Building strong relationships with customers is a prerequisite to establishing a brand and improving sales volumes in SA. However, maintaining a healthy relationship with your suppliers and retailers is equally important.
This is according to Greg Payne, brand manager at Audiosure, the audio specialist division at First Technology.
He says a recent sales incentive trip, sponsored by Audiosure and Wharfedale Pro, was not only initiated to help grow the Wharfedale Pro brand in SA, but also foster better relationships between Audiosure and its retail chain countrywide.
Wharfedale Pro is manufactured by the International Audio Group (IAG), one of the fastest growing audiovisual specialist manufacturers in the world. Wharfedale Pro is manufactured using only the latest audio technologies, the most reliable components, and exceeds the highest global quality standards.
"Our retail stores were incentivised over a four-month period to boost sales and increase brand awareness by promoting Wharfedale Pro sound equipment," he says.
The first leg of the competition was to award the best performing store with an all expenses paid trip to China - including a visit to the Wharfedale Pro factory in Shen Zheng. The second leg of the incentive was aimed at consumers where three contestants could win Wharfedale Pro prizes worth a total of R25 000.
Payne points out that although there was only supposed to be one winner in the retail store part of the incentive programme, Audiosure selected two stores (MusicMate Boksburg and TOMS Braamfontein) for the trip to China - a result of equal sales volumes over the four-month period.
Three names were drawn for the consumer incentive competition, each winning R25 000 worth of Wharfedale Pro equipment.
"While the manufacturing process of the Wharfedale Pro range is done in China, quality control is undertaken by Wharfedale Pro personnel from the UK head-office," says Payne.
The factory in Shen Zheng, mainland China, employs 1 500 people who work meticulously to ensure the overall quality and reliability of all Wharfedale Pro components remains uncompromised.
"One of the most remarkable aspects of visiting the factory was that we were able to see first-hand how each and every unit is painstakingly assembled to produce the quality products we sell today," he concludes.
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Audiosure is the professional audio wing of the First Technology Group of companies. The company is a leading importer and distributor of professional audio and lighting equipment in southern Africa.
The Audiosure team includes a highly professional sales force with years of experience encompassing all aspects of the industry - from manufacturing to live performances. This range of skills enables the company to provide a comprehensive array of valuable advice to its nationwide dealer network in order to ensure the achievement of optimum product performance in a wide variety of applications and environments.
Aside from the traditional audio industry requirements, Audiosure also focuses on the areas of convergence that exist between the audio and IT industries.
First Technology
First Technology is one of SA`s largest, independent IT solutions providers, offering customers solutions and services that maximise business productivity, reduce the risk associated with deploying new technologies and minimise the total cost of IT ownership. The company has fully-fledged branches in every major business node across SA and maintains one of the largest teams of highly skilled technical personnel in the country.