Change of Pace- In Home Client Demo

This is a republish of an article of mine from an industry-only publicatio

I’m not that old, but back when I started in this industry, integrated AV and automation control was pretty close to black magic. People did it, but not many people understood how or why. Six-figure systems were bought and sold on two things; your relationship with the buyer and the demo “wow”. These days, the demo seems to be a lost art form. People buy from a bid package and don’t really know what they’ve bought until the demo at the house months or years later and most of us take that time to show the client how the system works, not to blow the doors off and impress. What a lot of us don’t realize is that this could be the best demo opportunity we have ever gotten, showroom or not.

Now, ill admit that I’m pretty rusty on demoing. We don’t have a showroom, I don’t do sales, and the demo’s I tend to do are more of how to use the system vs. wowing the client. What I have started to do is alter the traditional demo to better suit my role and our product. The demo has become- The client life demo.

Basically, instead of wowing the client in a showroom, you are giving the demo of how to use the system, in their homes. Most of the time (at least in the case of Innerspace) the system programming is wrapping up as the client is moving in, so you really have a chance to make them realize how this impacts their life on a day to day basis.

I like to schedule at the end of the day, when people aren’t (as) rushed. As Production Supervisor, I like to get to the house early, check in, check the system out to know what needs work, and what doesn’t, and set the stage for what’s to come. Know what music is on the server, know what movie and what scene I want to demo, and run through the house to see what vignettes I want to stage. That’s right, what better place to stage a vignette, than to set it up where they are about to spend a large portion of their lives. Many showrooms use vignettes to give potential clients a taste of what a system like this might be like in their homes, this is where you have the upper hand!

Now, of course you’re going to do the jaw-dropping demo. The IronMan in the theater, the Dark Knight in the Media room, but what else? How about (pre) recording an HD football game in the study or bar? Why not show Bloomberg or MSNBC on the TV in the bathroom, or AM/FM and local news in the kitchen? Yes, you absolutely want to impress and show them what the system is capable of, but you also want the client to realize that you understand that this was a lifestyle choice, and you get how they live their lives to some extent. Play summer music in the dead of winter out by the pool, show off the lighting preset that gets them to the bedroom without fumbling for switches they have yet to discover. Make the house feel like home as soon as you can. This is also a great time to upsell. Show them the iPhone apps, sit them down at their computer and show them E-Control. Have all of this at the ready so that when they pick their jaws off the floor, you can make a quick, tidy profit and just bring these awesome features online near-instantly. You don’t just want to show them how to use it; you want to show them how to use it in their new life in their new home. What better time could you have to wow someone, than right after the stress of building and or moving into a new home?

Now, like the old days, the key to the demo is to lead the demo. You certainly don’t want the system to completely blow their minds but leave them unable to use it. Make sure it’s interactive. Make sure they learn how to do what you just did. The system is likely easy to use, but it might be their first system of this caliber and may be a bit intimidating, especially to the rest of the family. This is not like the old days in that you want to be seen as the “all powerful stereo guy”. Leave that to someone else. You want them diving right in. Nothing is better than coming back for an add-on and seeing the system being used by the whole family, with the exception of them loving the system so much that all their friends call….

iPad and the coming integrator change

As almost anyone with a computer knows, the Apple iPad is coming very soon. What a lot of people aren't realizing is how this radically changes some businesses that not many people think about. One of those happens to be my business, AV integration.

Our business model is based on selling electronics and integrating through these other products via software. Our main form of control of all these "black boxes" are remote controls or touch panels that are pretty specialized and therefore, expensive. Touch panels range in size from a couple of inches, up to 17"-20" and can range from a few hundred dollars on the low end, to five figures for one panel on the high. These panels are complicated, must be programmed in a fairly obscure programming language, and are basically NOT user modifiable in any way. You have to spend quite a bit of time and effort to learn the language, even if you're a computer programmer.

Because of all that, its a pretty closed system. You want to control everything at the touch of a button? You need control systems like AMX and Crestron to make it all come together. Newer systems like Savant change this quite a bit, but i'm not focused on them right now, as they are an up and coming, but still small player. I'll touch on them in a bit. Because they are closed systems, and there isn't too much competition, prices haven't really dropped.

Then a small company called Apple created the iPhone. AV took a look, and decided it wasn't a bad idea to create the add-on sale, and make programs available to do basic control of these systems. Not the incredibly detailed and beautiful looking panels they have in their houses, but simple, rudimentary programs. They saw it as a novelty, albeit one with profit potential. Apple made a ton of money, Crestron and AMX made some money, and their dealers were pleased. A nice add on to an already profitable system. The trick is, not everyone saw the next step in Apples plan, and they certainly didn't think of what is about to happen. Hopefully they will.

Apple earlier this year created the iPad. A beautiful screen, fast, pretty closed system; a really well designed, streamlined product at a surprisingly great price. What most manufacturers and dealers haven't realized is the touch panels they sell all the time are about to be wiped out. All that profit- or at least a LARGE chunk is about to disappear. Why would I spend literally thousands on an AMX panel or Crestron panel when I can get a nicer, cleaner, newer display technology for LESS THAN A THOUSAND DOLLARS?!

The buying public is not as stupid as a lot of people think. Especially at the level I deal with. People are going to realize that WiFI plus iPad plus some sort of control backbone will equal saving a ton of money on touch panels. Yes, maybe you'll have a panel here and a panel there for the rooms you don't want to take your "iDevice", but the days of a panel per room are coming to an end.

What does this mean to integrators? It means a few things:

First, it means profit will be made on programming and software- more like the computer industry. Integrators and independent programmers will have to have a level of polish probably not seen that often. These GUI's will have to be clean, beautiful and ever more enticing to differentiate.

Second, service will become king. I know there are plenty of integration firms around the country that treat the after the sale experience like it and the client are some second class citizen. They care about the builder, the architect- the people who bring the work in. I'm fortunate not to work at a place like that, but for those of you who do, you might want to change- FAST. Servicing these clients will become ever more demanding and if done well, it can become a new profit center. As hardware and software get into more and more places, people need a firm who can diagnose and fix problems quickly not to mention keeping their connected lifestyle up. The organizations structured to live the 24 hour lifestyle with their clients will be there at the dawn of the new integration era. Those who treat them like a nicer form of the DMV will be looking for other work.

Last is the new opportunity that is created for anyone in the industry who believes in the new model of business-

People still want to buy toys, so find new ways to sell toys.

Take that touch panel budget and put it other places. Nicer speakers might make audiophiles of some people who might have spent the money on an in-wall panel. A better media server like Kaleidescape or Sooloos may get someone engaged in music and their collections. This might be the same client who would've bought a TPS-17 before and an iPod dock. Take their money and put it in an automated under bed lift, really wow the clients. They are still going to want to impress their friends and you have the ability to innovate and make the money you've always made. Give them an energy efficient system with digital amplification and lighting control that saves them money on their energy bills; give them a home theater run exclusively on solar. Innovate!

We all need to see this an opportunity, it needs to become the win- win it. Clients get cooler toys and bragging rights, integrators get to stay profitable. We should be thanking Apple, not dismissing them or ignoring them.

I for one, welcome our new fruit based computing overlords. You should too.