Dealer Profile: SoundsGood Auto

Shop: SoundsGood Auto

Locations: 104-2700 Barnet Hwy., Coquitlam, BC – 1420 Boundary Road, Burnaby, BC

Owner: Keith McCumber

Years in Business: 15 years

Specialty: Installing smiles on customers faces

Shop Bio

Did you ever meet that person who just can’t leave well enough alone. Luckily, for audiophiles in Western Canada, Keith McCumber is one of those individuals that simply had higher expectations. Like most audio enthusiasts that are searching for that perfect sound, Keith was driven to fill a void that he quickly realized was missing in the custom builds he was seeing from local shops in BC.

In late 2004, Keith and his partner (wife) Maggie began conceptualizing a plan to revolutionize not only the customer experience at the shop level, but strive to make that very personal listening experience in your vehicle a thing of beauty. With no Plan B, they rolled the dice and quickly gained a reputation for going above and beyond to deliver on that unique customer experience. But this was no overnight success story, like any shop owners Keith and Maggie wore all the hats and leaned on each other when times got tough in the early years.

As with any successful venture, building the right team and finding key players was crucial. When Mike Maltais joined the company, he immediately filled the void that was missing and armed with a similar vision – things just started to grow quickly for the SoundsGood Auto brand.

McCumber always prided himself on recognizing talent and giving audio enthusiasts who were serious about being part of something bigger, an opportunity at SoundsGood. In 2008, Geoff Neale brought his workmanship and unique attention to detail to the team and things just kept growing exponentially.

Over the years, McCumber would continue to add key staff such as Ruben Rivera-Arauz (Burnaby Store Manager), Jesse Gillespie (Burnaby Installation Manager) and Shawn Hawley (Coquitlam Store Manager). With the added roster now in place, the focus shifted to training the staff at every level of the car audio business.

As the team started to take shape internally, McCumber started to focus on building recognition for the SoundsGood brand on a national level. Enter the IASCA (International Auto Sound Challenge Association) sound competition series. SoundsGood Auto has been involved in IASCA since 2008, including winning numerous trophies and have staff go on to judge at the IASCA World Finals.

Over the years, SoundsGood Auto would be selected a Top 12 Retailer in North America four times (at the Mobile Electronics Industry Awards), including Runner-Up in 2019.

With two locations, the first in Coquitlam, BC launched in 2004 and the second in Burnaby, BC opened in 2012, the SoundsGood Auto group has built its reputation on excellent customer service and delivering the ultimate sonic experience to every customer that walks through their door.

From personal development training, to KnowledgeFest and beyond, SoundsGood Auto has increased its year-over-year revenue by making education a priority. Revenues grew in conjunction with McCumber’s marketing strategy. “We went from $600,000 to 2 million in annual revenue.” Keith McCumber sees a direct link between the increased business revenue and the training sessions the team attends month to month.

A chance meeting with Del Ellis at KnowledgeFest helped craft and shape a new direction for the SoundsGood owner. “Del Ellis changed my world, he showed our team a fresh perspective and new systems that would take us to another level,” admitted McCumber. Over the years McCumber would recruit the help of several industry experts such as Tony Dehnke, Jason Kranitz, Micah Williams, Ray West, Nick Wingate, Mark Eldridge, Brian Mitchell, Marcell Newell, Andy Wehmeyer, Garry Biggs, Fred Lynch, David MacKinnon, Paul Papadeas and George Smith who would continue to propel SoundsGood over the years to their current position.

In this ever-changing competitive industry, a renewed emphasis on training from the best experts available, would help separate SoundsGood Auto from the competition. “Yes, we train to get the skillset to do the installs. But that’s only part of the job. Our evolution has allowed us to fulfill all our customers’ wildest dreams!” states McCumber.

When asked about his experiences in the Canadian 12V marketplace, Keith said, “I love my country! When I call on any of my fellow Canadian installers or retailers, they always answer the call! I’ve met amazing people in our industry who really take pride in what they do. This provides a feeling of patriotism that makes me proud to be Canadian!”

We asked Keith McCumber if he wanted to give a shout-out to any of his vendors and partners that helped SoundsGood Auto over their 15 years in business. “It’s been an absolute wild journey of ups and downs, crazy challenges and ever-changing landscape. But through it all, the following people deserve recognition for their ongoing support. Trends Electronics for always working with me. The Firm (Automob) for putting up with an incredible amount of craziness. DLC for being the first distributor that I ever worked with. Gemsen (Hi Dave….Fireball is all I’m going to say!), Kenwood Canada for being one of my biggest suppliers. The staff at Importel, thank you for your continued support. Pioneer Canada for doing all they can and finally, Kingpin University for the incredible training and talent that you provide all our staff – you truly make us a better company.”