Just as reviews have become a vital element in the lifeblood of an integrator’s business, they also are important to manufacturers and distributors. For many suppliers, the 2018 CE Pro Quest for Quality Awards can be more valuable than all the 5-star reviews from Yelp, Google and Facebook combined because the Q4Q Awards recognize outstanding service, not products, by manufacturers and distributors.
Now in its eighth year, the Q4Q Awards are coveted because they represent the individuals behind the scenes that work hard every day to satisfy integrators with tech support, warranty administration, dealer programs/incentives, lead generation, shipping policies, dealer protection policies, trade show presences, website, dealer portal, social media presence, training programs, sales and marketing help, RMR support, software support, and general communication.
This year, one new category was added to the slate: co-op advertising program. Many manufacturers offer integrators incentives to use their logo or products in the marketing, helping dealers to offset the cost of advertising their latest solutions.
In the end, people like doing business with people they trust and like. The better support integrators receive from their suppliers, the better services they ultimately are able to offer to their end-user clients.
For those unfamiliar with the CE Pro Q4Q program, it is quite difficult to win because the respondents are required to type in the name of the supplier — there are no dropdown menus to choose from. We asked the winning companies to express why they dealers honored them, and several have provided photos of their teams so you can see the faces behind the voices.
As in past years, we’ve also included a “Category Kudos” to recognize suppliers that perhaps do not have the strength in sheer voting numbers as the larger companies honored but were passionately singled out by dealers.
Check out your favorite suppliers about their ongoing quest for superior service and support, and discover new ones that pique your interest.
Manufacturers
Customer Service/General Communication
PLATINUM – Control4
“We are incredibly grateful and excited to have won in this category. Over the years, we’ve made many improvements in how we interact with our dealers, and how they interact with us. By combining our customer service and accounts receivable staff, we save dealers time and frustration by being able to address all of their needs at once. With our dealer portal, we provide immediate information on orders, invoices, and tracking information, VIR status, Premier status, a payment portal, and much more. Whether our dealers call us, email us, or log into our dealer portal, we want them to have the most helpful experience possible.” —Amy Longaker, Sales Support Manager
GOLD – SnapAV
“The role of a SnapAV Customer Satisfaction Specialist is to help solve dealer pain points. All of our specialists are empowered to make that happen in the best possible way. Our team’s number one objective — our motto, even — is to ‘wow’ integrators and help them succeed. And we do that by instilling a customer culture that goes above and beyond the call of duty.” —Dawn Boland, Vice President, Customer Care
SILVER – Elk Products
“We understand the importance of our customers’ time and strive to provide a prompt and pleasant experience with every interaction. Our live operators quickly connect customers to a friendly and knowledgeable staff member with little or no hold time. Our customer service staff has a sincere desire to help customers get answers to their questions and resolve any problems. We are always eager to hear feedback from our customers as their opinions inspire us to keep improving. We know understanding our customers’ needs is important to helping them succeed and ensuring their satisfaction.” —Bao Xiong, Customer Service
Technical Support
PLATINUM – SnapAV
“All year long, our technical support management team was focused on winning Platinum. Every decision we made, and every opportunity was focused on getting that award. We even asked dealers: what can we do for you in order to win Platinum? The support piece of that role was very important, but along with the execution, I really do credit the strong team dynamic technical support has as a group. They really pull together as a team and make things happen.” —Dawn Boland, Vice President, Customer Care
GOLD – Elk Products
“Everyone on our support team is dedicated to ensuring that each person who contacts us receives the best service and support possible. Our support agents have a passion for problem solving and are equipped with extensive knowledge of our products to make sure integrators get the resolutions they need, quickly and accurately. At Elk we treat each other as family and we want our customers to feel like they are part of the family as well.” —Brad Weeks, Technical Support Manager
SILVER – Control4
“Control4's world-class support experience stems from the mindset that we are partners with our dealers in every way. Our dealers’ success is Contol4's success. Our dealers do not call a stereotypical technical support call center, they call their partners at Control4 Support and Advocacy; the majority of whom are custom installation and network professionals with decades of combined, in-field experience in the roles of installation and service technicians, project managers, and business owners. Our team considers themselves on-the-job with our valued dealers, providing uniquely-exceptional support experiences — with a commitment of 100 percent resolution—even if that requires putting a resource on a plane.” —Scott Jeffery, Sr. Director Worldwide Support Services
Lead Generation
PLATINUM – Nest
“Nest products are more than just an on/off switch. They’re about making homes more thoughtful by providing them with comfort, security and energy savings. And our (and your) customers love it. Nest Pros are able to leverage not only Nest’s trusted product suite, but also the Nest brand and resources. This technology enables Nest Pros to build a long term, trusted relationship with new and existing customers. And that connection goes both ways. With the Nest Pro Finder, customers looking for installations services are able to find and connect with professionals. Over the lifetime of the Nest Pro Program, Nest has delivered over 90,000 leads directly to professionals.” —Rachel Sterling, Global Marketing Lead, Pro & SMB
GOLD – Lutron
“Lutron's number one company principle is to take care of the customer. What distinguishes us from others is our ability to listen to our customers' needs, and do our best to deliver innovative products, sales programs, and marketing tools that help them to grow their business and bring value to their clients.” —Michael Smith, Vice President, Sales
SILVER – URC
“Our robust public website, call center and lead generation program combine to connect URC end user customers with our extensive network of highly-trained custom installation professionals around the world. Whether a customer is looking to create the ultimate home theater, build the smart home of their dreams or learn more about our commercial automation and control solutions, we strive to foster the best user experience from project inception through completion. We believe that making the proper connection is critical to delivering the highest level of system design, customization, integration and support available in the industry.” —Anne Gattoni, Director, Marketing and Communications
Sales/Marketing Assistance
PLATINUM – Sony
“Our national network of manufacturer’s representatives and ES technical trainers, the best in the industry, provide Sony CIS dealers with the local support they need to grow their business, including product training, promotional updates, marketing plans and more.” —Joshua Sy, Sales and Marketing Operations Manager, A/V Specialty/Custom Install
GOLD – Dana Innovations
“Dana Innovations believes that we can only be as great as the people within our organization. We have built our foundation around a culture of supportive, collaborative, and motivated individuals working together for the greater good; to bring quality, reliable products to our customers with the confidence that our support and tools will empower them to be successful in the field. We are honored to be recognized by our customers with such high regard as a quality brand in so many categories. We promise to continue to bring the highest level of support to our partners.”
SILVER – Control4
“We want to help share a vision of home automation with consumers and, in order to do so, we strive to provide high-quality, polished materials and support in a wide variety of ways for our dealers. Our tactics, campaigns, and materials are all developed with our dealers in mind, and we use their feedback to help us strategize new and different approaches and opportunities. Our entire team is committed to helping our dealers thrive, because we know their success is our success.” —Brad Hintze, Sr. Director of Product Marketing
RMR Support Programs
PLATINUM – Control4
“We're committed to helping our dealers become more efficient, and changing the way they are servicing and supporting their customers is a great place to start. With heavy investments in BakPak, and the recent acquisition of Ihiji, we are extending our commitment to dealers by building the most robust remote management platform. By focusing on remote management solutions, we are creating a new day-to-day routine for dealers that consists of fewer truck rolls and a more proactive way to service and support clients.” —Paul Williams, VP of Product Management
GOLD – Luxul
“Luxul’s RMR program is entirely built around benefiting the dealer. Luxul takes the time to educate our dealers not only on the hardware side — how to set up and use remote management — but also on the business side — how to set up an RMR program for AV projects. We also make it an easy sell for the dealer with Domotz already built in to our routers; the only thing they have to do is sell is themselves (the service).” —Mike Grubb, VP of Marketing
SILVER – Domotz
“Domotz was founded on the idea that we could help custom installation professionals take better care of their customers, become more efficient, and improve their bottom line. We’re proud to see so many of our dealers doing exactly that. Where Domotz Pro really shines is how fast it is for dealers to deploy and how simple it is to use. With a database consisting of billions of devices along with a brand-agnostic approach, setup is mostly automated. Literally in a few minutes, dealers can have a remote monitoring and management (RMM) system up and running, know exactly what devices are on the network, and start monitoring the health and status of those devices. No other RMM system makes it so simple or supports such a wide range of devices to give pro installers complete flexibility in the brands they choose to install and service.” —Steve Crabb, Customer Experience Director
Software Support
PLATINUM – D-Tools
“CE Pro Quest for Quality Awards are one of the most meaningful in my book because they are voted on by thousands of industry professionals who actually use the products and services under consideration. Winning the Best Software Support award two years in a row is particularly gratifying because it is a direct reflection on our efforts over these past couple of years to focus our attention and energy on customer success. It warms my heart to know that our customers feel like we are there for them, not only through the software implementation process, but also in their pursuit of building successful businesses.” —Randy Stearns, CEO
GOLD – iPoint
“One of the iPoint core values is to recognize success through the success of others. It has been our culture from day one not to focus on selling software, but rather to work with our community members to understand what they need to be successful. Because of this philosophy we have a comprehensive on boarding process that includes daily phone calls from us checking on our new community members and assisting them with live support through every step of the implementation process. We also provide unlimited live support for our entire community to ensure they are continually maximizing the impact iPoint can have on their life and their business.” —Brian Good, VP of Sales & Marketing
SILVER – ProjX360
“Doug [Greenwald] and the team at ProjX360 are always available to step us through any solutions and help us take advantage of the software’s capabilities to its fullest.” —Verbatim response from reader
Warranty Policies
PLATINUM – Crestron
“Besides our fantastic standard warranties on our products, Crestron’s flagship warranty policy is our limited lifetime warranty for residential lighting control, shade motors and speakers. As the leading producer of intelligent home automation solutions, we are uncompromising in our need for efficiency ensuring our technology is exceptional, always and we stand by our technology so our dealers can stand by it, like no other.” —Michael Short, Global Residential Marketing Manager
GOLD – SnapAV
“If there’s an overarching theme in our entire business, it’s that we — as ex-integrators — understand how expensive and painful it can be for products to have issues in the field. In my opinion, that’s why we’ve got the best warranty in the industry — because we’re focused on customers first. The reason we can be so confident in our warranty strength is specifically because we’ve made such a huge investment in quality — whether that’s in expanding our teams, our equipment testing, or our development processes. It’s why we can stand behind each product we sell.” —David Moore, Vice President of Software and Engineering
SILVER – Sony
“Our ES products, built specifically for custom integration, come with class-leading warranties, 60-day A-stock advance exchange and a dedicated, U.S.-based support line.” —Joshua Sy, Sales and Marketing Operations Manager, A/V Specialty/Custom Install
Shipping Policies
PLATINUM – Control4
“An incredible amount of thought and consideration goes into our shipping policies, including how quickly parts arrive to our dealers and how much they're spending on freight charges. We provide a free ground shipping minimum to all of our dealers and provide increased free shipping benefits for our buying group and premier dealers. Having multiple, worldwide warehouses allows us to be able to ship 60-percent of our daily orders the same day, and 90-percent ship within two business days. For our dealers with expedited shipping needs, our dealer portal provides an instant quote for various shipping methods, which enables our dealers to make the best decisions for their business.” —Amy Longaker, Sales Support Manager
GOLD – SnapAV
“We understand the dealer, which is why we’ve created so many integrator-friendly shipping policies: same-day shipping on orders before 7 p.m. EST, expedited delivery, that kind of thing; these are key ways to help integrators grow their businesses. Plus, we’re always looking for new opportunities to serve our customers, so be on the lookout for improvement.” —Nathan Porter, Vice President of Operations
SILVER – Origin Acoustics
“Origin Acoustics continually exceeds our expectations. If they are out of stock in an item they automatically upgrade our customers to the next best level of product. We've even had clients order $500 speakers and get $2,500 speakers in place of them! Who does that? Origin Acoustics does that!” —Verbatim response from reader
Dealer/Integrator Website
PLATINUM – SnapAV
“We wanted to continue building solutions for our dealers based on their feedback, and the best way to do that was to transition to a modern e-commerce platform. And we continue to focus on what dealers want, so in the last year, we’ve built time-saving tools and features like the new Rack Builder and online return authorizations. We’re committed to making our website useful for our dealers’ business process, whether that’s product training, building quotes, or placing orders.” —Bike Howard, Vice President, eCommerce
GOLD – Dana Innovations
“Dana Innovations believes in supporting our dealers in a way that makes it easy for them to access the tools they need to be successful. We listen to our customers and we continually strive to provide helpful content through avenues that are convenient for the way our customers work in the field. We are honored by the recognition for our efforts in keeping our website relevant for their needs.”
SILVER – Control4
“We are honored to continue to provide dealers a unique and efficient experience using the Control4 portal. We set ourselves apart by offering them an eCommerce platform, not only for our core line of automation, networking, and speaker products, but also for a growing list of partner products that complement every installed Control4 system. The Control4 portal also provides dealers with a best-in-class support section with online chat, knowledgebase, and RMA submission. The new training platform gives technicians a place to level-up their skills with certifications such as PCNA. We will continue to innovate and build web tools for dealers to run their businesses online as efficiently as possible with industry-leading technology.” —JD Cargile, Director of Web Applications
Consumer-Facing Website
PLATINUM – Lutron
“Lutron's number one company principle is to take care of the customer. What distinguishes us from others is our ability to listen to our customers' needs, and do our best to deliver innovative products, sales programs, and marketing tools that help them to grow their business and bring value to their clients.” —Michael Smith, Vice President, Sales
GOLD – Savant
“Savant’s consumer-facing website was created to generate excitement for anyone researching the connected home experience. Accordingly, we kept the tech-talk to a minimum and focused on a clean design that helps cultivate leads for our network of integrators. At the end of the day, our job is to inspire anyone and everyone who visits savant.com, communicate how the Savant experience will improve their lifestyle and bring eager new customers face-to-face with our sales channel.” —Sarah Harrington, Corporate Marketing
SILVER – Alarm.com
“Alarm.com’s website referral system feeds us new customers consistently.” —Verbatim response from reader
Training Programs
PLATINUM – URC
“URC’s commitment to training has always been a cornerstone of our efforts to give our dealer community the best education possible. We truly appreciate the recognition from our loyal dealer base as well as the time they have invested becoming experts by taking advantage of our live sessions, vast e-learning library and weekly webinars. The upcoming year promises to be even better, including more detailed and engaging sessions from all of these methods as we educate dealers on Total Control, MX HomePro as well as Complete Control product lines.” —Russ Hoffman, Director, Training and Technical Support
GOLD – Crestron
“At Crestron we are dedicated to building partnerships with our dealers, and training is a huge part of this commitment. We make sure we offer the most in-depth training across an incredible number of locations as well as offering offline training including webinars. We consistently update our courses, we focus on the direct needs of the dealers, taking feedback and giving them the training they want and need. It’s a partnership between Crestron and our dedicated dealers and training is a huge part of that partnership.” —Michael Short, Global Residential Marketing Manager
SILVER – Control4
“Ask any dealership about technician training and you are likely to hear a list of complaints about the cost and hassle. And yet, at the same time, you'll often hear the same dealerships complain about how difficult it is to find and retain competent and experienced technicians. Control4 is changing that by offering training that is inexpensive, self-paced, designed to systematically develop technician expertise, and minimize the impact on a technician's billable time. The Pakedge Certified Network Administrator (PCNA) certification is Contol4's first program developed to specifically fulfill that promise. We combine engaging online content that technicians can move through at their own pace, with hands-on practice using real networking equipment that technicians can keep and use in their own homes. Technicians are developing the knowledge, skill, and experience required to install and configure great home networks.” —Rus Rasmussen, Director of Worldwide Training
Dealer Programs/Incentives
PLATINUM – Sony
“Sony is proud to be the most trusted A/V brand in custom integration today. Our award-winning CIS program for custom integrators delivers profitable products with cutting-edge performance, tightly controlled product distribution and best-in-class dealer support resources.” —Joshua Sy, Sales and Marketing Operations Manager, A/V Specialty/Custom Install
GOLD – Crestron
“Simply put, our dealer program and incentives are beyond anything and anyone else’s in the industry. The partnerships we create through these programs are about developing and growing together, and with over 30 different programs, incentives and partnership plans we are dedicated to continuing to offer our dealers incredible opportunities with Crestron.” —Michael Short, Global Residential Marketing Manager
SILVER – SnapAV
“Our goal is to create win-win scenarios with our dealers when we create an incentive program. With that in mind, we made some changes to our Partner Rewards program and our Holy Snap promotion in 2017. Dealers have really responded to both of those programs, which is fantastic; it means we’re achieving our goal. Any reward we offer needs to be in line with the integrators’ business. With a great incentive program, everybody wins.” —Adam Levy, EVP, Marketing and Customer Care
Dealer Protection Policies
PLATINUM – RTI
“At RTI, we are guided by a passion for creating products that enhance the user experience — day in and day out. To achieve this requires a great deal of technological innovation, a commitment to product design, and a network of dedicated, professional dealers. To that end, we are laser-focused on providing our dealers with the products and services they need to successfully elevate their business with RTI. Supporting our dealers also means protecting them from unauthorized resellers, and to do that we are committed to keeping RTI products off the internet. In addition to specifically outlining where NOT to buy RTI solutions, RTI products sold through unauthorized retailers are not eligible for any type of warranty, service or support. We also recently extended our warranty on all of our products to three years, furthering our commitment to superior product quality and dealer support. Lastly, RTI programming software is only available to authorized RTI dealers. As our products cannot be installed without the software, this helps to further deter online sales, while helping our dealers deliver the ultimate user experience.” —Mike Everett, Vice President of Global Sales, RTI
GOLD – Sony
“Our ES products, built specifically for custom integration, come with class-leading warranties, 60-day A-stock advance exchange and a dedicated, U.S.-based support line. To learn more about the award-winning CIS dealer program, visit sonypremiumhome.com.” —Joshua Sy, Sales and Marketing Operations Manager, A/V Specialty/Custom Install
SILVER – Control4
“Control4 success is built around the success of our dealers and their ability to grow their business. We have a natural alignment with our dealer base to ensure that our solutions are installed by talented and well-trained people so that end customers get to enjoy the full benefit and capabilities of the solutions we offer. As an organization, we strive to ensure that the dealers who represent our brand to the world have all been trained, certified, and are actively supported by Control4 to maximize their success for every installation, and we act quickly to address any instance of unauthorized sales or installations to protect our brand, our dealers, and our end customers from the tarnish resulting from a bad experience.” —Jeff Dungan, SVP Business Development and Supply Chain Operations
Trade Show Presence
PLATINUM – Dish
“Dish has an impressive presence at every trade show and conference, from the CE Pro Summit to CEDIA to CES.” —Verbatim response from reader
GOLD – Dana Innovations
“We recognize the opportunity that a trade show presents and we pride ourselves in our work and preparation to ensure we deliver a comprehensive experience to booth visitors. We continue to challenge ourselves to create a story that is fresh and representative of who we are as a brand. Our team has vision and passion for this level of effort and it shines in the way we present ourselves on the show floor.”
SILVER – IC Realtime
“Trade shows and industry events are our opportunity to come together with our dealers, customers, and partners. We view each tradeshow as a unique opportunity to reconnect with existing partners and forge new relationships face-to-face in an environment that’s reflective of the way we do business here at IC Realtime. Our dealer network does incredible work nationwide and we value their support beyond measure. Each conversation and interaction we have at industry events and trade shows is an opportunity to adjust the way we do business so we can best serve our customers, which is why we put so much thought into our trade show presence.” —Matt Sailor, CEO
Social Media Presence
PLATINUM – Sonos
“We try to connect with our fans through the lens of real homes and real moments in the home. We hope to inspire a better way of living through listening and creating a dialogue about it. It's not just about showing our product over and over, it's about telling a story people can relate to about how Sonos impacts your everyday life.” —Rachel Lawton, Head of Social
GOLD – Nest
“At Nest, we try to inject fun and creativity into everything we do. And there’s no better way to showcase the Nest Pro spirit than through social media. Whether we’re telling the story of The Smart Trade, visiting events like CEDIA, hearing from our top Nest Pros on how they grow their business with Nest, or even visiting Rev Run’s house to install the new Nest Thermostat E, Nest Pro strives to make each visit to our social channels informative and fun.” —Rachel Sterling, Global Marketing Lead, Pro & SMB
SILVER – Control4
“Control4, unlike many companies, does not have a team dedicated primarily to social media. Our small group of contributors wear many different hats. That, however, has never caused us to undervalue our social presence and the massive impact it has to drive many of our internal decisions. We truly listen to our audiences — dealers, consumers, prospects, partners, press, and the overall consumer electronics industry — to better ourselves in all aspects of marketing and product development. This, in my opinion, is one of the strongest and most effective uses of social media for any business.” —Crystal Watts, Sr. Manager, Marketing Communications
Co-op Advertising Program
PLATINUM – Lutron
“Lutron's number one company principle is to take care of the customer. What distinguishes us from others is our ability to listen to our customers' needs, and do our best to deliver innovative products, sales programs, and marketing tools that help them to grow their business and bring value to their clients.” —Michael Smith, Vice President, Sales
GOLD – Samsung
“I use Samsung in my brochures whenever possible to take advantage of the co-op program.” —Verbatim response from reader
SILVER – Sony
“Sony is proud to be the most trusted A/V brand in custom integration today. Our award-winning CIS program for custom integrators delivers profitable products with cutting-edge performance, tightly controlled product distribution and best-in-class dealer support resources.” —Joshua Sy, Sales and Marketing Operations Manager, A/V Specialty/Custom Install
Distributors
Customer Service/General Communication
PLATINUM – Skywalker AV
“Taking Platinum in this category once again comes down to one thing — people. We’re fortunate to have a team of great people that genuinely care. From top down, everyone here is willing to go above and beyond to provide fast and friendly service. We continue to thrive by building relationships, and giving each customer a personal buying experience.” —Randy Criebaum, President
GOLD – Portal
“We have great customer service because we budget for it. A third of our head count is dealer support staff, a percentage that few other companies in our industry can claim. In addition to people, we have committed to technology which allows us to deliver quick responses to dealers right from within our site or in our mobile app.” —Josh Willits, VP Dealer Happiness
SILVER – Allnet
“We view ourselves as an extension of our vendor partners and feel it’s our responsibility to communicate product changes, new product introductions, new product application, special sales, software updates, anything that a customer would expect if they had a direct relationship with the vendor.” —Wally Whinna, Principal
Technical Support
PLATINUM – Allnet
“Allnet views the time after the sale as important as the sale itself. By providing first-line technical support we are saving our customer both time and money. Our business is ever changing, and installations are getting more complicated, so dealers need our technical expertise more than ever.” —Wally Whinna, Principal
GOLD – ADI
“At ADI Global Distribution, we understand the challenges our customers face when it comes to keeping up with a constantly changing technological landscape. Our award-winning internal training programs provide the ADI stales staff with the most up-to-date information on industry technology. This program helps our salespeople provide a superior experience to our customers. Additionally, ADI provides the technical services of the systems sales and support team free of charge to its customers. These trained specialists are available to assist with product selection and technical support on a wide range of projects.” —Marco Cardazzi, Vice President of Global Marketing
SILVER – Capitol
“Capitol views customer service as a 360-degree effort, with technical support being the primary focus. The company employs technical specialists who, through years of experience in the industry, are able to help its customers assemble systems, troubleshoot potential issues, and translate the onslaught of new technologies, trends, and terms into plain, workaday English. Though the staff's technical acumen is the most important element separating Capitol from its competition, the company goes further by offering its customers a wide selection of support materials, including an active, ever-growing YouTube channel featuring detailed webinars, concise ‘Minute with Mike’ overviews, and manufacturer-supplied videos. Rounding out the mix is Capitol's series of training programs, both onsite at the company's office and ‘off campus’ at customers' facilities. Capitol's tech specialists and vendor spokespeople team up to present in-depth courses on the most relevant products and trends affecting custom installation specialists today.” —Curt Hayes, President & CFO
RMR Support Programs
PLATINUM – Skywalker AV
“With the popularity of online shopping, products are becoming more accessible to end users and ultimately less profitable for dealers. Service plans provide a unique opportunity for dealers and can help offset the toll of today’s online shopping trend. At Skywalker AV Supply, we’re focused on working with the industry’s top brands in order to offer assistance with service plans and administration.” —Randy Criebaum, President
GOLD – WAVE
“WAVE is an excellent company that truly values my business.” —Verbatim response from reader
SILVER – Volutone
“Volutone’s way of doing business has always been to make lasting relationships, and our VIR Program is just one of the ways we achieve this. We embrace our company’s lineage while still bringing new and meaningful incentives to our dealers. Our reward and training programs have been our focus and we plan on continuing to adapt them to help enhance our dealer’s businesses.” —Chris Gibby, Marketing Department
Shipping Policies
PLATINUM – Skywalker AV
“Our FREE shipping policies are tough to beat and popular among dealers. The upfront savings eliminates questionable freight costs and allows them to create more accurate bids.” —Randy Criebaum, President
GOLD – AVAD
“At AVAD, we offer our dealers free freight via UPS Ground for orders of $750 or more and free freight via truck for a single order of $3,500 or more. We’ve created a personalized freight program to assure products arrive on time to its designated location. In addition, we’ve recently launched a strategic warehouse system to provide our dealers with the ability to have product shipped to branch locations and depots across the United States. By implementing a new, strategic approach, we’re able to efficiently and quickly offer products to more markets.” —Seth Evenson, Director of Customer Experience
SILVER – Allnet
“Allnet has a generous shipping policy. Ground web orders are always free freight, even if it’s only a wall plate. Other orders have a modest $750 threshold for free freight. We also do courier service to the job site, which increases a dealer’s billable hours as they can get right to work instead of having their technicians go to will call at the branch. New this year is 24-hour will call at all branches. Dealers can pick up product at night, early in the morning or get that one item they need to finish a job over the weekend.” —Wally Whinna, Principal
Website
PLATINUM – Portal
“We win the best dealer website award because it's all our company is focused on. We are a tech company made up of many former dealers. We don't design or manufacture products, and we don't manage warehouses. Our core competency is building the best web portal in the industry. In fact, by the time you read this, we will have thrown out the site that won us this award and we will have launched a completely new platform.” —Josh Willits, VP Dealer Happiness
GOLD – WAVE
“WAVE’s website offers me the ability to place order efficiently, as well as take advantage of their marketing support programs.” —Verbatim response from reader
SILVER – ADI
“ADI delivers an exceptional customer experience in our branches and online. The ADI website is easy to use and continually improved to meet customer’s needs. It allows instant access to thousands of products from the industry’s top brands in stock every day. ADI’s website is fast and easy to use. Customers can find products quickly with just a part number or find products that are available at their nearest branch using the “Shop My Branch” feature. ADI’s convenient new one-hour pickup service, Rapid Ready, lets customers order online and then pick up their order at the branch in just one hour. Customers can also find their order history quickly and reorder previously purchased products with just the click of a button. Visit the ADI website at adiglobal.us in the U.S. and en.adiglobal.ca in Canada.” —Marco Cardazzi, Vice President of Global Marketing
Training Programs
PLATINUM – Anixter
“Anixter, as a trusted distribution partner, continues to deliver best-in-class trainings to its broad base of dealer and integrator customers. Our ongoing technical trainings are offered in our 80+ branch locations, as well as through our Anixter University Program, which offers an array of technical and standards-based education for contractors, integrators, end users and consultants. Anixter University’s colleges span the Data Center College, Physical Security College, Building Technologies College and the Industrial Infrastructure College. Dealers and integrators can also leverage the technical expertise offered at Anixter's Infrastructure Solutions Lab. There, with our customers, we research, test and evaluate products to help customers meet their application challenges. Our 4,000 square foot world-class research and educational center tests to all current standards, including ANSI/TIA-568, ISO 11801 and IEEE 802.3, and evaluates industrial communications, enterprise networks, and wireless solutions. The use of our Infrastructure Solutions Lab allows our customers to provide proven solutions to their end users. In addition, Anixter, through the many security events, conferences and trade shows we host and attend, also delivers even more cutting-edge trainings to meet the ever-changing needs of our customers.” —Bill Geary, EVP of Network & Security Solutions
GOLD – ADI
“Education and training are major initiatives at ADI. Now in its 25th year, the ADI Expo program is the industry’s largest one-day educational and sales event. Free of charge to all industry professionals, ADI Expos are a great way for our customers to meet and learn from a broad range of industry vendors, attend seminars, and earn Industry Credits. Each year, ADI holds over 40 Expos across North America, providing a full day of educational seminars. Additionally, we hold educational and training programs in all our North American ADI branch locations as well.” —Marco Cardazzi, Vice President of Global Marketing
SILVER – Allnet
“Allnet training is focused on bringing dealers the information they need to drive their business forward, keep pace with technology changes, programming and the creation of new profit centers such as shades. For many dealers, distributor’s training is the only resource available to them. Vendors depend on us to be an extension of themselves in our markets which includes delivering product education and increasing market share through dealer events.” —Wally Whinna, Principal
Dealer Programs/Incentives
PLATINUM – Portal
“Dealers love our rewards program for one reason — it's simple! Traditional industry programs are complex to understand and track. With ours, dealers get their own Portal Visa card and every month we transfer cash to it. We're excited to expand this program this year, giving dealers an opportunity to earn even more.” —Josh Willits, VP Dealer Happiness
GOLD – WAVE
“WAVE’s Elura line of speakers and Lux surveillance cameras give me access to a protected line of quality equipment.” —Verbatim response from a reader
SILVER – Stampede
“Stampede programs work because they are designed entirely from the perspective of the customer's requirement. Unlike other distributors that build their programs from the top down, Stampede begins by taking a long hard look at the unique customer requirements in all of the vertical markets we serve. We then delve into our large vendor portfolio to create customized programs to meet the needs of every customer in each of these market segments. No two segments are alike and our programs are built upon a recognition of that reality. This is one more reason why Stampede is the global leader in value added distribution. We listen to the market and respond with programs that meet genuine customer needs.” —Kevin Kelly, President & COO
Trade Show Presence
PLATINUM – ADI
“ADI’s trade show presence has been carefully thought out and designed to help attendees find complete end-to-end solutions rather than a single product. Visitors to ADI’s booth will find the entire breadth and depth of our product offering from top industry manufacturers. Also, ADI works with industry trade show associations to feature alternative products as well. Such alternative product offerings include our Security Solutions Pavilion at CEDIA and the AV Solutions Pavilion at ISC West.” —Marco Cardazzi, Vice President of Global Marketing
GOLD – WAVE
“WAVE holds regular certification trainings that are valuable to our business.” —Verbatim comment from reader
SILVER – AVAD
“How we present ourselves to our dynamic industry has long been an important priority. As the leading provider of solutions for the residential and commercial custom installation market, we not only represent ourselves, but by extension, the many quality brands in our catalog. We want our outward-facing image at trade shows to reflect the caliber of operational excellence that has earned us our standing. Since we participate in top trade shows throughout the year, we’ve invested in our presence to ensure it’s of the high caliber people expect of us, and to ensure anyone visiting our booth has an outstanding customer experience — really the end game of all we do.” —Seth Evenson, Director of Customer Experience
Social Media Presence
PLATINUM – AVAD
“AVAD is fully committed to a communications infrastructure that both reflects and supports our customers’ and vendors’ technological sophistication. That’s why we’re active on all key social media channels and offer our customers multiple ways to stay connected. We utilize social media to help our customers stay up to date on everything from new announcements to training and event details. We’ve found social media to be a great way to share information, but also connect with our customers.” —Seth Evenson, Director of Customer Experience
GOLD – ADI
“ADI Global Distribution’s Social Media Presence is designed to be an information pipeline where industry professionals can find the latest trends, technical methods, installation tips and information on the latest technology. ADI’s social networks are an excellent source to learn about the latest industry news and trends as well as the value-added services that ADI offers to its customers. Our social networks are also where you can find a look inside our ADI Expos and information about products ADI features at industry trade shows. To subscribe to the ADI Blog, visit blog.adiglobal.us or find our social network pages by searching for ‘ADI Global Distribution’ on Facebook or LinkedIn.” —Marco Cardazzi, Vice President of Global Marketing
SILVER – Skywalker AV
“Our social media presence is imperative to keep our customers informed on a day-to-day basis. We focus on providing our followers with relevant industry information, helpful tips, and company updates on what’s new. We also use social media to coordinate events, inform our customers about sales promotions, and as a forum for trending AV topics. Occasionally, we might post a meme or two just for fun!” —Randy Criebaum, President
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