How It All Works
Originally from the Chicago area, he hadn’t set out to work in the professional A/V industry when hired by a hi-fi store as a college student in the early 1970s in DeKalb, IL, but this chance employment opportunity proved to be the catalyst.
“I found the business aspect of the store to be absolutely fascinating,” he explains. “Things like inventory management, the process of opening a new store location, and so on, really intrigued me. They’re the key to how it all works, the difference between success and failure, no matter what you happen to be selling.”
After college, Starin took a position with the Advent loudspeaker company in Cambridge, MA, and was soon charged with traveling around the country to provide customer support and business-building consultation to stores carrying the Advent line. It was helpful to the stores, to be sure, which in turn meant that they were likely to sell more of his employer’s loudspeakers. He notes that this is still the MO (modus operandi) for his company today.
Wanting to return closer to home and also transition to the professional market, Starin eventually joined Audio Resources, a Chicago-based pro audio sales rep firm founded by brothers Wayne and Terry Hrabak. “I prefer the objectivity of professional AV as opposed to the consumer market, both in terms of business and technology,” he says. “It’s much less ‘ethereal,’ far more direct and reality based.”
Plenty of meeting and conference facilities
for the company and clients alike. (click to enlarge)
He learned the ropes of the pro market as well as the unique facets of the sales territory, representing several leading brands while building relationships and working with a talented team that included Bill Mullin, who now serves as “second in command” to Starin.
When Audio Resources decided to transition out of the rep business, Starin formed his own firm based in Chesterton, representing several notable companies, including Electro-Voice, an association that remains to this day. The fledgling business thrived, on the path to garnering more than 100 “rep of the year” awards (and counting) over the years.
The defining moment came in the mid-1990s when a major manufacturer represented by Starin sought to eliminate smaller dealer accounts as a downsizing measure, deeming them not worthy of investment.
“I understood their thinking but didn’t agree with it. Instead, I saw a lot of potential,” Starin says. “The lion’s share of our territory was rural, some of it urban, but a lot of smaller customers, and when you look at a composite of all of them, it’s a significant amount of profitable business. So I talked the manufacturer into letting us buy product direct and serve those deals backed by commensurate support. That really got the ball rolling for us.”
World Of Difference
And it’s gone and grown from there. The 55-plus brands now in the Starin fold span four primary market channels, including pro A/V, MI, conference/presentation and broadcast/video products, with each channel headed by an experienced manager in that market and backed by a dedicated staff.
Just a sampling of audio brands in the A/V channel includes Midas/Klark-Teknik, Turbosound, RCF, Sony Pro, CAD Audio, and dozens more, joined by leading names from the other channels such as Gentner, Bosch, ETA, Barco, Grass Valley, and on and on.
Each brand is served with its own custom approach, defined between Starin and the individual entity, and it often includes design and application support that can be dispatched to a job site within 24 hours.