03.24.2009 — The economy is tough right now, and everybody is feeling its impact. For A/V dealers, it has become imperative to improve profit margins on every sale.

The most effective way to do this is to focus on selling attachments with every big-ticket item -- this means cabling, service agreements, furniture, and of course, power management.

The fact is that power management is the heart of any A/V system. Without power being properly protected and conditioned, the other components won't perform to their true potential, they won't function properly or they won't live out their maximum lifetime.

While power management represents a great opportunity for dealers, there are a few challenges in selling it -- especially if dealers don't recognize it as an essential component.

Benefits of Power Management

Including power management in every sale benefits both the dealer and the customer.

More than increasing profit margins, power management provides a great value to customers by protecting their investment, saving them money and providing them with an optimized A/V experience.

The customer will realize the improved performance and increased longevity of their system, and the dealer will enjoy their referrals.

Programmable solutions go even further by providing management of the system's power requirements. If a customer is going to be out of town for a while, the system can be programmed by the user or dealer to reduce power consumption.

This saves the customer money.

Power management also provides value to dealers by saving them time, money and fuel in reduced numbers of service calls.

For example, power outages usually require the dealer to make a trip to the customer's home to reset the system. Many power management products, however, reset themselves without service calls.

In addition, solutions with remote diagnostics check the unit status and incoming power quality. E-mail alerts for over- and under-voltages help users anticipate or prevent service calls.

Reducing service calls also means using less fuel, which is beneficial to the environment and the dealer's bottom line.

Power management also protects components from dangerous power anomalies -- this reduces landfill waste by maximizing the life cycle of connected electronic devices.

A real-life example of the benefits of power management for customers and installers comes from the New Copper Penny dance club in Portland, Ore. The club was experiencing bulb-life issues in its eight digital projectors.

The problem turned out to be fluorescent lighting fixtures releasing voltage onto the load neutral, eliminating the digital projectors' ground reference for bulb circuits, leaving them exposed to damaging transients.

With a power management component, the bulb life of all the projectors increased by a minimum of 40 percent. Bulbs that were supposed to last for 2,000 hours were now lasting from 2,900 to 3,000 hours, while bulbs with a projected life of 4,000 hours in economy mode were lasting about 5,400 hours.

This translated to an extra six months of use for eight video projectors -- each running for eight hours per day. The money savings for the New Copper Penny were significant.

In addition to a satisfied client, the club's servicer, Brownell Sound, was able to eliminate service calls to the club, and that saved him money, too.

Sales Techniques

These days, saving money and providing added value is more important than ever.

Power management provides these benefits for customers -- as well as for dealers -- helping to make the most of a tough economy.

For that reason, proper training of sales associates a critical element for integrators in maximizing attachment sales.

The key to selling power management solutions is having an understanding of the problems inherent in the local power company's supply (as well as those in the home) and how power conditioning addresses those problems.

The next step is communicating that knowledge to the client.

There are a couple of very effective ways to communicate the concept of AC line noise:

Use an Analogy One way to convey the benefits of power conditioning is to use the example of a premium car. You don't invest in a BMW or a Jaguar only to put cheap unleaded gasoline in its tank -- at least, not if you're expecting optimal performance.

Instead, you would use premium gasoline. The same goes for home theaters. A high-end theater requires premium power in order to achieve peak performance.

Employ Demonstration Devices Noise sniffers can be used to let clients experience AC noise. Similar devices make static on the line audible to consumers.

When the power is run through a conditioner, the device shows that the noise has been eliminated. Demonstrations with these types of tools help the client visualize the problem of AC noise.

To convey the importance of power management, it should come first in the demo, and it should be listed first on the invoice.

When money is tight, the last item on the invoice will be the first to be deleted.

By putting power management first, you are letting your customers know that it is important and essential component, not an optional accessory.

Dave Keller is senior vice president of sales and marketing for Panamax/Furman.