Rick’s Management Philosophy of Putting Our Customers First: It’s important to give customers what you would like to receive yourself!

The secret to the success of Sound House is simply offering our customers products, prices, and services that we ourselves would be satisfied with. The Bible says, “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” That is exactly what I strive to do.

Suppose, for example, that an item sold for the equivalent of 10,000 yen overseas is actually sold for 20,000 yen in Japan as a matter of course. Now that you know this fact, if you were to buy this item, you would certainly want to pay 10,000 yen. I would also like my customers to buy it for 10,000 yen. I don’t have a sneaky idea that I would secretly buy something at a lower price myself and then sell it to my customers at a higher price so I can have a sense of superiority over them. Rather, it’s completely opposite: My pride is in sharing the low prices I find with the people around me, so I am just grateful that I am able to play this role.

Sometimes that may even mean losing the chance to make a lot of money. If I had just kept it a secret, the customer would have bought the item for twice the amount I paid! I could have boasted that a 100 percent of the profit margin is a matter of course. However, I am happier making our customers happy in the long run rather than making a momentary profit.

This is why the motto at Sound House has always been “better products at lower prices” since our establishment and it always will be. Perhaps this is also where my odd ego as a manager is hiding. For this reason, I have worked harder than anyone else traveling around the world to collect more information than anyone else, share various pieces of information with leaders of the industry from various countries, and constantly think of the best strategy. I have spent my days staying up past midnight working every night. I have been making efforts for nearly 30 years, and now, I can’t wait to see the next generation of managers and employees emerge who will continue the importance of the philosophy of Sound House and put the customers first.