Walmart Offering TV, PC, Home Theater Installation

There is definitely a market out there for cheap 2-7 in-wall/ceiling speaker installs. Hopefully they will be forced to play by the same rules as those of us required to have a contractors license and OSHA 10/30 training.

I was on several projects this week with different integrators that I witnessed installing $75K+ home systems.  Wal-Mart employees dress more for the job and act more appropriately than most all of the integrators I saw this week.  In one case, I watched in awe as a company owner stood up while speaking to his client who was sitting down and the technicians in their low-rise pants and gel-infused hair sat slumped down on the clients white linen sofa. On another project, outside a finished home, technicians were smoking and using language that would gain an NC-17 rating in a movie, while windows were open and the clients children were all about the property.  Tolerating this has become too common in our industry, and makes Wal-Mart a good alternative in some ways.

UGH… N.E.W is hands down one of the worst companies I have ever dealt with. Good luck getting your warranty even submited with them properly, let alone honored. The problem with going to Walmart is that no one in the store knows anything about the installation process. And you don’t know what you’re going to get from one of the 11,000 integrators in the network either.

This is actually outsourced to China - you received a long distance phone call from someone speaking broken english that walks you through the installation. Of course the call comes at night since that is when they are awake…

You asked for it, when you catch those idiots you can hand them a copy of this article i wrote titled “How to get your clients to perceive you as a professional” : http://wiremunky.com/?p=448

All i can say is “good luck” to anyone who purchases the wal-mart installation card. Hopefully the installers have insurance to cover the damage.

Nice.  So they’re targeting low-ball installations with NO intention of supporting them after the fact, even though they include a “follow up visit.”

“...so Wal-Mart customers can feel confident they can still depend on Geek Squad for tech support.”

What do they mean by “certified” installers?

The saddest is part is not has Walmart only created a “price” in peoples head for CE products but now they will think “this is all its costs” for a “”“professional”“” install…same thing home depot did to contractors… sad.. this industry is in trouble and ive been here for 16 years.

No worries Brian.  It’s a big market and any damage that comes in the wake of this news should have negligible effects on the clientelle that understands, appreciates and pays for quality service.

Stay focused.  We are not Wal-Mart or Best Buy.  In fact, maybe we should thank them for providing us with some fantastic customer qualifications!  Any time your initial consultation starts with, “I was at Wal-Mart and they said…”  You can nip it in the bud and determine how quickly to high tail it out of their and find a qualified customer (or convert them to a qualified customer if you like the challenge).

Good luck Walmart.  11,000 certified installers?  Same as above comments, what exactly is certified?  If you do the math the average is 220 installers in every state. (Doubtful)  I have pictures from a simple flat screen installation contracted out by circuit city when they were in business.  The installation was the worst I’ve ever seen. (I could go on, I’ll save it for another day).  I’m sure he was certified as well.  I love all these companies claiming huge networks of installers.  Works as a great lure to a big sucker.  Should be fun to sit back and watch it flop.

Guys, you are acting like little girls.  My customers don’t shop at Wal-Mart and if they did it would be for some toothpaste and not a TV.  With that being said, who sells TV’s anymore that you could by at Wal-Mart?  With no margin in them anyways you are wasting your time if someone calls you and wants you to price match WM. 

This change is going to do nothing more then to provide the lower to middle class a service for when they buy their Blue Light Special TV.  I doubt many that buy their TV from WM would justify the cost to even have the TV installed. 

Best Buy has been providing install services for years and many more of my customers go there then they do to WM. If you are concerned about this article and how it is going to effect your business, then stop reading it and go figure out a way to differentiate your business cause you are selling to the wrong customer.

Diseconomies of scale.

This is like establishing a nation-wide trunk slammer company. They will not employ the sharpest tools in the shed and clients will get mediocre customer install, service for follow-ups and repairs. I just ordered custom shades from Lowe’s – it takes 60 days from ordering to install and they got my order wrong, missed a window while measuring and delayed the install three times already. Can you imagine the parallels of this example with Wal-Mart and CE?

This will only pose a real threat to the small installer in the initial phases. Although, they may acquire an integration company with some sharp minds in order to penetrate the higher level of custom integration.

Bottom line: The future is in innovation, service and relationships revolving around clients. Wal-Mart will always sell TV’s, but all the other revenue streams that are incorporated into an integration project will remain in the hands of a chosen few who know how to truly integrate them.

OK CEDIA members. Are you ready to put your money where your mouth is. Many of us, 39 Cent included, have wanted about this type of market shift.

So lets begina SUPPORT CUSTOM Campaign. Any manufacturer who sells products to Walmart obviously isn’t interested in supporting the custom channel. There willingness to cloud the market with this low end sale is more important to their bottem line. So if the custom channel boycotts these lines then our voice is heard. Then when the Walmart relationship with these vendors changes they pay the price. We have a voice and power. BUT ONLY IF WE USE IT.

Just bitching about it on blog and to the reps means nothing. While we do this they are still laughing to the bank.

Yes Walmart is viable business for some. I doubt the quality of the work but we need to make a stand. NO PRODUCT sold there should receive the support of CEDIA dealers. I don’t care if its Sony, Vizio whoever. Enough already. Support those who support US. I just had a client tell me that he received a quote for a theater chair company direct himself. No dealer! Under cutting our quote. So what can I do. Never buy from this company again and tell my fellow CEDIA colleagues.

Remember back when the big boy ignored CEDIA in the early days. Then when we became a real stream of revenue and power they developed programs and came calling. Well they’ve forgotten once again and this all ties into the problem we see everywhere of GREED.

STAND UP AND TAKE ACTION NOW.

They are not interested in what we have to say. We make up a teeny tiny fraction of their (CE product manufacturers) customer base.

They look at the numbers and see 100 items sold by CI firms and 100,000 sold by walmart. If they make $50 on every item the CI sells and $1 on every item walmart sells you are looking at $5000 vs $100,000.

All you can do is treat CE products like drywall screws.. just another no profit sku on the truck, that we need to complete the installation.

Redesign your business model so that it does not require profit from product. Stop trying to beat them and join them by sourcing your gear from Amazon. When all the distributors shut down everything will be sold directly to consumers via Amazon and we dont have to deliver TV’s anymore .

With crap like this in the home theater marketplace:

http://www.parts-express.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?Partnumber=110-439&vReviewShow=1&vReviewRand=2818820

it’s no wonder that Wal-Mart is finding a niche.

To JoeAV & 39,
I agree with both of you 100%, but this scenario is nothing new. My installation staff are all Cedia Certified, but it’s as worthless as being a PARA member, (If they still exist). I don’t need a Cedia logo or sticker on my door to gain recognition. Past performance, talent, and reputation in a referral only business are far more valuable then paying another organization dues to belong to. Not to mention, when’s the last time you had a client ask if you were Cedia Certified? Then just input that into this equation/question, “When was the last time a Wallmart customer asked if their staff was Cedia Certified.” Who cares!!!

Let’s face facts. Cedia was designed around the idea that a client could take comfort in knowing that the company/installers they hire meet a certain standard of knowledge and professionalism. So was PARA when it came to retailing. Does anyone think a Wallmart customer has any idea of what these organizations are? Absolutely not! Wallmart customers are more interested trying to find out why, “These BVD’s are classified as irregular.”

Don’t be fooled JoeAV… Do yourself a favor and say goodbye to bulls**t Cedia & CES shows that are not only inconvenient to see everything within a reasonable distance, (Atlanta), and expensive to attend, (hotel, air fare, etc.), to only be put within a herd of other dealers and given only “X” amount of time with a specific manufacturer.

Let’s also not forget the typical manufacturers’ working products on display at these shows… Prototypes still in Beta testing… (I won’t mention any names but one rhymes with Escient), that are promised for delivery in November while you’re there. Then, you’ll soon discover, (after you’ve proposed and sold their product based on the info you received at Cedia), that it will not be available until sometime in 2010.   

You’re absolutely right 39! Not only do the manufacturer’s not care what we think because of our purchasing power, for decades they have used us to build up their brand recognition and leave us in the dust for the next highest bidder.

The only solution is to embrace the cards we have been dealt and adapt to business models we may not be used to. Personally, I’m stealing Wallmarts’ original idea of a hiring a door greater. However, I might also steal and combine “Hooter’s” business model into the mix to allure new clients. Thus, anytime we want to sell anything with the the word “extended” in the catch phrase, at least we stand a chance.

Just another reason for me to go back to big a Telecom to make a living. Walmart and other big box stores have driven hardware profit to nothing and now they’ll drive installation to un-sustainable levels. Good luck to consumers who want quality electronics and installations….

CEDIA is a pyramid scheme… just not sure who’s benefiting yet.

A little history lesson. CEDIA was started so guys like you could have a job. In the days of BC, (Before CEDIA), you could not buy Denon or Sony. The common practice was to buy from a retail outlet and hope to get paid for your travel time, since mark up was hard to justify.
What CEDIA has become is another topic altogether. They do need to add to the value of membership.
By the way, if home automation continues as it as planned, and every home in the US will be required to have some energy saving equipment, we will need a lot more than all of the installers currently in existance.
And those jobs will contain as much excitement as doing a VCR service all in low income housing. It is better to spend your time defining your own direction rather than that of WalMart.

Don Calley - good points
I’m a Jerk - Well yes it appears you are
CEDIA - Yes it has fallen into the very trap and function that everybody hated about the others and pushed to have CEDIA created.

To the rest, my point isn’t about the Sony’s and LG’s of the world. They are a ship that we can’t direct BUT we sure as hell can support the smaller newer guys we are looking to build their business through the CEDIA channel. If you look at the distribution of products you aren’t happy with, there is almost always a CHOICE of a smaller, more CEDIA friendly option.

Yes Don CEDIA is what got the big boys to the table but it was a bunch of smaller, newer and hungrier firms that help build CEDIA into what it is today. Look back at all the products we all used to install that are gone today. Not that they shoulnd’t, or it could have been avoided, but if the CEDIA members better supported the options then THE OPTIONS might stay around and grow.

For many the art of selling the product has long gone. A shame as the ripple effect is huge.