I haven't heard much about the topics of ethics in our business in or out of CEDIA. Certainly we all have an interest in ethics in our relationship with our employer/employee and in dealing with the customer. Ethics is often discussed in the context of financial and sales dealings with the customer and this makes perfect sense. I haven't checked the course offerings at EXPO in great detail, but I don't think we have a course specifically out the ethics (pardon if I missed it). However, I would like to bring up an issue of TECHNICAL ethics. Specifically I would like to find out your thoughts on recommending, selling, perhaps even "going along with" equipment for the customer who's technical claims are, shall I say, not exactly verifiable.
Let me use an easy example: speaker cables. This could also apply to dozens of other products/devices from gold plated connectors to amplifiers and speakers. We are all familiar with the almost completely subjective claims made about certain types of speaker cable. We've all seen the 10 ft. cable that looks like garden hose selling for $8000 (or more) that claims to substantially improve the sound (performance, IMD, clarity, frequency response, etc.).
Some of you reading this may actually think that it does (if so, I'll be glad to debate that "off-line").
Let me ask a few questions here. Assuming the cost of the cables is not an issue for the customer, should a CEDIA dealer sell them? If it's OK, should they inform the customer that the manufacturer claims are not really verifiable and that they may not, to the customer, offer any actual sound improvement over table lamp electrical cord?
You might say "what's the harm?". After all, the customer can afford it and thinks they're cool. The customer may even have suggested it in the first place. Isn't this similar to someone who wants to buy, say,a Ferrari instead of a Lexus? What's the harm, particularly if you're making the margin?
Well, in the case of the Ferrari, the customer clearly understands that the car does exactly the same thing as a Lexus (or a VW for that matter), BUT he also clearly can tell the difference by driving the car ( I would assume, I've never actually driven one).
In the case of the speaker cables, the customer can't (honestly) tell any difference between a normal speaker cable (14/2) and the garden hose. Yes, there's the placebo effect. Besides, maybe the customer just wants the status symbol of having speaker cables that cost $8000, who cares?
In my opinion, we SHOULD care. To me it's unethical to basically rely on a placebo effect to sell products. I think we have an obligation to understand what products and product claims in our industry not only do what the manufacture claims, but those claims are clearly verifiable. If not, we have a responsibility to inform the customer that certain claims about the product are either questionable or not detectable or verifiable and/or that equipment that costs less may provide equal or better performance. I think we should not only promote a reputation for professional technical skills, but for professional and ethical technical skills. No we're not the equivalent of the FDA, and the burden for "product integrity" will have to be on the shoulders of individual dealer/installers. Could CEDIA help? Maybe, but it's really a political "hot potato".
What do ya think? Not an priority?
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2 comments:
I totally agree Grayson. Our customers need to be able to trust our advice, and they have a right to expect us to act in an ethical manner. I certainly expect that of any tradespeople that I empoy for their expertise in a given domain. It's about building long-term relationships with our customers so that they will be happy to use us again or refer their friends and family.
Regards,
Mike White
Total Control (Manawatu) Ltd
www.totalcontrol.co.nz
Grayson,
First, I must say that I respect you as a professional, a trainer of our industry and as a master of retrofit installation techniques. That being said, I find your comments and plea for CEDIA to step in to deem high performance cable sales unethical highly irresponsible on your part.
Grayson, my response will be "on line" opposed to "off line" as you suggested in your article. Your statement that a person or client can't hear the difference between 14-2 and a better speaker cables is simply ignorant. I have been in the A/V business for over 20 years and their ARE SONIC DIFFERENCES BETWEEN CABLES. PERIOD. I have personally heard these differences on high performance systems numerous times. Could it be that you have never tried to do this comparison on a high performance system that was set up correctly? If you use the same equipment, same song, same volume etc and the only difference is the cable... you can hear a difference. This is not the “placebo effect” as you suggest.
Perhaps you do not want to hear a difference and therefore are not approaching this subject with an open mind? Have you actually tried to do this comparison or are you speaking theoretically? Perhaps you have only listened to a pair of $300 in-ceiling speakers through 150-foot runs of 14-2. I would agree that this freshly completed install would make it difficult to hear the difference between speaker cables but this is not a system that warrants upgraded speaker cables in the first place.
This industry has new people entering it all of the time and they look to you as an expert when you stand in front of the CEDIA classroom. You must be careful what you say. Will you be arguing that MP3’s sound just as good as CD’s next?
Regards,
Steve Person
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