February 7, 2020
This article is supplemental information to our recent HOW TO SELL IN-EAR MONITORS IN MUSIC RETAIL SHOPS post. Sean Bowman, the Director of Sales & Marketing for Shrure's retail division provides additional information, insights, and expertise about the in-ear and personal monitoring market segments.
SELLING SHURE SYSTEMS IN RETAIL
The PSM/IEM category in the US has been growing at a double digit 5-year CAGR at Shure, and we expect it to continue growing at a similar rate in the future – this is a stable growing market for a retailer to invest. Especially popular with touring and worship musicians, performers continue to value lower stage volume for cleaner mixes, individualizing their monitor mixes, hearing clearly from anywhere on the stage, and sound isolation for hearing protection.
If your musician customers are asking for wireless microphones to perform, there is probably also an opportunity to offer them PSM/IEM solutions. Wireless PSM/IEM systems are the most popular, and Shure has 3 tiers of wireless systems – the PSM300 for small-mid-size applications, the PSM900 for large venues and professional use, and the PSM1000 for high channel counts is the touring IEM system of choice on all the riders of your favorite performers.
The P9HW is Shure’s hardwired solution, very popular with performers that don’t need the mobility of wireless, like drummers:
When choosing a PSM/IEM system – first understand the wireless requirements of the customer’s intended application, and then you can help them choose the right earphones to attach to that wireless system.
When shopping for any wireless system, you’ll want to get a full understanding of the RF landscape of the location(s) your customer intends to deploy – this is where a technically trained sales team can really shine, and Shure has great resources to help you find open spectrum in your area, and band plan across wireless microphones, wireless IEMs, and coms. You’ll also want to familiarize yourself with the accessories – like rechargeable batteries/docking, antennas and antenna distribution. Once you’ve coordinated your wireless channels, set you customer up for consistently reliable performance by installing transmitters near the stage so they have direct line-of-sight to their receivers.
Choosing the right earphones for your PSM system can be a matter of personal taste, but there are consistent things to consider – like sound quality, comfort, sound isolation, and reliability. The SE215-CL is a great place to start, and this is where having a few demo models on display for customers to test-drive can really help you upsell to multi-driver and even custom molded options.
Special thanks to Sean Bowman, Director of Sales & Marketing for Shrure's retail division, for contributing this article.
