Continuing with the theme of looking in from the outside by getting the perspective of our vendors, I’ve asked Jeff Mac, one of the principals at Tech Rep, a large independent rep firm, to give us his take on Sweetwater.
“After more than 17 years of interfacing with Sweetwater, you would think that they would lose the ability to surprise me. A relationship that runs that long can easily become too comfortable.
“I think that conscious lack of complacency is one of their core strengths and their key difference. They are constantly looking for a better way to serve their partners in the business. To Sweetwater, everyone is a partner, from the person buying a first set of strings to those of us who supply the equipment to them that feeds all of our dreams.
“I was first at Sweetwater to train the staff on one of the seminal digital consoles, the Yamaha 02R. It was a new approach to mixing, and it simply did not work like other mixers. While Sweetwater had a training system that went beyond what anyone else in the industry was doing, that sort of theater-style presentation was inappropriate to learn the flow of a new mixing style. Since Sweetwater was so concerned with being able to transfer those ideas to their customers, they suggested changing the style of the training to a small-group approach so that all of the Sales Engineers would be able to better connect with their customers. It was outside of the norm for them, but very effective.
“The new building truly emphasizes the difference at Sweetwater. Not just because it is beautiful and unique in its attention to being ‘green,’ but because of its sense of community. I am constantly amazed at seeing the vice president of a department sitting with one of the warehouse guys discussing a new guitar or a recent band performance. This level of camaraderie means that someone in service can feel comfortable bringing up improvements for shipping or setting up a guitar to anyone in the company. That does not happen by accident, and it shows how everyone in the building is interested in raising the level of experience.
“Everyone wants to be excellent. The challenge is that to be excellent, you first have to admit that you might need to improve something inside of yourself. This is the Sweetwater Difference. They are brilliant at so many things, from training to support to the delivery of your dream to your door. But their real strength is that they refuse to admit that it is good enough. They are constantly looking at their processes and asking what needs to be better, rather than focusing on what is good. To Sweetwater, good is not good enough. That is their difference.”
Thanks, Jeff for the insight and the kind words.
Rock and roll! Jeff Radke, Vice President of Sales