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Absolute Symbiosis—Suppliers and Providers

Let's revisit some useful basic concepts for success in our industry: Understand the technical direction the industry is taking, so that your product mix meets the needs and budgets of your clients, and use your people skills to convince your team and your clients to trust you to do it your way. Learn how to do both of these, and you will be successful, as well as loved. Sounds like the place I like to be—how about you?

Symbiosis is defined as: “a relationship between two people in which each person is dependent upon and receives reinforcement from the other.” (Random House Dictionary,2nd edition). The manufacturers’ representatives and pro audio dealers who sell hardware and software to the professional audio recording facilities must understand and deal with both the business aspects of our industry and the creation of sound. They are the mandatory link between these two sectors of our business. The studio industry, both music and visual post, counts upon the pro audio dealer to be up to date with the latest product offerings, and most of all, trustworthy (which unfortunately is not always the case). The supplier is counted upon to stay ahead of the obsolescence curve to provide the audio provider (the studio) with a summary of what the studio's competitors are buying and which product is least expensive, most efficient, and effective to resolve the studio's particular problem of the moment. That makes the supplier the carrier from place to place, like honeybees with flowers, of gossip, news of innovation, and criticism about anything new going on in our industry. They are the local newswire. Use them to learn how your competition is solving the same problems that you are experiencing. Without that relationship, both the supplier and the provider will have a difficult time staying alive. One of the most important aspects of this symbiotic relationship is the understanding of the other's problems, knowing how to help each other resolve them amicably, and realizing that you need each other.

Let's talk about providing the correct hardware and software products. As previously mentioned, one of my mentors used to say: “Take care of the downside, and the upside will take care of itself.” Translation: neither the supplier nor the audio provider has to reinvent the wheel to succeed in the pro audio business—they just have to protect each other. The economist Adrian Slywotsky has a concept called “value migration,” which may give you an advantage over your competitors. His belief is that: “Value Migration will help you understand where value resides in your industry today and where it will move tomorrow.” Keeping far enough ahead of your competitors by owning the best selection of equipment for success means guessing correctly what your clients will want in the future, how to get there ahead of your competition, and who your direct competitors are likely to be for your present business and/ or any new segment of the industry in which you decide to compete. This situation also is true of both suppliers and providers.

Learn to be flexible with your studio gear and adjust your business to meet a new challenge or opportunity that may suddenly appear. Be on the lookout for what new innovations may surface and become important to your niche in the business, particularly from a new revenue- and profit-producing point of view. Your goal is to capture and control products and services that you know you can provide for the new trends, standards, and requirements that are always emerging in our industry. A good reason to work symbiotically with your suppliers is to find the best products for you to use in your quest to provide the best audio on the planet Earth.

Both suppliers and providers need to listen to the movement of the audio marketplace in general, and their clients in particular, in order to survive. What are the needs of your clients today and tomorrow? What can you do to overcome the onslaught of new business arrangements being presented to your clients by your competitors? How do you most effectively determine who the clients are whom you should be courting? Who will be critical to the future of your business, given the direction and services you have helped decide your company should provide?

I think it's first a matter of deciding who the clients are who require your particular specialized services. Recognize their priorities and the segments of your services that they are willing to do without, in order to adjust your pricing and product offerings to meet their budget requirements. Provide a “lean and mean” operating system at a price that is the best in your marketplace, yet provides you with a fair profit.

Strategic intent, they say in financial circles, is a tangible corporate goal or destiny that represents a stretch for the organization. It also implies a point of view about the competitive position a company hopes to build over the coming years.

By socializing with our peer groups and participating in the activities of our trade organizations, we can better determine what is going on in our individual markets and how it will affect each of us. We know where we are, out of necessity. We know where we would like to be at the moment, but we all have different ideas about how to get there, because, most of the time, we think as single, isolated entities. Because we are primarily independent contractors, who only get paid when we work, it is difficult for most of us to understand the importance of sharing information to improve our chances of business survival. Trade associations and industry conventions provide us with the opportunity, thanks to the manufacturers, to exchange information with our peers who are not local competitors. It is wise to utilize these sources of information effectively, through our suppliers, to stay better informed.

When we are told to work together, we most often make the mistake of becoming suspicious of the agenda of those who ask that of us. Big, big mistake! If you don't listen, you won't learn. Listen to those who motivate you, especially the supplier/ provider individuals. You are paid to listen by those who provide the funds to pay your check, no matter whether they be clients, supervisors, or friends. Why can't these two situations be combined? I think they can be combined through a concept I have referred to previously as management by exception. This same theory applies to your clients and customers. There is, much of the time, a very fine line between being a successful manager of your people and a salesperson who successfully manages your clients. It is called trust and understanding. Try it—you'll like it.

We have previously noted the management theory axioms: “You can delegate authority, but you can't delegate responsibility,” “Delegation is the key to success,” “The bottleneck in your business is usually the boss,” and so on. Also, as stated earlier, one of the most respected axioms is the now famous Peter Principle, developed by Laurence J. Peter, which states: “In business, people tend to be promoted until they reach their level of incompetence.” We all have to deal with those individuals, and we know how frustrating it can be. Those of us who manage people or sell hardware, software, or audio services on a day-to-day basis can never really be certain that our way is the best way. We find, usually, that the simple principle “If it ain't broke, don't fix it” works most of the time, along with “Find a need and fill it.”

In our industry, many of the audio suppliers and providers have the same problems, but they just don't realize it. What's important to understand is that the two groups can work together to help each other to be more successful. I believe it was Eleanor Roosevelt who said, “You can do anything. You just can't do it alone.” Beat your head against a brick wall and try to succeed without the help of peers from other areas of our industry, and you lose. Symbiotic strategy is a key to success in pro audio—and every business environment.