Retail News – July 2026

Words by Rosa Sophia

ACT Audio Aims to Help Employees Grow and Succeed

Vernon, Conn.-based ACT Audio celebrated two recent employees who are now MECP certified, according to shop owner James P. Smith. Brendan Dasilva—MECP Apprentice certified—currently works as a breathalyzer technician. He has been with the company for about six months, and Smith said Dasilva will take on more varied installations when the time is right.

“We were hiring for a sales position and he came in and was willing to learn. A position opened in the back. He preferred that, so he focuses on breathalyzers now.” The shop, he added, is very busy with breathalyzers, completing multiple installs each day. “If we have free time, he shadows the technicians.”

ACT Audio’s newest team member, Lyasia Ainsworth, is 18 years old and has some sales experience. She joined the team about five months ago. Smith added that she has no industry experience, but is eager to learn. “She’s caught on well and is doing a fantastic job. She just earned her Product Specialist certification. Our industry can be pretty complex. If you don’t know cars, learning the vehicles, makes and models is a lot—along with the services. We were patient and she was motivated.”

Smith said he listed job openings on Indeed. “At the beginning [of the listing] I wrote, ‘Please read the entire description.’ At the end, I said, ‘To be considered for this position, do not apply here. Email me instead.’” It’s rare, he said, that he ever receives an email. “I’ll consider everyone, but if you read the description and follow directions, and put in that effort, it weighs in your favor.” Ainsworth did just that, Smith said, adding, “She also followed up the day before the interview, and she followed up two days later.” For this reason, he noted, her lack of industry experience wasn’t as important.

The mobile electronics industry, he added, has a hard time bringing in new people. “We’re busy. We don’t have the time or the patience to teach. I think that’s a big problem we have when it comes to hiring.” Smith said many business owners also need to acquire better skills. “A lot of us who come into this industry as technicians want to start a business, but we don’t really know how to run a business,” he explained. “Some learn and some don’t. The biggest issue is learning how to build a self-sufficient business that you have more time to teach, educate and train people.” That said, business owners don’t always set their employees up for success “because we’re not business owners. We’re employees working in our businesses.”

For example, he said, an owner might ask an employee to complete a task—but they might not be happy with the outcome. The reason, Smith said, is the owner might’ve asked the employee to do something, but “never wrote up the expectations or laid them out to give the employee a chance to succeed.” He went on to say, “We don’t have expectations of how we want things done. The employee doesn’t know how to succeed. Then, they fail, quit or get fired.”

Another component to successful hiring is the shop’s processes, as evidenced by Smith’s choice to create pre-build packages, which he said has been helpful for Ainsworth. “I made it simple when it comes to selling systems by creating packages. This way, she can focus on selling packages rather than itemizing,” he said, adding, “She can focus on the sale and overcoming objections.”