“I’m going to be making as much of a commitment to the brick-and-mortar [dealers] as we can,” says Bryston’s James Tanner.

In the words of Bob Dylan, “The times, they are a-changin’.” It’s a cliché, but sometimes clichés are clichés because they’re true.

In Re-Tales and in Industry Update, I’ve written about some of the ways the pandemic has accelerated changes in the hi-fi business. Government-mandated safety measures, the absence of audio shows, and a marketplace that was already changing have combined to force companies to get creative about how they reach customers, both to sell products and to provide service.

A few established dealers have closed or are preparing to. Some can no longer afford inventory. Some have just retired. Others, though, report that 2020 was an extraordinarily good year.

Last month, I wrote that manufacturers—especially those who have always sold through traditional brick’n’mortar dealer networks—are under pressure to better leverage the internet. That’s easy to understand at a time when any physical contact with customers is risky.

Let’s face it: Online sales pose a threat to dealers. But, just as dealers need manufacturers, manufacturers need dealers, at least until their online sales become well-established. Selling online need not mean dissolving the dealer network or disenfranchising dealers in other ways.

Hybrid models are taking shape across the industry. They combine some of the advantages of online sales—efficiencies, ease of access to information, ease of ordering—with the personalized service and “touch” of a traditional dealer.

When I spoke with Magnepan’s Wendell Diller and Bryston’s James Tanner for last month’s Re-Tales, Tanner was vice president of Bryston. He is now Bryston’s majority owner and CEO. Tanner bought the company in February, in partnership with Colquhoun Audio Laboratories, which is owned by Ian Colquhoun (footnote 1).

The day after the acquisition was announced, Tanner and I spoke via Skype. I learned that Bryston and Colquhoun Audio have been working together for some 40 years. Bryston will now have more direct access to Colquhuon’s factory, which already manufactures Bryston speakers, and to Colquhuon’s software development and wireless-audio expertise. That should assist with Bryston’s tentative plan to offer new, entry-level products to attract new customers. “We want to be one of the companies that can do it all,” Tanner said.

Colquhuon is the parent company of Axiom Audio, which has always sold its speakers online—and only online. That is not a direction Bryston will be taking, Tanner told me: “We’ll be the opposite.” Tanner said that Bryston is evolving its business approach to benefit everyone involved: Bryston, its customers, and its dealers. “I’m going to be making as much of a commitment to the brick-and-mortar [dealers] as we can,” Tanner said.

That commitment to dealers begins on Bryston’s website. As mentioned last month, there’s now a link to what Bryston calls a “Purchase Request” form. Bryston uses this form to collect information from potential customers—people interested enough to fill out an online form—and hand it over (with permission) to the dealer closest to the customer. The dealer then promptly contacts the customer.

“I think it reinforces exactly what we’re trying to do here,” Tanner said about the system. “It’s a relationship between the customer, the dealer, and us.” Within the first two months, more than 600 requests have come through. That’s a lot of sales prospects.

Tanner plans to add a dealer portal to their website to allow dealers to place orders directly with Bryston. This would tie in with the dealer-referral service. In addition to streamlining that process, it could reduce the dealer’s need to invest in and stock so much inventory, he explained: “In some ways, manufacturers have become what dealers used to be.”

Tanner also wants to set up a customer service hotline to give both dealers and customers more immediate support in real time. “You know, people get frustrated and then they blame the product,” Tanner said. “You can’t have people waiting for days for service.” As products become more software-driven, remote help becomes more feasible: “I think that sort of immediate response to the customer is going to be critical.”

Tanner also told me that Bryston is helping its dealers develop a more robust online presence, with greater reach. Tanner wants to bolster—and increase trust in—those relationships. “The dealer has to trust that you actually are forwarding whatever information you get,” he said, and also that they will be compensated for sales. If there’s a “Buy” button on the dealer’s site, the dealer could handle the transaction, and Bryston could handle the shipping and indicate that dealer as the customer’s service resource.

Customers could benefit from such a system, too, with improved access to product information and better service from both the dealer—the primary resource—and the manufacturer.

Even with the increased emphasis on dealerships, Tanner expects the number of dealerships to shrink: “I see factory [sales] people becoming more the norm, given their knowledge base.” The announcement about the Bryston acquisition included a commitment to hire more salespeople.

Dealerships, too, are evolving. Some dealers I spoke with recently told me they’re carrying fewer lines—precisely so that their staff can develop more expertise about the products they do carry.

Brick’n’mortar audio stores may become fewer and farther between, but there will still be people who want to go into a store and listen. A premium purchase from a well-informed expert is worth a drive of an hour or two.

Footnote 1: See Jim Austin’s piece in the April 2021 issue’s Industry Update (p.15) for more on the acquisition.

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