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How to Capitalize on Holiday HDTV Sales
Catering to client needs and superior calibration will help you benefit from holiday HDTV sales.
With Black Friday having come and gone, the holiday selling season is fast upon us.
Initial reports from Black Friday have been surprisingly upbeat, and custom electronics sales this holiday season may end up being less gloomy than many originally thought.
Hybrid retailers clearly have something to be optimistic about. But what about the custom companies?
What can you do to benefit from the holiday season?
Even if your company is 100 percent custom, that doesn't mean you have to forgo catering to your client's impulse purchases.
Every Christmas at my former employer, we'd order a couple dozen 42- and 50-inch LCDs and plasmas purely on spec. We'd vend them to our loyal clients either as hang-and-bang installs, or in a couple of cases, for them to buy as gifts.
By virtue of being loyal clients of a custom integrator, they weren't as price-sensitive as the throngs who clamour to Wal-mart for TVs.
We still gave our clients a deal, but make no mistake: we still managed to eke out a profit. And that's not impossible even in the current market.
If your clients just want to snag a TV, they're likely to check with you first. So why not see if you can look after them profitably?
One of the latest trend in big-box retail has been to promote video calibration as an add-on service. Gee, I wonder from which CE channel they got that idea?
Just because the mass market has started doing what CI has been doing all along is no reason to throw in the towel.
Odds are your staff can calibrate circles around the big-box guys. A little guerrilla marketing, via positive word of mouth, can reach the friends and family of existing clients who bought their HDTVs from big-box stores but weren't prepared to bite on the calibration services they were offered in-store.
Do people ever call you up and ask if you'll fix something someone from a big-box retailer messed up? The principle remains the same.
Scheduling visits to calibrate other dealers' TVs also can get your foot in the door to introduce your other services to prospective clients.
It can be tempting for custom companies to think of December as just another month. But with some preparation and legwork, you and your clients can have a very Happy Holidays.
Lee Distad is a freelance CEDIA Certified Professional Designer who offers design and process consultation to firms in the Custom Installation industry, as well as copy writing and other professional writing services. Lee’s business and industry blog can be read at http://www.leedistad.com
Initial reports from Black Friday have been surprisingly upbeat, and custom electronics sales this holiday season may end up being less gloomy than many originally thought.
Hybrid retailers clearly have something to be optimistic about. But what about the custom companies?
What can you do to benefit from the holiday season?
Cater to Your Clients
Even if your company is 100 percent custom, that doesn't mean you have to forgo catering to your client's impulse purchases.
Every Christmas at my former employer, we'd order a couple dozen 42- and 50-inch LCDs and plasmas purely on spec. We'd vend them to our loyal clients either as hang-and-bang installs, or in a couple of cases, for them to buy as gifts.
By virtue of being loyal clients of a custom integrator, they weren't as price-sensitive as the throngs who clamour to Wal-mart for TVs.
We still gave our clients a deal, but make no mistake: we still managed to eke out a profit. And that's not impossible even in the current market.
If your clients just want to snag a TV, they're likely to check with you first. So why not see if you can look after them profitably?
Offer Superior Calibration
One of the latest trend in big-box retail has been to promote video calibration as an add-on service. Gee, I wonder from which CE channel they got that idea?
Just because the mass market has started doing what CI has been doing all along is no reason to throw in the towel.
Odds are your staff can calibrate circles around the big-box guys. A little guerrilla marketing, via positive word of mouth, can reach the friends and family of existing clients who bought their HDTVs from big-box stores but weren't prepared to bite on the calibration services they were offered in-store.
Do people ever call you up and ask if you'll fix something someone from a big-box retailer messed up? The principle remains the same.
Scheduling visits to calibrate other dealers' TVs also can get your foot in the door to introduce your other services to prospective clients.
It can be tempting for custom companies to think of December as just another month. But with some preparation and legwork, you and your clients can have a very Happy Holidays.
Lee Distad is a freelance CEDIA Certified Professional Designer who offers design and process consultation to firms in the Custom Installation industry, as well as copy writing and other professional writing services. Lee’s business and industry blog can be read at http://www.leedistad.com
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