The sound of success at Bang & Olufsen

By Brenna Duperron
Postmedia News

Scot Menard’s dreams of musical glory have led him into the world of the rich and famous as Vancouver’s Bang & Olufsen guy.
“If you are going to sell something, you might as well sell the best,” said Menard, store manager for Bang & Olufsen on Vancouver’s Burrard Street.
With a reputation for innovation since 1925, the company founded in Denmark has built its empire on international exclusivity. In Vancouver, Commercial Electronics Ltd. has sold its prestigious products since the 1970s, a line that includes everything from headsets to phones to televisions.
With designs that proclaim their Scandinavian heritage, Bang & Olufsen specializes in products that aspire to make electronics into a functional art.
For Menard, Vancouver’s own aspirations as a world-class city and its vibrant Asian market make it ripe for the growth of luxury products.
In the past couple of years, the five Bang & Olufsen companies across Canada have taken their place in the North American market’s top 10. The average customer spends about $8,000 at the Vancouver store for each purchase.
People who are setting up homes in Vancouver while working on feature films or television productions come to Menard and his team to outfit their houses and condos with Bang & Olufsen’s best.
“The Asian market is gravitating towards B&O for the same reasons they purchase Louis Vuitton or Mercedes,” said Menard, who over the last 24 years has developed an encyclopedic knowledge of his high-end client base.
“These are sophisticated, busy people who don’t have time for complicated technology,” Menard said.
“It needs to be simple so they can just relax at the end of the day. Once you have used a B&O remote, there is no turning back.”
It is even possible to get a free app for your iPhone or iPad, with purchase of a Bang & Olufsen system, that can control the lighting, audio and visual systems of each room in the customer’s house.
The company has become a leader in designing interconnecting multi-room systems individualized to the specific needs of the client.
Though originally intent on making his mark in music, Menard followed his interest in technology instead. It led him to a course in audio engineering and a mountain of student loans to pay.
“Some of us want to be rock stars, but end up as salesmen instead,” joked Menard, who is also a Bang & Olufsen custom-installation design specialist.
Menard blends his love of technology and entertainment together at Commercial Electronics Ltd., where Bang & Olufsen Vancouver is located.
In the beginning, he had to apply multiple times before landing a job in the service department. It was quickly determined that he was a natural salesman, which paved the way for the move up to the Bang & Olufsen showroom.
“The competition isn’t the store down the street but other lifestyle products. Customers might not buy a B&O TV today, because they decided to buy a nice car or yacht.”
However, Bang & Olufsen has managed to mitigate that form of competition with complementary products.
Its audio systems are now found in Mercedes, Aston Martin and Audi automobiles. Potential customers get to experience Bang & Olufsen products at select Hyatt Hotels and various high-end boutique hotels around the world.
Their phones and TVs are featured as product-placement items in various movies and television shows.
But before any of these systems and products hit the Vancouver market, they have to pass Menard’s test for approval. “I think to myself, ‘Would my dad have been able to operate this system?’ If he could, then it gets the green light.”
These personal touches help Menard achieve his goal of making customers for life.
“I have had customers who remind me that I sold them headphones when they were in college, when they come back to me now to purchase major systems.”

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