Overheard at LG’s 84-in 4K Launch Party
Frank Lloyd Wright Meets Klingon Empire in High-Tech Home
CCTV Security Reaches the Cloud
Florida 'White House' Features Fully Integrated SystemAll Blog Entries
By Chuck Schneider
About 40 years have passed for many of us since we installed our first phono cartridge. As we “lifers” get close to filing for Social Security and Medicare, CE Pro felt that some recognition was deserved. That’s how the CE Pro Masters idea was launched.
In my wildest dreams, I never thought consumer electronics would turn out to be my life’s work. When I applied to the little stereo store near Boston University in April 1969, I was looking for a part-time job - beer and pot money. (Unlike Bill Clinton, I inhaled, and so did you.)
The consumer electronics industry just sucked me in. It was fun. There was passion. And it was cool. Back in the 1970s, there were very few cool jobs. You could work in a record store, a camera shop, a head shop or a stereo shop. That was it. Any other employment was working for the establishment, “da man.” Heck, you might as well be employed by the evil Dow Chemical as be a cashier in a supermarket.
Turns out I was hardly alone. We Baby Boomers built this entire industry. As the 70s became the 80s, many of us got plucked off retail sales floors all over America and became trainers or regional sales managers for the manufacturers we loved to sell. Some of us became powerful buyers while others started our very own shops. As time passed, a goodly number of us climbed even higher.
Who I Am Nominating
My thoughts of who belongs on this list of 50 are pretty focused. I’m digging deep. I’m not looking for CEOs of national chains. Those guys get…
By Jason Knott
One of the roles of CE Pro is to introduce and advocate for new potential technologies to integrators. CEDIA plays a similar role as the industry’s primary organization. Long before they have become viable money-making product categories, we’ve written about things like shade control, smart thermostats, surveillance cameras, etc.
We look at everything. Sometimes it ends up becoming a staple of many dealers’ businesses, sometimes it doesn’t.
The home health care/aging-in-place technology category shows every possible indication of growth, but more and more I am becoming convinced that it is not going to be a long-term viable product category for integrators. Instead, I think it will primarily be sold directly to consumers.
Demographic data from the Center for Aging Services Technologies suggests the opportunities with the aging Baby Boomer generation are staggering:
- 80 percent of Baby Boomers say they are willing to pay $100-plus per month for technologies to stay independent & in their own home
- 0 percent of Baby Boomers say they want to live in a nursing home - even if they or a spouse has a debilitating illness
- 89 percent of Baby Boomers want to live at home
- Nine out of 10 anticipate technology will help them live longer and more independently
- In 2030 there will be 70 million seniors (double in only 30 years)
- By the year 2050 there will be 1 million people over 100 years old
- Two-thirds of all people that have ever lived to age 65 are alive today
So why is it that whenever CE Pro wants to write about integrators who are having success in the space, we have trouble finding more than one company? According…
By Chuck Schneider
Might your plumber have a better handle on all that it takes to run a successful business than you do? How about your lawn guy? Your electrician? The local appliance store owner?
Each of them just might.
Certainly not in the realm of work quality or knowledge; you know you’re the best in those arenas and no one is more up-to-the-nanosecond than you. Yet sometimes it’s just the smallest morsel of gumption that differentiates the wheat from the chaff. No guts, unlikely glory.
Awhile back the bulb that lights up my cooktop from my over-the-range microwave blew out. After unscrewing it and examining it I concluded it was a shape and size I’d never seen. With a Google search or two I found it on an appliance parts site - $4.95 plus two bucks to ship it. Finally determining that it was not available at Home Depot or Lowes, I printed the data, put the dead bulb in my pocket and headed off to my local appliance sales and service shop.
I walked in under the shop’s awning that proudly proclaims “Servicing Our Customers Since 1945” and strolled to the counter. One of the owners asked if she could help. I showed her the bulb. She nodded and took off to her back room returning in less than two minutes.
“$11.95 plus tax,” she said ever so matter of factly.
I pulled out my little sheet of paper and explained “It’s only about seven bucks shipped on the Internet.”
“And your point is?” she deadpanned.
“Well, uh ...” I was fumbling badly and wussing out worse.
“Look.” She was smiling again. “I’m…
By Julie Jacobson
Although Jeremy Burkhardt’s bid to buy Soundcast fell through, he left us with a super-creative sales idea: sell products—in this case wireless outdoor speakers—at tailgate parties.
“I am going to equip all of our sales reps with credit card readers on their iPhones and send them to every USC and UCLA football game to sell speakers in the parking lot,” he said. “They will scan the credit card right there. Everyone having a tailgating party is going to want one of these speakers … and why wouldn’t they, especially when they find out they can stream music directly from their phone to the speaker and get high-quality music.”
And remember, the Soundcast Outcast speakers are skinnable, so we can assume that Burkhardt would have stocked up on USC- and UCLA-emblazoned units.
Assuming that tailgate peddling is legal, it’s a genius idea: If the customers aren’t coming to you, go to them.
It’s hardly a novel idea. Vivint has been going door-to-door for years, catching homeowners at the very place they might want a security or automation system.
I’ve had contractors come by the house pointing out dead trees they could remove right then and there. Likewise with industrious students who might shovel snow or mow the lawn when you need it most.
Why aren’t the rest of us going to the customer and selling services on the spot? When a big storm looms (or passes), do you target the area with back-up generators and power protection products? When cinema buffs exit a movie all stoked with adrenaline, do you show them how they can…
News, Blogs, Business Resources, (6) Comments, Permalink
By Jason Knott
An integrator recently revealed to me that he, unfortunately, had to file a lawsuit and lien against one of his clients. It was a long-term, nearly two-year-long project where the homeowner was consistently a burr in the saddle with every contractor on the job, not just him.
When the job finally came to a conclusion, the homeowner said he wasn’t going to pay the final 5 percent, for various reasons.
Sadly, some integrators tell me they make sure they’ve made their necessary profit prior to the final payment, just in case the client gets testy or wants to negotiate based on seemingly unmet expectations.
Short of filing a lien, how do you make sure you get paid for the final 5 percent of 10 percent? Here are three options:
Plant a “Time Bomb:” One programmer told me it’s not uncommon to include a three-month “time bomb clause” in the code on behalf of the integrator that will render the home automation system inoperable. If the homeowner hasn’t made that final payment within three months of the job completion, the clause takes effect. Integrators need to be upfront and let the client know that this code is being placed in the control software from the very beginning.
Withhold Keypad Engraving: Shawn Hansson of Logic Integration, a CE Pro 100 company in Colorado, says his installation contract stipulates that the company will not engrave or label the keypad buttons until after the final payment is made. It makes sense; what good are keypads if the homeowner doesn’t know what each button does?
Get a Credit Card: Ron Roslasky…
Bill Skaer, Old Fart
By Julie Jacobson
In recognition of their many years of service to the custom electronics industry, 50 Old Farts will be named by CE Pro in a special issue of the magazine.
“We felt it was important to recognize golden oldies like Dennis Erskine, who continue to work for our industry through bladder-control issues, poor vision and other old-person maladies,” says CE Pro editor Jason Knott.
A team of editors and industry experts will select the 50 Old Farts, based on criteria such as age, years in the industry, hair loss, number of teeth and ailments such as arthritis and memory loss.
“I can’t remember the last time we got a little respect around here,” says CEDIA board member and Old Fart Bill Skaer. “In fact, I can’t remember much of anything.”
Steven Hill of Straight Wire, one of the Worst Booth Babes of CEDIA 2012, is lobbying for a slot in the 50 Old Farts list but has concerns about the awards ceremony.
“I don’t know if I’ll have the stamina to walk to the dais nor the strength to carry an award,” he says. “But I look forward to several servings of prunes and applesauce.”
CEDIA is already making preparations to accommodate the Old Farts at Expo 2013 in Denver.
“Not that I know exactly what ails Old Farts, but we will do our best to accommodate them,” says CEDIA COO Don Gilpin, who will not be eligible for an award until 2019.
CEDIA volunteers will be available to push wheelchairs and Powerpoint presentations will be prepared with extra-large fonts.
Adult diapers will be furnished upon request for Old Farts like Dave…
Working with Sanus, Safekids.org offers an excellent report on “The Dangers of TV Tip-Overs.” Why not use the piece when pitching your clients on TV installs?
By Julie Jacobson
In a tragic incident in a Birmingham, Ala., airport, a flight information board holding three digital displays toppled over, killing a 10-year-old boy and seriously injuring three family members.
Apparently, the 300-pound board had no brackets anchoring it to the wall.
Meanwhile, over at RemoteCentral.com, integrators are talking about “home theater installers” who will mount a 60-inch TV for $125.
That should scare the pants off a consumer. Unfortunately, it doesn’t.
Safety should be a major selling point when you pitch a customer on your “expensive” TV mounting installs.
Need help with that message? Sanus offers plenty of marketing tools to promote TV safety.
It may sound macabre, but now might be a good time to offer a TV safety audit for customers and prospects, especially if you’re in the Philadelphia area.
Fake Time Warner Cable customer service reps: What can we do to make your lives more miserable?
By Julie Jacobson
Is Time Warner Cable striving hard enough to make their service terrible for customers?
Two fake customer service reps ask people on the street how TWC can make their lives worse.
One guy says his Internet service only cuts out about once per week. Maybe TWC can increase that figure to twice per week.
Longer hold times, perhaps?
If they would have asked me, I would have suggested that TWC provide just a few more menus to click through before actually getting to video on demand.
I might suggest as well that instead of paying only 25 percent more than new customers, we loyal customers pay 2x as much.
RELATED: Time Warner Cable: Worst TV Interface Ever?
Check out this hilarious video.
Ed Dalesandro, principal of End Result Inc. in Pittsburgh, is just one of several independent reps that has recently held a successful training and product showcase event in his local market.
By Jason Knott
It wasn’t too long ago there was an ongoing debate about the value of independent reps as audio firms jettisoned the sales channel in favor of direct-to-consumer plays. But one thing is for certain, reps around the country are holding successful one- and two-day events filled with manufacturer’s training that give integrators the ability to have valued “face time” with suppliers.
In addition to the many other services reps offer, especially design advice and counsel physically on jobsites, these events appear to be filling a much-needed void for dealers to connect in their local markets.
Just last week Sapphire Marketing held its Boston Roadshow, and the rep firm End Result in Pittsburgh also reports holding a well-attended, high-energy event. Meanwhile, 11 rep firms in Southern California are combining to hold the third-annual Technology and Business Summit on May 21 and 23; in 2012, more than 350 integrators attended. All three events signal that the market appears to be on the upswing.
End Result, which has been around since 1983, held its 12th annual electronics expo for home A/V and 12-volt retailers on March 6 at the Fort Rapids Resort & Convention Center in Columbus, Ohio. The show, themed “Get Better,” offered dealers a chance to preview a unique line-up of products, attend educational seminars, manufacturers’ training sessions, and networking opportunities, and participate in roundtable discussions.
A snowstorm did not deter the more than 117 attendees who packed such seminars as, “How to Increase Floor Traffic,” “How to Compete with the Internet,” “Projector and…
By Chuck Schneider
Chicago, January 1976. Not just Chicago, but the Conrad Hilton Hotel, then the Crown Jewel of the Magnificent Mile in Chicago. Back when the International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) was a twice-a-year event and both shows were in the Windy City.
It was 5:30 p.m. when I walked unnoticed into the Grand Ballroom. Some very important men were gathered in small groups holding adult beverages and talking amongst themselves. I recognized a few of them from trade magazine photos. There was Jack Luskin from Baltimore chatting with Alan Wurtzel from the Ward’s Company (before Ward’s decided that Circuit City was a way cooler name). In another group stood Dick Lewis (of Newmark) yucking it up with Dave and Gene Mondry from Highland in Detroit and Saul Gold, the executive director of the NATM Buying Corp.
Each of those men is in the Consumer Electronics Association Hall of Fame. They were the leaders of the Forty Thieves, the affectionate but somewhat damning nickname for the National Association of Television Merchants (NATM). The 16 (which may have seemed like 40) members of NATM were the most powerful hard goods retail force in America well into the 1980s.
I had recently been hired as the youngest buyer in Boston-based (and original NATM Member) Lechmere’s history. I bought Hi-Fi/Stereo, considered an emerging category. Lechmere was no shrinking violet in NATM. The founding Cohen family (also each a CEA Hall of Famer) had recently sold their four-store chain to Dayton-Hudson Corporation, which had also just purchased Target Stores. Either Lechmere or Target was going to be Dayton-Hudson’s choice to nationally go head-to-head with then discount leader K-Mart and/or Sam…
- TV where you want it, when you want it - Auton Motorized Systems
- AV Mounts for any display, any structure, any application. 100% Satisfaction Guarantee. - Crimson AV
- New! VDV 2. 0 TEST KIT… Cut/Strip/Terminate/Test - Platinum Tools
- Outdoor Weatherproof TVs – Performance you can trust. Reliability you can count on. - Sèura
- Control and automate A/V, lighting and shades from any smart phone with GAVA - Gefen
- Luxul Xen™ — Networking Simplified - Luxul
- National Distributor offering CE and IT products backed by premier customer service - D&H Distributing
- Low Voltage Audio, Video & Data Installation Products for the Pros - Arlington Industries
- Discover how to integrate iTunes without an iPod dock. Converge with a higher standard. - Autonomic Controls
