Once upon a time, there were two people who stood on the edge of a meadow and looked out. The sun was shining and warming their backs, and a gentle breeze blew through their hair. Business was good, but unpredictable as always. What’s next?
One looked out on the horizon at the lush forest. The other looked a little closer at the strong, steadfast trees. Then, suddenly, a bear came up behind them and ate them both. The End.
But seriously, the current zeitgeist is wrapped up in immediacy, connectivity, and competition.
We’re competing with ourselves, our friends, our families, and our rivals. We’re competing with our clients for knowledge and leverage. We collaborate to compete. If you don’t obsolete yourself, someone else will do it for you. Sure, stop to see the forest for the trees, but be careful not to get eaten while you’re doing it.
Where did all the electronics stores go? Remember Circuit City, Radio Shack, Crazy Eddie’s, The Wiz? “Nobody beats The Wiz.” Well, someone did.
Dealers cannot be successful acting like professional electronics stores selling high-end components. Not for long. Yes, I know, you’re different. You design, install and program “systems” too. Grrrr … you just got eaten by a bear. Room systems are just slightly up the food chain.
Think of rooms as bigger boxes (and we know what happens to box sales). Put enough boxes together, and now you’re talking. That’s what has consistently happened in the past. Box sales evolved into systems sales, and now rooms systems are evolving into enterprise sales.
An enterprise is just a bunch of rooms tied together on a platform, also known as a network. As more people carry more technology with them in and out of rooms, more technology must be installed in and out of rooms to support those mobile devices.
In fact, there’s more technology in more spaces throughout buildings, campuses and cities than ever before. With so much more technology spread out across an ever expanding landscape, the challenge of deployment, maintenance and management of it all becomes very real.
Traditional dealers are well suited to install gear in dozens of rooms, but what about hundreds or thousands — all at once, not phased in over five years. What happens the next day when the dealer proverbially “hands over the keys” to the client?
More Industry Predictions for 2021
Brad Grimes: Future AV Integrators: Why You Will Need to Retain Your ‘Go-To’ Status
Dale Bottcher:Keep Your Eyes Focused on User Experience
Jim Hatcher: Diversification: The Key to Commercial Integration Survival in 2021
How will the client know what’s going on in any of those spaces? Remember that commercial with the startup selling some product on the Internet? At first the sales trickled in, but then they poured in and the company couldn’t handle all the business? Same thing.
“Hooray! We just increased our hardware spend 100X, but we still only have a staff of three to support it all.” Ugh. So, where does all this leave dealers in 2021? Not all traditional AV dealers will be eaten by a bear.
Some will evolve to be more like IT VARs. They will take on an ongoing consultative role. Rather than selling technology, they’ll help clients solve real business challenges using technology (that subtle shift of perspective is critical — providing solutions rather than selling products).
As technology continues to consolidate and markets mature, dealers will sell Platforms as a Service (PAAS). The days of building custom systems from scratch are fading fast. Of course, commercial technology solutions can’t be purchased online or in a retail store.
A hybrid approach, like IKEA, will emerge — standardized customization. Solutions can be modular and pieced together to create a custom solution. The hardware is just to get a foot in the door. The profit will come from services and licensing.
Dealers can sell licenses for software or keys to the platform, and they can also sell maintenance and monitoring contracts. The monitoring service neatly rolls back into the consulting service by using the data collected to make recommendations about upgrades, expansions, and modifications.
The value-add for the client will be improved workflow, increased productivity, and overall satisfaction. There will still be a role for traditional AV dealers. They will focus on light commercial, such as doctor’s offices, restaurants, night clubs, etc. Also, the IT value-add dealers will subcontract to regional AV dealers for the hardware installation.
There will be a period of transition. There’s no giant switch that gets flipped in five years. Heck, there are still plenty of VCRs, document cameras, and 1080p displays out there. But dealers are going to have to start educating themselves, building relationships, and retooling their business now if they want to grow and thrive, and not get eaten by a bear. Good luck in 2021.
