Lessons learned from Neil Armstrong's life applied to the A/V Industry
When I look back over Neil Armstrong's life, I see that he was no different than you or I (maybe a little smarter). He just made a courageous decision back in the 60's that changed his life and the Nation that he was a part of. When NASA asked him to go and be the first man to set foot on the moon, he could have said "No, I want to stay on earth, raise a family and live a safe and comfortable life", but he didn't. On July 19, 1969 when Neil stepped aboard Apollo 11, I would argue that he was prepared to die that day and the odds were definitely not in his favor. It was a chance that he was willing to take to better our world and bring it together for a brief moment.
Lately I have been so frustrated with this industry that I love and I'm not alone. Most other reps, dealers or manufacturers I talk with share the same sentiment. We, as an industry are "stuck in earth's orbit" but, we want to get to the Moon! There is hope to get there but the voyage to the moon is hard and plotted using Courage and Change.
We, as an industry, blasted off about 20 years ago and went straight into space, headed for the Moon. It was a fun, quick ride and we got out of Earth's orbit before we truly developed. We were going so fast, we had no time to look out the window and prepare for what was headed our way... a meteor in the form of the Recession that knocked out our engine and sent us tumbling back to Earth's orbit (reality). We now have to come to grips with the fact that our Moon has changed dramatically since blast off. Back then, the Moon was the top 2 percent of the population that were building fantastic new homes at a staggering pace. Now, our Moon consists of the 98 percent of the population that we ignored when we were rocketing through the atmosphere.
When I am talking to all of my peers in the industry about the state of their business, I get so many conflicting reactions. Remember, we are in the same space capsule (the industry), but some want to stay in the comfort and familiarity of Earth's orbit, and then some, want to exercise their courage and change the way they are doing business in order to explore the Moon in search of riches. It saddens me when I am talking to a dealer or manufacturer and they are so discouraged about the industry and depressed about how much their business is down especially when I know that other dealers in the same area or other manufacturers are having banner years because they have mustered up the courage to change their business model or their direction in order to capitalize on the new economy and get to the new Moon. That being said, we cannot get there if some people in our space craft do not want to go.
We have to get everybody on board, excited about a trip to the Moon again in order to survive as an industry. Some dealers, manufacturers and yes, even us reps, have caught the dream again but it took absorbing a lot a pain before we built up enough courage to make a change and see our circumstances and the Moon differently. Here are a couple of thoughts for the crew:
Dealers-I see all of my successful dealers in my territory always open to change and adaptation to an ever morphing public. They are finding ways to service the ignored 98 Percenters even amid asteroid fields such as online retailers and mass merchants. There are many ways to do this, but one of the ways is by changing your business model. I have several dealers that have done this in the past few years. Some have been wildly successful and some have not but at least they gave it a try instead of orbiting where they were and seeing less and less revenue from an industry that they once loved and hence becoming bitter against it. It's not the industry's fault! Could it be that some of their competitors made courageous decisions and they did not?
One of the most intriguing business models I see popping up lately is the Hybrid business. These Hybrid dealers understand, to be successful, they need to get their A/V goods seen and heard by the 98 Percenters. This is something they cannot do with a traditional A/V showroom or retail establishment. Some are using an Art Gallery / AV Venue model. My ideal Hybrid model would consist of a high end coffee shop with several AV Salons attached (BTW- I am open to franchise opportunities on this idea - lol ). The people that can buy art and a four dollar cup of coffee are our clients! They just need to have a way of intersecting with our upscale technology in their everyday busy lives to understand what makes us and our products different than the mainstream they are used to.
I hear all the time that the 98 Percenters do not have enough money to buy our upscale goods. Baloney! People spend whatever disposable income they have on products that become important to them. There are millions of iPads and iPhones sold each month and they are definitely sold at a premium over most Android or cheaper products. People are choosing them because they see them as a more luxurious, advanced product. The secret here is, as stated above, Apple intersects with them in their daily busy lives. So the question is...How are you getting in front of enough of the 98 Percenters to open their eyes to what we have to offer?
Manufacturers-
Are you listening to the public, dealers and your reps to really get a grasp on what you need to produce to help your dealers become important to the 98 Percenters? Have you switched your marketing focus from the "old Moon" to the "new Moon"? If so, is your marketing fresh and original and have you found a way to intersect the public in their everyday lives to get them tracking to your dealers?
When is the last time that you have reviewed or reconstructed your programs for your dealers? Is your dealer program competitive with some of the main player / manufacturers in our industry? Being a rep, I talk to a lot of dealers about my manufacturers and their other manufacturers, the answer to the previous question is that a lot of the manufacturers have lost touch with what their dealers have become and morphed into because of the recession and their programs do not "fit" them anymore. Most dealers have lost a lot of weight and need a small spacesuit now and most manufacturers are still trying to give them a double XL sized suit. There are not a lot of double XL sized dealers left in the industry. Most dealers like to be direct and enjoy that partnership feeling they get by being direct but unless your programs make business sense to them they will continue to give their money to manufacturers that understand that dealer programs sell product this day and time. The quality of the product is secondary to these dealers. A lot of quality manufacturers need to step up their dealer programs to the level of their products.
Reps-
Just as there are dealers that want to go to the Moon and some that don't, the same holds true for us reps. Are you a rep that "just sells boxes" to your dealer and knows nothing about what's inside? Or, are you a rep that can break open the box, install, program and then answer technical questions about the box? If the earlier is true, you are just orbiting the Earth. Our industry is full of reps that are just orbiting. Let's face it, the rep business is not drawing a lot of energetic new people. To be on a path to the Moon, the most important requirement is to be energetic about our industry. If you are energetic, all of the other qualities will naturally follow.
Do you still run around each market like a chicken with his head cut off and get an hour of time from your dealer and by the time you set up your demo and he gets off the phone with his installers or clients (or other vendors), you have 15 minutes to show your demo, talk about applications, ask about his business and then you get back in your car only to run across town and do the same thing over again (insert deep breath here)? I once did the same thing but, I took a step of courage and changed the way I interface with dealers. I started doing "One Man Regional Shows" where my dealer comes to me and I have multiple vendor demos already set up. In these shows, my dealer gives me his complete attention for two or more hours in an environment that is mutually beneficial and cohesive. It's a Mini Trade Show and my dealer is impressed that I took the time to bring it to him. This may not work for all reps, but it has worked for me and set our firm on a path to the Moon.
What "One Small Step" are you making in your business to help the A/V Industry make "One Giant Leap"? Please share, because we cannot get to the Moon alone...it takes a crew!
