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Recommend a Sweetwater Sales Engineer?
- Thread starter basscase666
- Start date
My Engineer Casey...
I didn't know you could get THAT kind of candy!
There's a lot of recommendations in this thread and I'm sure there's tons of great Sales-folk at Sweetwater. But I'd be remiss if I did not recommend the fella I've been working with.
I've always assumed it was kinda weird having a dedicated sales person to assist with every order, but over the years, I've been super happy to have Jon Gillespie handle things. So has my dad, brother, and two of my close friends. Friendly dude, knowledgeable (very much so about bass!), and extremely helpful. Makes order change-ups easy, keeps me posted on back-orders, etcetc.
After spending years in the sales game myself, I feel confident saying that he's the only sales person I've dealt with multiple times that hasn't turned out to be a sack of poopie. There's still time, lol. But so far, so good.
Jon is solid.
edit: gotta love how TB autocorrects swear words to things like "poopie", lol.
I've always assumed it was kinda weird having a dedicated sales person to assist with every order, but over the years, I've been super happy to have Jon Gillespie handle things. So has my dad, brother, and two of my close friends. Friendly dude, knowledgeable (very much so about bass!), and extremely helpful. Makes order change-ups easy, keeps me posted on back-orders, etcetc.
After spending years in the sales game myself, I feel confident saying that he's the only sales person I've dealt with multiple times that hasn't turned out to be a sack of poopie. There's still time, lol. But so far, so good.
Jon is solid.
edit: gotta love how TB autocorrects swear words to things like "poopie", lol.
I think what's killing Musician's Friend is that there is no longer a sales tax advantage ordering there versus Guitar Center.
Didn't realize Sweetie had so many reps. Got halfway through page 2, and maybe same name mentioned once or twice.
Someone posted asking questions here before you buy.
Probably best advice. You'll be even more confused, but you'll know options.
Come here for sure if you're if you're asking for permission to spend your money.
These TB guys would sell a kidney for enough for cash for latest bass lust object.
Someone posted asking questions here before you buy.
Probably best advice. You'll be even more confused, but you'll know options.
Come here for sure if you're if you're asking for permission to spend your money.
These TB guys would sell a kidney for enough for cash for latest bass lust object.
Haha, a million reps named and mine STILL hasn't been mentioned. Sweetwater is clearly immense. Anyway, his name is William Wildman. I got a nice discount of more than 15% on the Ampeg V-4B RI I bought a few years ago. But I really haven't bought much else besides a tuner and a pack of strings, so I can't really vouch for his dealmaking abilities.
If you're sure you want to get something through Sweetwater, give yourself a running head start by buying a gift card when Father's Day is getting close--they give you an additional 10% on top of the amount. I can't recall the upper limit on this, but I'm pretty sure you can get $200 on top of a $2K purchase. The most I've done is $1K.
If you're sure you want to get something through Sweetwater, give yourself a running head start by buying a gift card when Father's Day is getting close--they give you an additional 10% on top of the amount. I can't recall the upper limit on this, but I'm pretty sure you can get $200 on top of a $2K purchase. The most I've done is $1K.
The pricing game is a major turn off, I was looking at a Rickenbacker Noir a few years ago (Rics prices are unlisted) and was quoted like $2200 or something by my sales rep. I passed.
Really stung when I found others had paid $1800ish
My rep finally left, thank God, he gave me awful quotes and didn't respect not bugging me constantly and I got a new rep , bought a bass and was thrilled when he knocked $50 off the price and threw in second day shipping.
Had a buddy buy the same price and he got $300 off and next day.
I'm good at negotiating but they usually give me a ' take it or leave it ' attitude
Money talks and I've walked on much more gear than I've bought
Really stung when I found others had paid $1800ish
My rep finally left, thank God, he gave me awful quotes and didn't respect not bugging me constantly and I got a new rep , bought a bass and was thrilled when he knocked $50 off the price and threw in second day shipping.
Had a buddy buy the same price and he got $300 off and next day.
I'm good at negotiating but they usually give me a ' take it or leave it ' attitude
Money talks and I've walked on much more gear than I've bought
Do you not have a good local store? Face to face interaction will tell you immediately how knowledgeable someone is. Those ‘engineers’ on the phone are selling whatever has the ‘spiff’ that week or reading specs and bullets from a screen. Call a Bass company if you’re going to buy online. Bass Central or the like. There are several from which to choose.
I don't have a local music store, good bad or otherwise. But I also don't call online store reps (including my Sweetwater rep, about whom I have no complaints) for advice. I research as much as I can online (including but not exclusively TB) and then make sure wherever I buy from has a decent returns policy, just in case.
If the guy that picks up the phone in the sales department is an engineer than when I head muckety muck of data acquisition and implementation when I did data entry at my last job for eight years. I was also the contact for maintenance on our Keureg machine, making me the czar of caffeinated beverage distribution.
I was a guest at Dunkin’ Donuts this morning. There were customers there too, but I’m a guest. My ice coffee artist was masterful, as always.
davec
Supporting Member
- May 4, 2006
- 1,891
- 878
- Disclosures
- Owner; Cody Electric Basses ( Now Closed) sales @ Sweetwater
We are mostly the same music geeks that live on these forums, we just love playing and talking music and gear
davec
Supporting Member
- May 4, 2006
- 1,891
- 878
- Disclosures
- Owner; Cody Electric Basses ( Now Closed) sales @ Sweetwater
Sure, I worked briefly in the guitar gallery as well as in sales.
It’s a great place to work. Mainly because of the talented musicians you get to work with. The expectations are very high which can stress some folks out and the pay (outside of sales) is based on living in a place as affordable as Fort Wayne.
I can honestly say that I have never worked alongside better people and sometimes I was the person doing the hiring!
It’s not music utopia (that’s for the customers), it’s a big corporation (for this industry) and run as a corporation, but if you realize that, it is the most fair and caring company you will ever find, plus it is musician accepting and nurturing. That is about as hard as I can be.
One thing I do want to put out and I hope it is shared. As a sales person we are paid when you buy something and we are in contact with you, this means when please answer the phone or reply to a text at least twice a year. (Or send a text the day before you buy a new bass)
Sometimes we earn a positive or negative commission (if you are buying something like a Berhinger pedal, consider adding a new instrument cable so this isn’t a loss for your SE)
Returns, always cost your SE money. Even if we charge 2 way shipping, your SE will cover card fees, etc. on a return (if it’s not the right thing we don’t want you to be stuck with it, but if you know you’re going to return it before you buy it, please just don’t)
