I’m really excited to share a few of the things going on in my department that will enable our Sales team to serve you even better in the coming months and years.
Expanded Sales Floor
Construction was completed in November, essentially doubling the size of our space. It’s just mind-boggling to me that we now have plenty of room to grow, with room for more than a thousand Sales Engineers in a state-of-the-art office space that includes more conference rooms, a large break area, and more. The most amazing thing for me is how well it all fits together from a design perspective. We literally built a second floor and a mezzanine level above our former first warehouse on this campus (our new retail store — currently under construction — will reside on the first floor) that connects seamlessly with our current sales space. I love that our Sales, Tech Support, Customer Experience, and Guest Services teams are all in one wonderful space. This makes for even better communication among these critical customer-facing departments.
Vendor Village Additions
Many years ago, Avid became our first vendor partner to place a representative in-house as a resource for my team. We had 16 offices, and we’ve added 10 additional offices and another demo room to allow more vendors to join us in the future. Twenty of these offices will be immediately occupied with in-house vendor partners representing more than 190 brands.
New Training Center
To accommodate our growing Sales team, we designed an incredible new training space that will comfortably seat more than 600. It features a 40′ x 24′ elevated stage, an incredible sound system (of course!) and acoustic treatment, and full and flexible stage lighting. We also have extensive video mixing capabilities for recording meeting content and presenting on an absolutely gorgeous 60′ x 18′ video screen.
It’s more than a training space — it’s a full-blown event center and an absolutely stunning space. Krystal Davis, our live event production engineer, said, “I love working in such a technologically advanced and versatile facility! It’s gratifying when a client has a specific need out of the norm, and we are able to just make it happen.”
Sweetwater University
To provide even more flexibility for our remote instructors, we’ve upgraded the Sweetwater University A/V systems to allow remote teaching, so we can work around travel and time restrictions.
We have increased the number of workstations, divided some of our classes to ensure better instructor-to-student ratios, added more student progress updates, and increased real-world experience while in training to improve our program while building the capacity to train even more Sales Engineers in the coming year as we continue to grow our team. Greg Baitz, Manager of Sales Training (I call him “the Dean”), said, “I’m excited to see the changes we’ve been working on for a long time go into effect this year to help our Sales Engineers be even better prepared to hit the ground running when they graduate from Sweetwater University.”
Customer Service Representatives
In October, we rolled out a brand-new department of Customer Service Representatives (CSRs). One of our goals is to provide the best and fastest service possible for you. The one-on-one relationship with a trusted Sales Engineer as your gear guide is the foundation of our company. I want you to connect with them regarding any question or concern you might have, so they can help you make the best decisions and get the most bang for your buck. However, if you need a tracking number, an ETA for a back-ordered item, the status of a return, etc., the CSR team will provide you with a quick solution. From Mike Wuchter, who trained and put this team together, “I’m really excited to have the new CSR team on board. It’s another great way to take care of our customers quickly and efficiently, without sacrificing the quality of your experience. The other big bonus of this team is that they will help free up more time for your Sales Engineer, who will have more time available to answer the more technical questions that you may have about the gear.”
We are always working hard to find ways to improve. My goal is for Sweetwater and my team to be your single point of contact during your musical journey. From your initial research to your final selection and purchase to support and service after the sale, we’re here for you!
If you or someone you know is a passionate gearhead and interested in exploring a great career at Sweetwater, please go to our Sales Engineer page to learn more. You won’t find a place with a smarter, more creative, driven, passionate, and gear-loving group of people under one roof.