance composite technologies. The flagship line, shown here, is a custom-built DDZ4-15 ESP sub which delivers the highest motor strength, greatest voice coil cooling capability and most overbuilt design features.

the line and the territory protection. And of course, there are visits when we have issues to work through, too.” “In having such a high level of respect for our dealers, things have been very positive for us.”

Once a year, during the summer, DD Audio hosts its DD Invitational. “We hold training sessions in the morning, but in the afternoon we do goof around,” Doyle said. “We have different stereo competitions and our installer Olympics. It is pretty fun. There’s a woofer toss and things of that nature. That is the closest thing to a centrally located event. It is an open invitation to any current DD Audio dealer. We actually let the dealers each bring one super customer, if they have one, which has been extremely positive. These are guys who love the brand and who have done some outstanding builds with these dealers. They get to come and tour the headquarters and see where their woofers were built and where the stuff happens.”

At the headquarters, there is not only the production team (all of the company’s flagship subwoofers are hand-built here and all of the company’s own amplifiers are serviced here, too) but the business support staff, sales team and shipping team.

As he anticipates the year ahead, Doyle is pumped. “We have been lucky or blessed, or whatever you want to call it,” he said. “In having such a high level of respect for our dealers, things have been very positive for us. We’re growing as fast as we can to keep up. We are seeing growth every year. We are reaching out to dealers and connecting with those who might want to make a change or add a line. We are able to offer a team that is very accessible and has a high level of technical knowledge.”

While DD Audio made its name specifically in SPL car audio, the company has evolved. “We have grown from that niche of doing hand-builds, when only four or five people hand-built for whoever could buy them, into the company we are today. We definitely want to maintain that heritage of competition.”

In the next year, according to Doyle, he expects to see more and more custom work. The company is very focused on integration and customization, as well as helping its dealers to excel at these two main skills.

“Box enclosure is still a huge thing,” Doyle said. “It is a black art to some people. You can have the best speaker in the world and put it in a sorry box and it’s going to sound terrible. But you can have a mediocre speaker, put it in a good box, and you’ll get decent results.”

For this reason, DD Audio wants to help dealers with enclosure design, Doyle explained. “We do the same for them with charging systems set-up. We deal with lots of high-wattage systems. We sell quite a few big amplifiers. Many companies stop at the 1,000- or 2,000- watt range, but we have amplifiers up to 8,000 watts and we bring limited production in of 20,000-watt amplifiers, so we have to help those dealers reinforce their charging system. Next year, we will just continue to be about educating our dealers in integration and customization. Our hard work is paying off. The dealers respect it and we’re seeing that because we’re picking up more and more customers every year.”