Almo Pro A/V Execs Talk Programming, Differentiation, Economy and E4 AV Tour Tweaks

Sam Taylor and Melody Craigmyle explain their goals to continually evolve what it means to be a distributor in the AV integration market.

Tom LeBlanc

They were probably happy to take a break from talking about Almo Professional A’/article/almo_professional_a_v_2016_e4_av_tour’>E4 AV Tour stop in Tyson, Va.

Sam Taylor, executive VP, and Melody Craigmyle, VP of marketing, took some time away from the E4 show floor and training rooms to discuss issues affecting Almo Pro A/V, its customers and the industry.

For a distributor that takes pride in identifying areas of need for its integration firm dealers having launched installation services, content creation services and broadband services, there is an obvious question: What’s next?

Many firms have challenges related to programming and not having enough programmers for large projects, Taylor said. “So I think that’s something we’ll look at long-term to help them with that.”

Related: What Almo Pro A/V Gains By Acquiring IAVI

The distributor is very focused on providing unique—often not product related—solutions to its dealers, Taylor added. “Successful manufacturers, successful distributors and successful customers find ways to differentiate.”

One way that Almo Pro A/V has differentiated itself is through its E4 AV Tour, which Craigmyle said continues to evolve. The distributor hired a research firm to gain better understanding of what attendees value about the event, even tapping those who don’t attend to find out why.

“Some of the things were affirming,” she said. “They like education, the CTS renewal units.”

However, it also learned some new things. For instance, the time of the year when E4 events are held is a factor. “There may be a better time for resellers when they’re not so busy that we could host the events so they could send more of their people.”

Almo Pro A/V took the research seriously, she said and it “will be definitely influencing 2017 but we took immediately some of that feedback to shape the program for this year.”

Watch CI editor Tom LeBlanc interview Taylor and Craigmyle:

 

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About the Author

Tom LeBlanc
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Tom LeBlanc is the executive director of NSCA. Learn more about NSCA and how to become an NSCA member at NSCA.org.

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