the boxes from the product the customer purchased in the vehicle. The tour provides the customer an understanding of these practices.” Due to the high cost of insurance to use a loaner car, McCumber does not offer that as a service but does offer rides to customers who are traveling to a location that’s within ten minutes of either facility. Offering free services like this helps build the company’s reputation as a brand, which doubles as a marketing strategy. “We spent $4,000 this [past December] on Facebook. We don’t invest in Yelp, but there’s a company down the street that spends $1,000 a month on Yelp,” McCumber said. “Google works and Facebook rocks.” McCumber stressed the importance of selecting the right companies to partner with for marketing due to the deceptive practices he’s encountered with some companies. “Yelp used competitors’ information to try and win over SoundsGood. I immediately went to my competitor and told them about this. I don’t work with them for that reason.” Aside from social media, SoundsGood’s staff attend several automotive-related shows during the year, including five car audio shows. The idea is to show off the company banner and sell product at a loss to help a cause. “We give away $100 Bluetooth units for $20 with the proceeds going to breast cancer research,” McCumber said. “We’ve sponsored baseball teams in the past and conducted food drives. But mostly, we’ve done the giveaways for breast cancer research.” For existing customers, the company uses Businessworx newsletters, which provide closed-loop automated marketing campaigns to help bring back customers. “All customers get emailed a survey after a purchase. It’s a really good tool,” McCumber said. “I believe people who come into my stores are my boss. Why would I piss them off? They are giving me my paycheck. That’s just my philosophy.” In that same sense, the company limits the number of campaigns it does each year to avoid wearing out its welcome and ensures it’s not losing money on its
sales. Three sales are done each year to coincide with specific seasons. Those sales include Black Friday in December, with a 90 percent off sale, a springtime garage sale to flush out stagnant product and one for Christmas as a way to give back to the community. “We never, ever discount labor. One of my distributors gave away a bunch of things that we get for pennies on the dollar. We’ll do 20 to 30 grand in a day for Black Friday. Not much profit. It’s basically advertising. I do it for Christmas to give back to community. I slash prices and that’s my gift to the community.”
The Good Fight For the first time in its history, SoundsGood Auto submitted itself for Mobile Electronics’ Retailer and Installer of the Year awards in 2015. The company earned
itself a place as a Top 12 Retailer and one of its own as Top 12 Installer. Needless to say, the achievement was a pleasant surprise for the company and McCumber. “I was impressed and somewhat surprised that we got them. I have a competitor near here that didn’t get Top 12. I’m honored,” McCumber said. Of Bailie’s achievement, he said, “Tim is an icon. He
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