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SnapAV Aims to Double Dealer Profitability
The manufacturer (no, they're not a distributor) sells over 500 SKUs direct to dealer at savings of 30 to 60 percent.
SnapAV showed its wares—and crunched the numbers—for dealers at EHX Spring.
Dealers are talking about SnapAV, but few of them know what the company actually does.
SnapAV looks like a distributor but it isn't. Instead, the company is a manufacturer that happens to offer a wide range of A/V products including speakers, cables, cabinets, racks, screens, amps, mounts and more.
SnapAV designs the products; contract manufacturers overseas create them.
The company sells direct to dealer, eliminating mark-ups from distributors. Internet sales are not permitted, and SnapAV does not sell to consumers.
"We protect dealer margins," says VP of marketing Adam Levy. "We don't sell to big boxes, there's no Internet sales, and we don't cut deals with buying groups."
Founded by former integrator Jay Faison a few years ago, SnapAV is all about profitability for the dealer. The company mantra is that customers can double their bottom line with SnapAV.
The numbers are easy to follow, especially for integrators who visited the SnapAV trailer parked outside the convention center at EHX Spring 2009.
As Levy explains, about one-third of a dealer's cost of goods sold (COGs) goes towards electronics. One-third goes to labor, and one-third goes to "other stuff" like cables, mounts and speakers.
"We're in the 'other stuff' business," Levy says.
He says that dealers can save at least 30 percent on the "other stuff" that SnapAV sells, and in some categories the savings amount to as much as 60 percent.
Saving that kind of money on other stuff can double the dealer's bottom line.
You can't get that kind of return, though, "if I'm just saving you 50 percent on mounts," Levy says. "You need to do it again and again and again."
And that's why SnapAV offers so many products – about 500 SKUs – in several categories.
Levy (and some dealers) insist SnapAV delivers good-quality products.
During EHX, one high-end integrator who recently became a SnapAV dealer said he was impressed with the quality of the vendor's mounts and other gear.
The dealer, a loyal Stewart Filmscreen customer, says he could not pass up the opportunities that SnapAV affords. "I always start with Stewart" on A/V bids, he says, "but if I need to, I will go down."
VP Marketing Adam Levy explains the SnapAV advantage during EHX.
SnapAV realizes that dealers have to try the gear to believe it.
"With low cost comes the expectation of low quality," Levy notes.
To get integrators to try its wares, SnapAV provides a demo kit at 50-percent off.
While SnapAV takes product quality seriously, the company's biggest push is on the business side.
Particularly in this economy, dealers need to protect their margins and SnapAV is showing them how.
Former CEDIA president Steve Hayes, now VP of dealer profitability for SnapAV, presented a keynote at EHX entitled "49 Gutsy Survival Tips for Integrators."
During the presentation, Hayes rattled off tips to help dealers maintain profitability.
"Right now we're making a lot of sense to a lot of people in this industry," Levy says.
If integrators are reluctant to try SnapAV, it is for these two reasons: patriotism and product quality.
There is a perceived lack of quality of Asian-manufactured goods, which is entirely unfounded, says Levy. Virtually all product sold by integrators has at least some component that is manufactured overseas.
SnapAV has a full-time employee in Asia that oversees quality control. And SnapAV doesn't simply import finished goods, rather it designs them in-house and contracts out the production.
Levy notes that business would be a lot simpler if great products were readily available for importing from overseas, "but they're not," he says. "We have to design them ourselves."
The other sticking point among integrators is plain old patriotism.
"I was a buy-American guy," says Herb Stride of Audio Visual Design Group, Franklin Lakes, N.J. "I'd like to buy what I can in this country, but you have to do what you have to do."
SnapAV sells over 500 products in the following categories:
SnapAV looks like a distributor but it isn't. Instead, the company is a manufacturer that happens to offer a wide range of A/V products including speakers, cables, cabinets, racks, screens, amps, mounts and more.
SnapAV designs the products; contract manufacturers overseas create them.
The company sells direct to dealer, eliminating mark-ups from distributors. Internet sales are not permitted, and SnapAV does not sell to consumers.
"We protect dealer margins," says VP of marketing Adam Levy. "We don't sell to big boxes, there's no Internet sales, and we don't cut deals with buying groups."
Doubling the Bottom Line
Founded by former integrator Jay Faison a few years ago, SnapAV is all about profitability for the dealer. The company mantra is that customers can double their bottom line with SnapAV.
The numbers are easy to follow, especially for integrators who visited the SnapAV trailer parked outside the convention center at EHX Spring 2009.
As Levy explains, about one-third of a dealer's cost of goods sold (COGs) goes towards electronics. One-third goes to labor, and one-third goes to "other stuff" like cables, mounts and speakers.
"We're in the 'other stuff' business," Levy says.
He says that dealers can save at least 30 percent on the "other stuff" that SnapAV sells, and in some categories the savings amount to as much as 60 percent.
Saving that kind of money on other stuff can double the dealer's bottom line.
You can't get that kind of return, though, "if I'm just saving you 50 percent on mounts," Levy says. "You need to do it again and again and again."
And that's why SnapAV offers so many products – about 500 SKUs – in several categories.
Is SnapAV 'Stuff ' Any Good?
Levy (and some dealers) insist SnapAV delivers good-quality products.
During EHX, one high-end integrator who recently became a SnapAV dealer said he was impressed with the quality of the vendor's mounts and other gear.
The dealer, a loyal Stewart Filmscreen customer, says he could not pass up the opportunities that SnapAV affords. "I always start with Stewart" on A/V bids, he says, "but if I need to, I will go down."
VP Marketing Adam Levy explains the SnapAV advantage during EHX.
SnapAV realizes that dealers have to try the gear to believe it.
"With low cost comes the expectation of low quality," Levy notes.
To get integrators to try its wares, SnapAV provides a demo kit at 50-percent off.
More on the SnapAV Business
While SnapAV takes product quality seriously, the company's biggest push is on the business side.
Particularly in this economy, dealers need to protect their margins and SnapAV is showing them how.
Former CEDIA president Steve Hayes, now VP of dealer profitability for SnapAV, presented a keynote at EHX entitled "49 Gutsy Survival Tips for Integrators."
During the presentation, Hayes rattled off tips to help dealers maintain profitability.
"Right now we're making a lot of sense to a lot of people in this industry," Levy says.
If integrators are reluctant to try SnapAV, it is for these two reasons: patriotism and product quality.
There is a perceived lack of quality of Asian-manufactured goods, which is entirely unfounded, says Levy. Virtually all product sold by integrators has at least some component that is manufactured overseas.
SnapAV has a full-time employee in Asia that oversees quality control. And SnapAV doesn't simply import finished goods, rather it designs them in-house and contracts out the production.
Levy notes that business would be a lot simpler if great products were readily available for importing from overseas, "but they're not," he says. "We have to design them ourselves."
The other sticking point among integrators is plain old patriotism.
"I was a buy-American guy," says Herb Stride of Audio Visual Design Group, Franklin Lakes, N.J. "I'd like to buy what I can in this country, but you have to do what you have to do."
SnapAV Products
SnapAV sells over 500 products in the following categories:
- Cables
- Baluns/video distribution
- Mounts
- Speakers
- Bulk wire
- Film screens
- Cabinets
- Power products
- Structured wiring
- Amplifiers
- Multiroom audio
- IR products
- Racks and lifts
- Installation tools
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Article Topics
News · Product News · Business Resources · Accessories · EHX Spring · Accessories ·About the Author
Julie Jacobson, Editor-at-large, CE Pro
Julie Jacobson is co-founder of EH Publishing and currently spends most of her time writing for CE Pro, mostly in the areas of home automation, networked A/V and the business of home systems integration. She majored in Economics at the University of Michigan, earned an MBA from the University of Texas at Austin, and has never taken a journalism class in her life. Julie is a washed-up Ultimate Frisbee player with the scars to prove it. Follow her on Twitter @juliejacobson.
16 Comments (displayed in order by date/time)
R U kidding me? These guys manufacture, Distribute, Sell to dealers, and also Install. Yes!! Install. The’re install arm is ZOBO TV. Located in Charlotte with 2 stores, they compete with every other dealer in the local market.
They don’t sell through Buying groups becuase they wont let them in. They have certainly tried.
Gimick!!! Good luck!!
Just wondering, is this an article or an add? I love how they have “A” employee over in China to oversee quality. I would think with a product line-up like they have, one person would not be nearly enough.
“There is a perceived lack of quality of Asian-manufactured goods, which is entirely unfounded, says Levy.” That’s a bunch of bull. I’m not saying everything made in Asia is bad, but most of the junk made does seem to come from Asia. When other manufacturers spend $100 to make a quality product and they make the same thing for $60, some corners have to be cut to make it cheaper.
Look at plasmas, a few years back a 42” 480P set would cost you about $2k, then Gateway came out with their 50” 720P for about the same cost. Did they find a way to make the same quality product at a lower price? No they cut every corner they could to make the thing cheaper, and cheap they were.
You get what you pay for.
Called tech support two weeks ago to trouble shoot an issue with an hdmi balun ..Left a voice mail & I am still waiting for a call back..
Cheap products can not pay for a quality tech support back office..something has to give..
I tried the free screen program they had - seemed ok for the first few months - then the material stretched & now its a bit saggy.. But hey - it was free , cant complain..
Jeff,
Full Disclosure: I am an employee of SnapAV (the guy quoted in this article a couple of times), so I’m a little biased. Having said that, I need to point a couple of things that I think you’re misinformed about.
If you looked carefully at the predominant manufacturing practices of most companies that serve our industry, we’re no different:
1. US-based design
2. Asia-based manufacturing
3. Frequent trips between US and Asia for collaboration between design and manufacturing
4. Asia-based QC
Given the relatively low number of production runs that need to be QC’d (manufacturing quantities are relatively high), it’s not necessary to have teams of people to QC…one employee on the ground goes very far.
The reality is that the $100 part from manufacturer A and the $60 part from SnapAV have the same manufactured cost (let’s say $30 for the sake of argument)...and frequently the same manufacturing facility. The difference is the business model that brings that part from Asia to the custom installer.
We may not be a good fit for you, but it shouldn’t be on the basis of where we manufacture product. Otherwise, there will be very few suppliers for you to consider.
Adam,
Full Disclosure: I was an employee of the aforementioned company so I dont have to be biased..
Unfortunatly you have been hit by the “faison-beam”.. But dont worry the effects wear off anywhere from 6 to 18months & then you begin to see how things really work..
Fact is dealers want a company that they know will be around to stand behind them for the length of the warranty that is being sold..
How can you assure dealers that snapav is not another “jay-of-the-day” business that changes its direction & leaves customers shaking their heads as you have with Pilot Home Technologies, Wirepath Home Technologies, Zobo.tv all since 2001 ?
The company I work for is willing to pay an extra few points knowing that it is older than the warranties that it offers..
Sorry for the pragmatic view - but the track record that over 70 past employees can share in the last few years is a bit overwhelming.
Scott,
Sorry that it sounds like you had some personal issues with Jay.
I’ve been working closely with him for about 3 years, so the 6 to 18 month window you cite has long since passed.
Adam,
Why did you not address Charley’s issues with your lack of tech support?
Sorry - it does warrant a response.
Charley, we have live technincal support available during business hours. I’m very disappointed to hear that your call was not returned (actually, I’m disappointed to hear that it wasn’t answered initially and you ended up in voicemail in the first place). If you either post your company name or email it to me (.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)) I will have a product specialist return your call tomorrow.
Again, my apologies for the lack of response.
This has been an interesting string of posts. I am always a bit hesitant to engage in these because I know so many of the posts are placed anonymously by other manufacturers to slam the competition….sad, but witnessed personally by me in the past. I am a firm believer that the only posts that folks should pay attention to are those where people are willing to identify themselves and offer their biases right up front. Anything less then that, I believe, should be taken with a grain of salt. Anyway I digress right out of the shoot.
I am in a fortunate position to have worked on a number of product development teams and so I have a pretty good understanding of the product development cycle, costs involved, profit margins being made, etc… by manufacturers in this industry. In fact, I am the person heading up the product development team at SnapAV. We currently have a number of engineers (some located in Charlotte, others in California) who engineer solutions and then work with our factories to build prototypes, test, modify, finalize, create unique tooling, produce, QC and ship the products. Are all of our products perfect? Of course not. However, our dealer council provides feedback all along the way and we continue to improve everything we make.
Our product development team is dedicated to creating better products in both quality and ease of installation for our dealers. We are currently working on over 200 new products in 14 different categories.
Our business model is radically different then other manufacturers in this industry. It is because of this difference that I joined SnapAV.
Quote from above post:
“When other manufacturers spend $100 to make a quality product and they make the same thing for $60, some corners have to be cut to make it cheaper.”
This sounds like one of our competitors trying to justify their higher cost to dealers…please know that the cost of products are the same when the same materials/factories/boxes/shipping methods are used. Our focus is to use better components, better grades of materials and clever ideas to make installations easier and quicker. I encourage you to compare not just our products, but everyone’s products. You will see the things that are the same, things that are better and worse and you will even learn to be able to identify the companies that are using the same factories to have thier stuff built.
How can we afford to do that?
Good question!
Since manufacturing was moved overseas, manufacturers have been making enormous profits on the backs of dealers. In the case of complex technologies like televisions and control systems the extra money is fully justified because of the huge product development costs. In the area of our industry’s “dumber” product categories, however, it is not justified. Those huge profits simply serve to line manufacturer’s wallets. It’s the American way.
SnapAV’s business model is simple. Take those huge margins and hand them to the dealers to make certain that the dealers can make more money to assure their survival. If the dealers survive, we survive. As people discover the quality of our products, our market share increases.
How can we assure that we will be around for years to come? Gosh, wouldn’t that be a fantastic thing to be able to do given today’s economy… However, while other manufacturers in this industry are suffering with RADICALLY decreased business over the past 18 months, our business has been growing rapidly. Nothing assure that a company will remain like profits and growth…so if I had to bet on a horse in this race, I would bet on Snap AV…
Oh, hang on a minute! I DID bet on this horse….and it is very nice to be leading the race. Please watch our site for new and exciting products and even more exciting profits for our dealers.
Happy selling!
Steve Hayes
-VP Dealer Profitability - SnapAV
-CEDIA BOD member (1996-2003)
-Past CEDIA President (1999-2001)
-EH Expo Keynote speaker Spring 2009
-New England dealer for 22 years
-Tall guy with bad haircut
Guys and Gals at CE Pro, why don’t you guys take Mr. Hayes up on his suggestion and do a Consumer Reports style comparison of his products and other leading manufacturers out there. I for one would love to see if products are as good as people are claiming them to be.
There are already lots of folks doing these types of comparisons including CE Pro. As a dealer I always found these a good starting point…but never really trusted all of what I read.
I found that bringing them inhouse for trial by my team was always more helpful because we usually did something different, or had some application requirement that was specific…so we were able to combine the “reviews” with our own testing to decide on what worked best for us.
Most good manufacturers (Snap AV included) will gladly make it easy for you to try their stuff. Some make it difficult, but that is just additional data when considering which manufacturers you buy from.
Cheers,
Steve
Anyhome—
Nice idea, but we’re not in the position to do CR-type product comparisons. Well, we could do them but don’t think it’s the best use of our resources.
Dealers themselves are in the best position to do such comparisons, based not just on product performance but on other factors like pricing, return policies, mfr support, the dealer’s own capabilities, etc.
All manufacturers claim to have good products. Some dealers will agree. Others will disagree. I might agree. Some of my colleagues might disagree…
As a client of SnapAV for about a year and a half, I can speak to say that the quality of product is excellent for the price point.
We actually replaced a lot of product lines in builder market with SnapAV products and we use their products in our showroom as well.
I visited a Zobo store in the fall of last year just to see if they really use their own stuff as well…guess what? They actually have quite a few products on a side by side to compare and to use in a choice process. To me that just means exactly what they have said. They want to save the dealer money on the items that “fit” the needs of their clients. They aren’t trying to replace every brand that you sell.
As for their tech support? Pretty phenominal in my book. I have had a few bricks come to me…as well as an installed item or two that quit working as we expected that it should…the result…we were shipped replacement items, pretty much no questions asked and did not even have to pay the freight on returning the others, they just told me to dispose of those particular pieces instead of the hassle…that is a great relationship - one that is trusting of their dealer base.
did you design this?? http://grandviewscreen.com/en/Product.asp?SortPath=0,108,123,158,&ID=158
Snap AV makes some of the cheapest Chinese products out there. Yes, margins are good, but you get what you pay for. I’m happy that he’s made a good business for himself, and I wish him well, I just won’t be using his products.