Archives for April 2017

Dealerscope Distributors Roundup: Goals and Strategies for the Year Ahead

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21ST CENTURY DISTRIBUTING

Vanessa Zitzmann, Marketing & Sales

21st Century Distributing is gearing up for our annual Integration Innovation Roadshow, being held in May. The show focuses on the integration of our industry’s products and aims to help our dealers step up into that larger-profit job. New this year is an extra day at each location to accommodate trainings from our vendors. We are also looking forward to moderating dealer forums during the lunches to allow the dealers to bounce and share ideas with each other. For the duration of 2017, education is going to be our focus!

ALMO

Jack Halperin, Senior VP, Dealer Channel Sales

As business and related vendor promotional activities have become more frequent and complex, we have added brand specialists at our headquarters. They coordinate efforts between our vendors, buying staff and broader sales organization, which allows us to provide more individualized attention. Most importantly, they distribute critical business information more frequently, which helps our dealers merchandise appropriately throughout the year, to maximize their sell-through results.

AUDIO AMERICA

Jonathan Elster, CEO

In 2017, we have planned three dealer shows and seven trainings. Our shows provide an opportunity for our customers to attend vendor trainings as well as see product from over 50 suppliers. At this year’s shows, we plan to provide seminars on how our dealers can maximize social media an expand their e-commerce presence. We also plan to hold five customer roundtables where we meet with a select group of dealers to discuss areas of growth and opportunities and how we can become a better partner. Some of the trainings we have planned this year include LG, Lutron, RTI, Luxul, Hikvision and NEST. All of these trainings offer our customers an opportunity not only to learn about the product but to purchase product at a discount. Our #1 objective is to help our customers be successful and to provide them with new avenues of profitability.

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Distributors Keep Movin’ And A-Groovin’

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It’s certainly not easy staying on top of the mad rush of innovation in the tech and appliance industries, which keeps the nation’s distributors on their toes.

As Helge Fisher, executive director of the Catalyst AV distributor group noted, “Our 11-member network never stops improving. They have a total of 24 locations and serve more than 16,000 professional integration specialists, [with] new appointments, expos, training seminars, grand openings and new product lines constantly happening.”

Among the latest Catalyst news: mid-Atlantic member Tech Source/NuTech Group has brought in industry veteran Chris Clements as a manufacturer’s rep.

Clements came to the Montgomeryville, Pa.-based business from Judge Technology Solutions, a commercial integrator, where he served as an account executive for the past five years, and before that spent 10 years as an account manager and sales engineer at World Wide Stereo, the acclaimed Pennsylvania-area A/V and custom-installation specialty chain.

 

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10 Ways Distributors Can Affect The Retail Bottom Line

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As tech and appliance retailing grows ever more challenging, the role of the distributor as a warehouse, fulfillment service, educator and business advisor continues to expand. Here are 10 ways the two-step channel is helping its retail customers be more successful by boosting their bottom lines.

1. Offering customers a deep basket of services, including bundling, merchandising, extended assortment, forecasting, supply chain management, concierge services and electronic software downloads. — Fred Towns, president, New Age Electronics

2. Providing a series of multi-market trade events where customers can get hands-on knowledge of the latest innovations from 50 to 100 manufacturers at a time. — Tim Billing, vendor management and purchasing VP, D&H Distributing

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Hey Dealers: The Smart Home Is Knocking And Distributors Can Let It In

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Let’s face it, any dealer worth his or her weight in TVs and appliances knows that the connected home is coming, if it’s not already here. And just like the New York Lottery, you gotta be in it to win it.

Problem is, like any emerging technology it’s an untamed mess of incongruous standards and platforms, and placing your bets too soon could prove deleterious.

Enter the distributor, the champion of virtual inventory, just-in-time delivery and e-commerce fulfillment, who is ready and willing to sort things out. Just as they have done with new PC operating systems, A/V technologies and assorted protocols, these manufacturer intermediaries can help guide retailers through the IoT maze in order to avoid the pitfalls of a nascent category.

TWICE contacted a host of leading two-step lights to shed some illumination on the pathway. Here’s what they had to say.

Dennis Holzer, executive director, PowerHouse Alliance: Today, consumers are demanding products they can control with their smartphones or tablets, so almost every day new products enter the smart-home market.

It’s an ongoing priority for the PowerHouse Alliance to seek out new relevant products and add them, as we have recently done with Zigen, Hikvision and KEF. We continue to bring on new lines across the smart home and other categories, and as we bring them on, we equip dealers with the knowledge to sell and install those products.

Every once in a while a product innovation causes a ripple effect in determining the next generation of products across the industry. Voice control is the latest technology proving to be a game-changer for CI dealers. My advice to dealers is to embrace voice control and ensure you have the right product mix, knowledge and expertise to sell and install these control systems and compatible devices.

I also encourage dealers to offer networking products to build a strong and reliable network for customers that can handle the number of smart devices they have. Both of these categories will be critical to dealers’ success this year and in the future.

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