Home Grown

JC Audio ready for customers

JC Audio operates from the very same building in which owner Jeff Cantrell first began his career. Today, it is a robust business that is also giving back to the industry by hosting training sessions at its location.

JC Audio is a small team now, but their policies & procedures for all staff members all them room to grow.

Opening in November of 2001, it seemed that JC Audio was meant to be. Owner Jeff Cantrell knew almost from the beginning what he wanted, though prior to his involvement in the industry, he had a few other short-lived jobs. As a kid, Cantrell worked for his uncles’ asphalt business, laying asphalt and sealing parking lots. “It was from my uncles that I learned the importance of having a skill, and that I’d always be able to support myself if that was the case,” he said. For several months, he even learned and taught line dancing and built sets at a dance studio. At 16, he got into 12-volt and never looked back. “I grew up in a family of entrepreneurial parents, brothers and uncles who taught me the value of hard work,” Cantrell said. “Mobile electronics is simply the vehicle to which I’ve applied these principles, in order to build a career.”

In high school, Cantrell studied electrical theory. He recalled his high school electronics teacher, Mr. Johnston, “who never settled for anything less than a perfect job.” Cantrell went on to receive an Associate’s Degree in Business Management in 1999. Now, he is an MECP Master Technician and stated that he even had the opportunity to contribute to part of the latest MECP Mobile Product Specialist study guide. With a focus on learning and sharing knowledge, Cantrell continues to attend KnowledgeFest and has served as an instructor on several occasions.

“I started out working at a shop called New Wave Electronics in 1994 as an installer,” Cantrell said. Much, much later, when it became clear that JC Audio needed a new location, the location chosen turned out to be the very same building that was once New Wave Electronics, Cantrell added—right where he’d gotten his start in the industry.

A Small Team With Mighty Goals The JC Audio team consists of Cantrell, who also serves as lead fabricator, his wife Jamie who handles the books and is also an installation tech, lead technician Alex Mendez and salesperson Matt Conley. Though the staff size is small, (JC Audio is currently looking for one more salesperson and another technician), Cantrell employed his business acumen to put scalable policies in place. The sales and installation staff are required to earn MECP (Mobile Electronics Certified Professional) certification within 60 days of being hired. Technicians must have at least

JC Audio's 1,500 square-foot showroom, 1,500 square-foot bay, 1,000 square-foot training/break room & 500 square-foot fabrication shop.

basic level certification and salespeople must have the mobile product specialist certification. The company pays for a passed exam and covers the cost of the study guides. “We believe strongly in the MECP material and how it represents an individual’s willingness to better his or herself through increased industry knowledge and pride in their career,” Cantrell explained.

Team members can earn more as they become more productive. “The more productive they are, the higher percentage they get,” Cantrell said. “I’ve always thought it was extremely counterproductive to ‘take away’ from someone as they make more money for the company. I see this in other industries and it makes no sense to me for a long-term strategy. I believe that the more successful someone becomes, the larger portion of their product they deserve to keep.”

Full-time employees receive health insurance, including dental and vision, and vacation time. The company also makes matching contributions to individual retirement plans. Show Exposure Markets Offroad, Radar Expertise Each year, JC Audio exhibits at the Motor Mania Car Show in Jackson, which helps the business increase its visibility in the community. The show is organized by one of the local radio stations and draws several thousand people to the local fairgrounds. The event, however, is invitation only and showcases the best cars in our region in a climate-controlled building, which is great in the event of rain. “This past show, we displayed two side-by-sides and a new Corvette that we’d done an upgrade on,” Cantrell said. “We showcased audio systems on a Honda Pioneer and a Can-am Maverick X3, as well as a full JL Audio and Hertz audio system and K40 Integrated Radar system in a 2016 Corvette.” Cantrell observed that the UTV (sideby-side) market has continued to gain momentum. “We thought it was important to demonstrate that we are the go-to place for great sound and lighting in the category,” he said.

During the KnowledgeFest trade show and education conference in Dallas this past August, the shop formed a partnership with PROBOX to sell roof-mount UTV speaker enclosures. “We’ve done very well with the category and I think this will be a significant part of our business going forward,” Cantrell added. Also at shows, JC Audio has endeavored to bring awareness to the radar and laser detection category by showcasing vehicles with custom-installed K40 systems. Cantrell stated the category can be overlooked by some shops as a viable source of income, but it is very profitable. “It’s not a product that can easily

JC Audio proudly displays their accomplishments

The JC Audio team

Sony and K40 “Two companies stand out from the rest. Sony and K40 stand behind and support the specialty retailer like almost no other companies do. “They have protected margins, great product, and a team of people who take pride in what they do. They take responsibility when there’s an issue and are proactive about making sure we feel appreciated as their customers. “I always love getting little thank you cards in the mail from Justin at K40. Sony’s Kris Bulla and I have been friends for a long time, and he’s always been willing to help out with events, product planning, MECP training and general business advice. “If all companies in our industry treated their business the way these two do, we’d be in a much stronger position in the marketplace as a whole.” be done by DIYers,” he pointed out.

Fabrication Areas Receive Upgrades to Wow Potential Clients JC Audio is currently remodeling its fabrication areas. “We installed an epoxy floor, new insulated roof, new exterior wall, and new counters with Formica MicroDot laminate,” Cantrell said. “A cyclone dust collection system was integrated with the four inverted 3.25hp Porter Cable routers that each have their own Incra Dust Cabinet for minimal dust in the air.” The table saw now has dust collection underneath it, Cantrell added, as well as an overhead arm system that serves as dust collection, and a blade guard. “We have one large exhaust fan that pulls fine dust out of the room, as well as an additional overhead in-room air filtration unit to get anything that’s left,” he added. “Two floor sweeps were installed and connected to the collector so that dust doesn’t have to be picked up and put in a trash can. You simply sweep the floor up to one of the floor sweeps and the collector sucks it all up.”

Training is ongoing at JC Audio

JC Audio's Alex Mendez is the lead tech with over 25 years of experience

New storage has been installed, as well as a mobile workstation that doubles as large tool storage in cabinets underneath. Workstations can now easily be moved, thanks to casters. “We also designed it with a 42-inchhigh work surface so that a technician has a more comfortable position when assembling an enclosure or building a custom panel. “We have a comprehensive set of templates from Kingpin University, Mobile Solutions and Evol, so we always have the right shape or pattern to create something cool for our clients and do it efficiently,” Cantrell said. Cantrell added that the ceilings, walls and countertops are all bright white and the floor is a light shade of gray to increase visibility for working and to give a nice clean look. “We’ve invested north of $20,000 in the fab shop remodel so far and still have a few small things to finish up. We use it as a selling tool with potential clients to demonstrate our expertise and attention to detail, by showing them how well kept and equipped it is.” The separate metal fabrication room is getting improvements as well, including a custom vent hood that the technician will be able to lower above the welding table. “It will have built-in lights and an exhaust fan to pull any welding smoke or odors out of the building,” Cantrell said. After the fabrication areas, the entire store is getting a facelift, and Cantrell said the showroom remodel is scheduled for February of 2019, followed by a grand re-opening / customer appreciation event. “The shop might retain one or two of its existing displays, but many new displays will be added,” he said. “These will include radar, lighting, truck accessories, motorcycle audio, sound dampening and new remote start displays, among other things. We will also have a display dedicated to the financing and leasing options that we offer.”

Television Commercials and Signage Most Effective Marketing for JC Audio Top-of-mind awareness is the focus, according to Cantrell, who stated that TV commercials and signs are intended to get people talking about the shop’s brand—so they’ll think of JC Audio first. The business utilizes radio, television, Facebook, signage, surveys and email marketing. “Our strategy is to maintain a consistent schedule each month with each outlet,” Cantrell said. “We’ve been advertising for 17 years and have never missed a month.” Cantrell added that the business is able to get good deals with local media outlets because JC Audio is a repeat customer. “Facebook does a decent job of making contact with potential clients as well and it seems to be more of a source to keep clients informed of what services we have to offer,” he said. “We showcase products, installs, store news, and funny stuff on our feed. We have a contract with Jon Dewar from Modern Media Geeks to handle our Facebook marketing and have for the last two years. We’ve found that this was an area that was neglected when we did it ourselves, and he’s done a great job of keep our store visible on Facebook. Radio is still a viable marketing media for us as well, and we see a fairly good response to whatever the current commercials are about.” Clients receive email surveys after a sale, so JC Audio can gauge how happy they are with their experiences. The customer is able to send in additional feedback. “This is done automatically through third-party software and the results are emailed directly to me,” Cantrell said. “Our email campaigns are done through Angie Dirk from Dirk Marketing. This is an area that we’ve been working on getting better at for a long time.” Currently, the business has a database of about 20,000 clients and 4,300 email address. It stays booked several days to weeks out for most of the year, he added, including the weeks prior to Christmas.

Supporting the Industry Through Training

When it became clear that there were no regional training courses easily

JC Audio Training Area

JC Audio's Jamie Cantrell handles booking-keeping and she is also an installation technician.

Jamie Cantrell not only handles daily bookkeeping and store maintenance, but she is also an installation technician, handling interlock device installs. She has a Masters Degree in Administration.

Jamie at the helm

JC Audio's fabrication shop

JC Audio's showroom

accessed from his location, Cantrell decided to create his own. The Back- 2Basics training has attracted a lot of attention, and future courses are in the works. “We’ve hosted a fabrication training with Kingpin’s Jason Kranitz, the year before last, and then our Basic Integration Training with Ray West this June,” Cantrell said.

Back2Basics came about because Cantrell has seen a lot of professionals struggle when it comes to keeping up with the constant changes in the industry. “Technicians have to remember the last 20 to 30 years of skills and cars, and then learn new cars and new techniques every year on top of that, so it’s a challenge to say the least,” he explained. “Keeping your basic foundational skills sharp is very important if you plan to build your knowledge.” This is exactly what Cantrell aims to do with the Back2Basics Training courses. “You can’t build a skyscraper on a foundation built for a small house. Our foundations as technicians require continual maintenance and upkeep,” he said.

Back2Basics training course with both hands-on and classroom instruction

Matt Conley manages the sales department as well as handling graphic design

As the owner, Jeff Cantrell handles HR and marketing.

The inspiration for the training courses came in part from one of JC Audio’s key industry reps, Brian Cargile. Cantrell said Cargile encouraged him for months about creating a course to help industry professionals continue to hone their skills. The course would help them use their tools to properly diagnose signals and identify various details about the OEM systems in new cars, Cantrell said.

For now, Cantrell sees himself more as a facilitator than an educator. “I’m pretty good with putting the right students with the right trainers and getting the right manufacturers to support it,” he said. “My goal is to help people progress in their skills, so that together, we may all continue working to keep a strong foundation so those who come after us can build their careers on it.” Besides offering trainings, JC Audio supports employees in their endeavors to attend other educational trainings. “Techs get a yearly training budget that can be used for educational trainings and we also attend various regional manufacturers trainings throughout the year,” Cantrell said. “Moving forward, we plan to bring trainers in-house several times each year in order to have more focused, one on one sessions for our staff.”

Points for Style

JC Audio was named Retailer of the Year by Mobile Electronics magazine in 2009, and received the publication’s Top 50 Retailers award several times. This year, the business was named among the Top 12 Retailers. For several years, Cantrell has been giving “JC Audio Points” to others within the industry. The small round token has become quite popular. “I get hit up for them at every industry event and it’s become quite the fun little game,” Cantrell said, adding, “There may be very exciting things to come in the future for the JC Audio Points holders.”

For other store owners, Cantrell advised to become an expert at finances. “Reinvest everything you can back into your business as quickly as you can,” he said. “This will help you become ‘recession proof’ and will prevent you from stressing yourself out when you hit a slow patch.” He also stressed the importance of consistency, honesty and selflessness. “Always do what’s best for your business, not for yourself,” Cantrell said. “Don’t learn by making mistakes—learn from other people’s mistakes! And lastly, if someone else can accomplish something, so can you.”