Easy Access Distribution Helps Dealers Sell Media Center

If a man doesn't fish, you won't get him to buy a fishing pole. Teach him to fish and he could be your client for a lifetime.

This is the thinking of Easy Access Distribution, which is taking a direct approach to help integrators sell Media Center Edition systems.

Easy Access and Roberts Associates held their eighth annual Dealer & Custom Installer Expo in the fall. The show included 23 vendors, two days of classes, seminars and demonstrations by industry experts and factory representatives and was attended by 340 CE pros.

Easy Access, which is a founding member of the Digital Delivery Group, used the Woburn, Mass. event to introduce and showcase its new division, Easy Design & Engineering, which offers engineering and design services to assist installers with challenging integrations.

"This [Annual Dealer & Custom Installer Expo] started out as exposure for new technologies," says Steve Presti, president of Easy Access Distribution and Roberts Associates.

But, he concedes, events like this can only provide so much training. "The level of expertise [needed in the field] is greater than the manufacturers can provide."

For this reason, Easy Access Distribution has birthed a new associate company, Easy Design and Engineering.

Extending an IT Hand

Presti describes Easy Access and Easy Design & Engineering as "parallel businesses with some cross-pollination."

This cross-pollination stems mostly from tampering the intimidation factor. "It's very difficult to take an A/V guy and teach him IT," Presti explains.

Nevertheless, Presti is quick to add that Microsoft's Vista and Media Center PCs are not going anywhere. "Vista is an incredible draw. So, people are starved for information."

Presti also explains that in order to distribute Media Center to dealers, those dealers have to be comfortable with selling and installing the product. "It's a long-term sales process," he says.

"Some guys put Media Center in as an adjunct sale to a proprietary system and others are selling it as an alternative to proprietary systems. They need to understand that Media Center is not switching devices, but delivering digital content."

The Easy Design and Engineering division allows Easy Access Distribution to offer not only up-and-coming IT convergence products, but also the expertise needed to employ them in the field.

"We will go onsite with an integrator," Presti says. This service could be a powerful tool for selling what might otherwise be too intimidating. "We know how to sell Media Center," Presti boasts.

"Everyone else is afraid of it." Easy Access general manager Michael Meares agrees, adding, "We're ballsy enough to go out and find new [Media Center] customers."

Easy Design and Engineering has been up and running for nearly five months now. With over 50 people in training, Presti sees the potential of IT convergence.

"The IT guys are still immature in the channel, but they will soon be lethal."

CE Pro's Jason Knott contributed to this report.