How to Profit From Selling Widgets (For Real!)

No matter how big a project, often the smallest of touches leaves the most lasting impression.

Programmable widgets are a good case in point.

Information modules go beyond standard programming. They are customizable Internet browsing options that can enable their users to easily enjoy any number of up-to-the-minute topics, adding a real salable "wow" factor to touchpanels.

Many end users love them, and so do the integrators banking the extra bucks they bring in.

Many of the integrators looking to provide these so-called widgets to clients rely on outside programmers for programming.

One such programmer is Residential Systems Design (RSD) of Exton, Pa. RSC has been been providing integrators with AMX and Crestron programming and professional touchpanel design since its inception in 2001.

Consumer interest in widgets is picking up speed quickly and RSD's sales team aims to keep its 350+ dealers across the country in pace with that speed.

"End users have never seen these types of options in the past, and don't even know they exist to purchase. So, we provide our clients with literature explaining the various [Internet] options available to their endusers," says RSD president Bradd Fisher.

Part of the widgets' popularity, Fisher feels, is that they allow the panel to truly be a central point for clients' interaction and all the things they want or need -- from hardware interaction (like controlling house audio, the pool, HVAC and lighting) to data information, such as weather forecasting, grocery ordering blogging, traffic reports, etc.

More importantly, he adds, they "allow an integrator/dealer to increase the 'value' of the project to the end user/client, which in return increases the budgets and profits."

Simplicity's a Cinch

While the amount of time it takes RSD to program a touchpanel for a customer is contingent on the system being requested, adding Internet options to a system is pretty much a snap.

"We simply load a module and panel page and they're off and running," Fisher explains. Once the initial programming is done, RSD can provide turnkey widgets to additional clients and dealers in much less time because the initial programming has already been done.

"It's usually as simple as adding one button to access that particular [option]," he says.

Although the main navigation menu is often reserved for "important" items, some people consider particular widgets to be similarly important.

Consequently, RSD sometimes positions them on the main menu while, for others, places them one level below the main controls, in what is called a sub-nav (or subordinate navigation level).

Deciding which Internet options will be used -- and where -- is usually a collaborative decision involving RSD and its dealers. "We often make suggestions in areas we see can help a dealer offer their end user more … and increase their profits," Fisher says.

Specific to profits, RSD recommends dealers mark up its programming and widgets by 30 percent. Some, Fisher notes, charge significantly more, depending on the integrator.

"The goal of an [Internet option] is two-fold. The first [objective] is to increase value, thus increasing the budget for the end user and profit for the dealer. The second is to add some cool 'wow' factor to the panel to really be the central point of interaction for the end user."