veteran leadership brings the company into its 90th year - Music Inc ...

SUPPLIER EXCELLENCE
S
SERVICE
ENTRANCE
KMCMusicorp delivers, with an
ongoing effort to provide its
dealers what they need
In nominating North America’s
largest distributor and
wholesaler of music products,
retailers continue to praise
KMCMusicorp for its efficiency,
wide range of product, excellent
fill rates, and timely delivery.
“KMC does a great job of fulfilling
our orders with very little
error,” said one voter. “While we
know we can always go direct for
most products, KMC allows for
lower-volume stocking
to adjust our inventory
seasonally.
Their sales reps are
always knowledgeable
and great to
work with if there
is ever a problem.”
These achievements
are a two-way
street, according to
James Tsaptsinos,
James Tsaptsinos
Roger Hart
KMC’s vice president of sales.
“We could only improve accurate
delivery and quick turns because
of the information being shared
with us by our customers. Our
salespeople take product knowledge
very seriously, and it builds
great customer service, as well
as a positive reflection in sales.”
Each quarter, the company
assembles its sales team to
review brand strategies and
product knowledge. “Our relationships
with our dealers are
getting stronger every day, and
our service levels are meeting,
and exceeding new thresholds,”
Tsaptsinos said. “Our success
is directly attributable to the
success of our dealer network.
If we can create programs and
service our customers to achieve
their goals, we can’t ask for
anything more.”
For KMC’s merchandising
and purchasing teams, dealer
service-improvement continues
to be the primary
goal. “We realize our customers
have a choice, so
we strive to offer the right
products combined with
on-hand inventory and
expedited shipping,” said
Roger Hart, vice president
of merchandising. “Adding
in the talents of our sales
team creates a winning
combination.” –JJ
LISTENING
CLOSELY
Yamaha empowers employees,
leaving retailers feeling like
they’re part of the team
it comes
to service,
we take a
“When
very broad
view,” said Rick Young, Yamaha’s
senior vice president. “Everybody
in the company is empowered
to help the [dealer] get what
they need as quickly and efficiently
as possible — whether
it’s a return, a mistake, or they
want to order something new. It’s
not only the district managers or
the regional managers that have
that; it’s the product specialists,
the product managers and the
marketing managers, too.”
One way Yamaha does this is
through its Customer Support
Group, a whole department that
does nothing but work with consumers.
“Service is part of our
whole company,” Young said.
“It’s critically important to us.”
Developing quality, relevant
products is another Yamaha
hallmark. The company relies
on input from dealers,
customers, endorsing
artists and
development artists
for ideas regarding
new designs and instrument
upgrades.
“We worked with
John Hagstrom,
trumpeter in the
Chicago Symphony
Orchestra, in developing
our Xeno Artist
Model ‘Chicago’ C
Trumpet,” Young said. “He is
a tremendous player who has
an amazing attention to detail,
and he is interested in helping
us develop a better trumpet for
symphony players.
“It’s easy to say, ‘I think this
is what the market likes.’ But we
try to take it much further than
that and use as many of our contacts
and relationships
that we have
to look at a much
broader base.”
Yamaha is also
known for making
great clinicians out
of its endorsing
artists, something
that dealers love to
take advantage of.
“We can help with
Rick Young
almost any instrument
they might be
interested in, and it would go
along with the dealer’s marketing
plan,” Young said. –EE
68 I MUSIC INC. I DECEMBER 2013