Real World Retail: SoundsGood Auto

WORDS BY ROSA SOPHIA

After working for other car stereo shops over the years, Keith McCumber decided he wanted to open his own store. He’d noticed, he said, that every business he worked for eventually closed. “They were in the race to zero,” he said, “and they won!” McCumber’s first location made up 1,500 square feet, and was born with the intention of creating a better solution for clients.

“In my first year, I brought in $154,000. I found my customers, sold them products and services, picked up the products and installed them,” he said. “There were some long days, but I persevered.”

After a while, he started looking for his first employee. “I found Mike Maltais to help sell and install the aftermarket accessories with me. We found more installers and salespeople to help grow [the business]. We became a force to be reckoned with.”

Today, SoundsGood Auto brings in about $2 million per year with two locations. The business has fourteen employees, and McCumber hopes to add three more in the coming year. In the future, he intends to double the team and add another facility.

Personal Development and Professional Training Encourages Growth

The business has grown a lot, but it stagnated for about five or six years. It was KnowledgeFest that really helped to spur the most growth, McCumber said, adding that the training gained at the event encouraged the shop to grow by “leaps and bounds.”

“We went from 600 grand a year to around two million,” he said. “Training makes that much more of a difference. Once I started my desire to learn more, it just grew into this thing where I can’t get enough training. I want to be the best at whatever I do.”

The path toward increased abundance was also a deeply personal one, he said.

“When I found Landmark Worldwide and Personal Success Institute [PSI], I was at a point in my life where I was really pushy and bossy. People left because of it. I lost two-thirds of my staff because of my bad attitude,” he admitted. “After taking those classes and learning what I could be, it changed everything. Some of the people who quit actually came back.”

The personal development training system involves self-improvement workshops, and he added, “it’s about the people we can affect in a positive way.

What I took out of each incident [in my past] was, ‘this is how I am going to treat these things in the future.’ When someone bullied me as a child, I said, ‘that’s never going to happen again,’ so I became a bully. I took control and created a new future, which I understand now is not very effective.” Coming to terms with this, he added, “gave me the opportunity to change it because I didn’t see it before.” Personal development training showed him it was time to change, he said.

Personal growth, coupled with the training available at KnowledgeFest, continues to impact SoundsGood for the better. The average staff tenure at the shop is about five years, and the business provides employees with extended health and dental insurance as well. Knowledge- Fest is part of the package.

“We go to Dallas. Everyone goes, as long as they’re able to. I’ll pay for them to be there,” McCumber said. “We have What’s App—a group chat we all look at—so I’ll send information that way and get it going so people know what’s up for the weekend. We have a Google Calender everyone uses, and our morning meetings and monthly meetings reflect the information.”

After returning from any training event, everyone shares what they learned. “Our goal is to allow everyone to work with great pride. If they want to learn something that will take their abilities to new levels, we train on that.”

McCumber said the staff trains in categories such as sales, customer service, management, leadership, installation, fabrication and life skills. “We want people to grow in all aspects of life.”

Store owner Keith McCumber sees a direct link between the business’s increased revenue and the training sessions the team attends month to month.

On-Site Classroom Provides Learning Opportunities

To help bring education home, Sounds- Good even has its own classroom. “We are the only car stereo shop in Canada— that I’m aware of—that has its own classroom,” McCumber said. “We have it because we train so much that it makes sense to [have] the space.”

Outside instructors are invited in, and McCumber is also able to use the space to mentor some people. “I have them come out from different areas of Canada to sit in on our trainings,” he said.

The most recent training is within the month of May. “I have someone coming from Ontario, and probably Alberta.” The training classroom is used several times a month, depending on the focus of the class.

The shop recently signed a contract with Kingpin University to act as the sole trainer for one year. “Jason Kranitz teaches from a place of integrity,” McCumber said, adding that Kranitz will train the staff on numerous topics.

Other visiting trainers have included Del Ellis, Marcel Newell, Andy Wehmeyer, Gary Biggs, Fred Lynch, David MacKinnon and many others, including manufacturer trainers.

“We are also IASCA SQ judges, as I am the Western Canadian IASCA Director,” McCumber added. “We have made it to many KnowledgeFest shows as well as PNWCEE, B&B Expo and any show that works for our schedule. We have even closed the stores down to get trained.”

Kingpin University will be training the team on a weekly video conference, and will show up four times per year for a week to provide intense training. “This week, we are discussing how to effectively demonstrate how products work for the consumer when they come to pick up their vehicle,” McCumber said.

The shop’s fabrication facilities are fully loaded, with router tables, table saw, sanding devices, drill press, metal brake, welder, chop saw and full dust collection systems. SoundsGood will soon be acquiring an industrial sewing machine and a laser.

When sales and customer service trainers come to SoundsGood, all employees participate so everyone is on the same page when it comes to interacting with clients. Pictured is salesman Ruben Rivera-Arauz.

Three Core Values Support a Customer-Focused Business Model

Continued training has informed everything the business does. SoundsGood finalized their policies and procedures only recently—in the past year, McCumber said, adding, “Our standard greeting is, ‘Thank you for choosing SoundsGood!’ We got this from Del Ellis.”

The business is supported by three core values: “Reputation, transparency and family,” he said. “When these values correspond to our customers’ needs, then things work out. If they don’t, then we explain why and try to come to a resolution. If that doesn’t work, then we refer them to somewhere that can fulfill their needs. We are able to do many great things, but they must work within our values.”

The appearance of the shop is also kept neat and tidy to reflect the business’s values. “We all help out to keep our facilities efficient and effective, either at the beginning or at the end of each day.”

Once again reflecting back to their training, McCumber stated that his team follows the Del Ellis sales system: “Greet, qualify, create value, answer objections and close.”

Utilizing Jason Kranitz’s system of sales has also increased sales effectiveness, he added. To help ensure clients are getting the best value for their needs, all sales staff are salaried.

“We do this to ensure that the only reason for [salespeople] to offer certain items to consumers is for the customer’s best interest, not the employee. We don’t offer spiffs or kickbacks to our staff,” McCumber said. “We want our clients to be certain they’re getting the best value for their needs, not what’s in the best interest of the salespeople.”

Three sales a year help draw new clients and repeat customers: Black Friday, Boxing Day and finally, the Spring Clean sale, which allows the shop to clear out older stock to make way for new products.

As part of their responsibilities, salespeople need to ensure SoundsGood “is a place where they would proudly bring their loved ones,” McCumber said. “This keeps things really simple. Make it clean and inviting—with no missing parts.”

Additionally, the team came together to create a cohesiveness that has firmed up the company’s foundation. “We have whiteboards in our training classroom,” he added, noting that they had a clear discussion to help decide what meant most to them as a team.

“We talked about it and boiled it down to our three core values,” he said. “We came to the conclusion that reputation is the most important thing that any company can ever have. We also want to have healthy family values. When you’re sick, stay home. If your wife or parents are sick, go take care of them. Just communicate that you can’t be in that day. It keeps it simple, focused, clear, concise and loving. Most of us at SoundsGood have taken these courses to

see what was missing for our personal happiness. We each found something different to work on as a way to transform into the people we’re destined to be.”

Follow-Up Calls with Clients Help Maintain Great Relationships

SoundsGood Auto has spent up to five percent of its income on marketing, according to McCumber. “Since finding Modern Media Geeks, we have brought that down to two percent.”

Google is the business’s most powerful ally, he added. “I ask every person I meet at SoundsGood this question: How did you know we were here? Facebook, Instagram and local forums are where we spend the rest of our funds.” However, eighty to 95 percent of customers find the business via Google.

One of the most effective tools, though, are personalized phone calls. “Kingpin University has changed our whole philosophy on this,” McCumber said, thinking back to training. “We do follow-up calls. Ten days after they had the car in, we call them back and ask how things are going. If there’s an issue, we book them back in. If not, we thank them for their time and that’s it.”

One year after the customer’s visit, SoundsGood calls them again to wish them a happy anniversary. “We ask if they have any questions or issues. We do that again at the two-year mark and the three-year mark,” he said. “I find it helps maintain a great relationship whether they come back in or not. The goal is to maintain the relationship [not increase sales]. The outcome is that people are always happy to come back.”

The highest amount is spent in December, generally, when it comes to marketing. McCumber said this is around 10 thousand.

In the springtime, audio equipment sells the most. Once the sale is completed, he said, “if a customer has a defective product, we will install a new one for the entire manufacturer’s warranty period.

No one else has this policy in Canada. This was created from my experience as a consumer. I thought that if they could offer a warranty for a period, it should be completely covered for that whole period, not just 30 days. When someone comes in with a broken product, we send that out for service and give them a brand new one. Then we put the fixed product back on the shelf, and when Spring Clean comes around, we sell that fixed product cheap.”

Training Has Helped Shape Policy Decisions and Future Goals

Because each day is carefully structured, McCumber said, less mistakes are made. The shop’s policies and procedures in the installation bay help to maintain this.

“Our installation managers have the most skill,” he said. “Steve Sheppe has been trained by Bryan Schmitt and Jason Kranitz, so he is at the top of his game for fabrication. Steve has also won the Top 50 Installer Award in the past. Jesse Gillespie and Geoff Neale are incessant about their wiring craftsmanship and really excel at vehicle security, remote starters and inventing new ways to make our customers dreams come true. The rest of our installers are training to be the best in their class. Everyone is trained on how to use an oscilloscope, RTA, phase tester and DSPs.”

With careful check-in and check-out policies, the team ensures nothing is missed. “Any notes or issues are relayed to the customer,” McCumber said. “If the installer runs into problems, he asks for help after five minutes. If the installer breaks something, he takes it to the salesperson immediately so that we can find a solution for the customer. Transparency is critical at SoundsGood. It affects our reputation and our ability to work as a team.”

When things get busy, installers are also trained to help out up front. All staff members attend the sales trainings held at SoundsGood. “The same goes for customer service training,” he added, “so everyone gets an understanding of how we want to treat customers.”

McCumber views the development of the business as a continued byproduct of nurturing leadership within the company. “The more I lead people into positions of increased responsibility, the more they can lead others into new positions—creating companywide growth,” he added.