FOUR MASTER Audio Advice

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FOUR MASTER Highlight – Audio Advice

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Northern Ireland’s premier car audio installer has been in existence since 1996 and finally climbed on board the FOUR MASTER train in 2013 as a result of planned changes to their business model. We catch up with proprietor Phil Neill.

Based in PORTADOWN, County Armagh, Audio Advice has been through a few changes throughout its life.

Phil trained as an electronics engineer with the M O D although his apprenticeship included automotive mechanics. Throughout this time, Phil was actively pursuing his quest for car audio excellence and competed at the highest level in the then buoyant car audio sound-off competition scene. There was no car audio hi-fi specialist in the area at the time and so Phil saw an opportunity to use his knowledge and experience to attract paying customers. Initially, he did this on a part-time basis whilst still employed by the M O D but in 1999, made the leap from a lucrative salary to the uncertain future offered by self-employment.

At this point, Audio Advice was created with Phil picking up referral business from his competition activity. Along the way, Phil won some contracts providing fleet hands-free, central locking and security installations for the motor trade.

In the early days Audio Advice worked out of high street premises however, and due mainly to the internet and other discounters this became an easy way to waste a lot of time. Phil explains; “Our high street position was a bit of a curates egg. We were visible and so the brand became well known however we found ourselves spending far too long advising young drivers about car audio. They would then leave the store and buy their products online or from other discounters. This was extremely frustrating as we could spend up to five hours a day talking to these prospects who had no intention of paying us for our time.”

This led Phil to rethink his strategy and as his trade work was increasing and didn't necessarily need a retail presence, he moved in 2006 to his current unit. Consequently, the shape of his business changed with more emphasis on trade work and less on his first love, car audio. The new premises did however, have a large workshop, part of which was partitioned off and reserved for long-term installation projects.

As with anyone else in business, the collapse of the global economy had dire consequences for Audio Advice but as things slowly improved, Phil eventually made the decision to once more try to make a living from car audio. Phil tells us; “Having built the business on my passion for audio, I longed for an improvement in the market that would give me the opportunity to refocus on this part of the business. Just like ourselves, previous suppliers were bitten by the recession and were recovering at extremely variable rates. Others in the industry advised however, that FOUR had somehow managed to retain a positive outlook with regards the potential for car audio products and had continued, through their FOUR MASTER strategy to offer great products, service and support to consumers while other suppliers remained focussed on cheap prices. Following a number of inspirational meetings with them, I was convinced that a refocus on audio could be sustained. Products from Audison and Hertz in particular were picking up international acclaim and on further investigation, I discovered that some of their innovations were leaving the competition way behind.”

“We are still a little way from perfect but our “new brush” initiative will see dramatic changes in the way we present ourselves and the products we support. We have survived on word-of-mouth for many years but sparking interest is only the start. We hope that packaging our services in a more customer-focussed manner will help attract customers who are as passionate about good audio as we are. Treating all customers like royalty is part of our central philosophy. Our geographical reach is restricted by the sea so we have to ensure that every customer receives a solution that suits them in every way and that they go away happy. In fact, many become frequent visitors and call in for tune-ups or return to have installed equipment removed and re-installed into their new car.”

Phil has never left his roots and still gets hands-on with every aspect of his business. His passion for music and sound quality is seemingly unquenchable and his eclectic taste (everything apart from thrash metal) keeps him inspired to continue to develop his skills. With the help of Gary and Clive he still works across retail and trade and seems to have the perfect staff mix to do this as Clive has only a passing interest in audio preferring to work at becoming more efficient and time-per-job focussed while Gary shares Phil’s passion for premium quality car audio.

Finally I asked Phil about possible future expansion. His response is that in his mind and in this industry, small is beautiful.

Contact Audio Advice: 08450 944664