The Next Step

WORDS BY JAMIE SORCHER

Like many in the 12-volt world, Michael Roberts, VP of Sales & Marketing for JVCKENWOOD, got his start in the business at an early age—and, also like many, he never left. “I grew up in a family business,” he said. “My dad owned Columbia Audio & Video. At the time, they were one of the top 10 retailers in the business. They sold home audio, TVs and eventually car audio. Early on, both my dad, Richard Roberts, and Norm Rozak, my dad’s partner, were early influences.”

But before joining the family business, Roberts went to work for his dad’s competitor. When he was 16, he said there were two stores in the area—Apple Tree Stereo and Sound Track. “One day, my dad said jokingly, ‘Why don’t you get a job at Sound Track?’ He was just messing around, but I put on a suit and that’s what I did.”

Roberts recalled the conversation upon arrival: “They said, ‘Your dad owns Columbia. What do you want to work here for?’ So, I actually started working for my dad’s competitor for a little over a year before going to work with my dad and brother in the family business. When the manager I worked with at Sound Track went to work for Loyd Ivey at MTX, he reached out to me,” he said, adding, “I went there and met Loyd. He was certainly an influence, too.”

During his career, Roberts gained perspective working in retail, for manufacturers and a content provider—Sirius satellite radio. In 2001, both XM and Sirius were scheduled to launch, but it didn’t happen for either company on time as planned. “Back in the 90s, someone from XM called and wanted to have a meeting with me,” Roberts said. “At the time I was at Kenwood and they had me fly out to Washington, D.C, [where XM’s HQ was based]. We met at a hotel and they had this PowerPoint presentation.” Roberts said they were planning to launch rockets into outer space and would be broadcasting radio back to earth. “It was really early on—again, they only had this PowerPoint—and I remember thinking ‘yeah, good luck with that.’”

Roberts noted that he loved working for Kenwood, but when he left to work at Delphi, “It was just a difficult time personally,” he explained. “Delphi was based in the Midwest and that’s where I lived. I had been traveling like crazy with Kenwood, and so part of the reason was that. Of course, satellite radio was intriguing to me.”

When he gave his notice at Kenwood in 2003, he said, “We had a rep meeting in an auditorium at this big hotel in California. I launched this promotion we were having, told everyone I was leaving and was being replaced by Keith Lehmann, and then I departed the meeting.”

Delphi, it turned out, was an incredible opportunity for Roberts. “They were the hardware guys that launched XM. It was so busy—the sales, the calls. At a certain point, I left there and went to Sirius,” he said, adding that the two companies merged and he became the VP of sales. “It was the longest merger in U.S. history—565 days. I started about two months before Howard Stern joined Sirius. It was a really interesting time.”

Roberts also had the chance to be his own boss when he opened Optimum Sales and took on the role of an outsourced VP of sales. “I went into

companies and helped them with their sales team,” he said. “I would do it on a fractional basis.” One of his first clients was a $200 million aerospace company. “The folks there were engineers—not salespeople. So, I helped them put their CRM together, trained them and conducted weekly sales meetings. The next day I would be at a food company and the next day at a robotics company.”

He learned, he said, that a lot of salespeople aren’t really salespeople. They were simply put into that position. “I connected with a company called Integrity Selling and got certified as a sales trainer with them,” Roberts went on. “As part of my efforts with each company, I would work with them and teach this course on how to sell with Integrity. It was a great program and I learned a whole that from that.”

Now back at JVCKENWOOD all these years later as VP of Sales & Marketing, Roberts is enjoying a bit of a homecoming. He’s been involved in one of the company’s key product launches as well as identifying new areas of opportunity. The company took a bit longer to come out with a floating screen, he said, “because we wanted it to be the best with the most up-to-date technology.” The product has a 10.1-inch screen and offers top-of-the-line features.

“For instance, if you took an iPad and put it in your car, it would be a little difficult to operate because of sunlight and reflections,” Roberts said. “With our Optical Bonded Hi Resolution display, we created a model where we were able to significantly minimize the reflective light while maximizing the viewing angle.” He added that stability was another factor that had to be considered. “When you have a 10-inch screen floating in your car, it needs to be very stable as you’re going over bumps and experiencing all the vibrations associated with a vehicle,” he explained. “We had to take that into consideration, which is why our unit is a double-DIN. We’ve also become heavily involved in drive-cams. We have four right now. That’s been another area of growth for the company.”

Aside from providing amazing products, the company works to provide retailers with a path to profitability, which means dealing with unauthorized retailers and price integrity. “In the past, we serialized product,” Roberts said. “We would put an electronic serial number on the back of a head unit so it couldn’t be peeled off. However, it can be more difficult trying to add those serial numbers to speakers, amps and other products.”

They found a way, he added, to put serial numbers in multiple places, including inside the product itself. “You can go on the Internet right now, type in a model and see that our authorized retailers and sellers are within MAP,” he said. “This ties back to predictable profitability. As a retailer, you have to think about that when you’re picking your lines. We search the Internet on a daily basis, purchase product and trace it back to the original purchaser.”

With so many ways to communicate these days, including text, email, Zoom and phone calls, Roberts still prefers old-school face-to-face meetings when it comes to establishing new relationships.

“If you have already have a relationship with someone, it’s a lot easier to do Zoom calls,” he said, adding that it’s much more difficult dealing with a new customer or trying to drawn in new customers in this fashion. “It can be more difficult when you don’t know the person. Part of having a good meeting with someone is to quickly understand what’s important to them, and a face-to-face is going to offer much clearer communication,” he added.

For starters, he said, in a face-toface meeting, you’re able to read body language and facial expressions more effectively. It also allows you to determine what kind of personality someone has and what’s important to that person. “For example, if you meet someone in his office, you can take a look around and immediately get an understanding of what’s important,” Roberts explained. “Some guys have certificates and achievements framed on the wall, but someone else might have all kinds of pictures of his family instead. So, yes, face-to-face is super important especially when you’re trying to get new business.”

He added that trade shows are very important, too. “I’m sure we’ll get back to them, but things won’t ever go back to normal,” he said. “It will be something in between where we are now, and what it used to be.”

With a chance to meet so many dealers over time, Roberts said that a multi-channel strategy—a website, social media and a well-kept store—are the basics that will keep a business going strong no matter what. Even through a global pandemic.

“If you’re going to be successful, you need to have a website with your product on it. You have to have your store in order. You need to do installs. And you have to be involved in social media,” he said. Stores which have been successful throughout the pandemic, he added, are businesses that have carefully covered all these factors. Roberts warned that if retailers neglect even one aspect of this triad, it will limit the amount of business they do.

“Having said that, there’s a large retailer that I remember had a website, but didn’t keep it updated with the latest information and promotions,” he said. “I ended up telling him not to do it because other stores were updating the information and promotions on their sites all the time. There was no benefit for a customer to go on his site, look at it and see nothing current, and in many cases pricing was too high.” Customers wouldn’t even bother to walk into his store, he said.

“Either do it and do it right—or don’t do it, because then it’ll hurt you. Multi-channel is a help when things shift and change,” Roberts said. “It helps you adapt. If you just have a retail store and a pandemic hits and you’ve got no social media, now you’re trying to figure that out. Customers can’t come into your store, so you have no way to communicate.”

Not surprisingly, when Roberts isn’t on his day job, he can be found outdoors hiking, biking or just enjoying the open space. He said he’s interested in anything that has to do with an engine, and he’s an avid boater. Roberts also owns a Harley-Davidson motorcycle and a Polaris UTV.

“I love anything outdoors—just being outside in the middle of nowhere,” he said. “I recently bought an electric bike. I had no idea how much open space there is out here in Phoenix to ride.” Roberts said he enjoys bike paths that wind along local canals.

“Sometimes I’ll listen to music while I’m out riding, or I’ll listen to audio books. And other times,” he added, he just spends his time deep in thought.

Listen to the recently launched Learning from Leaders podcast hosted by Chris Cook, president of MEA. The episode featuring Michael Roberts, VP of Sales & Marketing for JVCKENWOOD, aired August 7, 2020. Roberts discussed insights on everything from his first job to the last thing we could’ve ever expected—a global pandemic. The Learning From Leaders magazine feature builds upon the podcast, bringing additional information about business, sales and more to our readers. Follow this link to learn more and subscribe to the podcast: http://mobile-electronics.com/podcast