Established in 1992, Headsetters™ is a full service national provider of Wireless, Bluetooth and Corded Headsets by Plantronics GN Netcom, Jabra, VXI, Sennheiser and Starkey. In addition to their retail selection of new and refurbished headsets and accessories, they also offer repair and rental services. Drew Lyons is a National Account Manager at Headsetters™.
Tell us a little about your business. – As telecommunications and IT become more intertwined into “unified communications”, encompassing not just your phone but IM, chat, video conferencing, presence indicators, etc., we at Headsetters help you navigate through the myriad of available options for headsets – wired, wireless, bluetooth, optimized for various platforms such as Microsoft Lync and Cisco IP Communicator, etc. We help you make sure you are making the best investment for your particular needs, and getting the best overall value for your money.
How did you get started in the business? – Back in the early 1990s a friend of mine, Marvin Holst, was involved in a small start-up supplying, of all things, cassette tapes and recording equipment to companies engaged in financial transactions over the phone. They were also expanding into the area of repairing headsets, which were much more basic back then. He asked me to come on part-time to help grow the business, and within six months things were going so well I left real estate behind to go full-time. The rest, as they say, is history; 20-plus years later I’m still at it and still learning new things every day.
What is the biggest challenge you’ve faced professionally? – Keeping abreast of all the changes and advances in technology. I am by no means what anyone would consider a ‘techie’, but IT infrastructure and software have become so interwoven with telecom it is critical that I understand the details of that interaction and interpret it to my customers so they can make the best decisions on headsets, which are the ‘critical endpoint’ of the whole process.
What has been your most important achievement professionally? – Breaking the million-dollar mark in annual sales, which I just did in 2013. With the average headset running under $100, that was a challenging goal I had set for myself.
Tell me a little about your family. – My wife and best friend Mary Springer works for the largest international currency exchange institution in the world, and we are the proud grandparents of soon-to-be-7-year-old Cyrus. Mary’s adult children Jessica and Daniel are shining stars in my universe, and I am fortunate to have a very close relationship with my four siblings and the best man I have ever known, my father (87 come October and still going strong!).
What do you see as one of the biggest turning points in your life? – Meeting my wife 15 years ago (I was subbing in a bowling league!).
What is your favorite thing to do on a day off? – Golfing or fishing, or if the weather is not cooperative, reading.
What is the best piece of advice you’ve ever received? – It’s pretty simple and kind of corny, but it’s the Golden Rule: “Treat others as you would like to be treated.”
If you could choose only one descriptive word to be remembered as, what would it be? – Passionate.
If you could have dinner with one famous person from the past or present, who would it be? – Lon Chaney, Jr. I’ve been a fan of the old Universal monster movies since I was a kid, and he always fascinated me.
If our readers would like to contact you, how should they do so? – At (402) 951-9129, via email at dlyons@headsetters.com, or visit www.headsetters.com.