Starin is well known as a formidable value-added distributor of UC&C solutions. The company’s commitment to providing top-of-the-line solutions to integrators means more than simply providing the technology, though. It also means delivering a great experience. That extends from selecting the gear, to installation, to stellar customer service during and after project completion.
Here, Commercial Integrator sits down with Steve Kawasaki, director of business management, integrated audio, and John Hood, chief strategy officer. Together, they highlight the growing Starin integrated audio business unit and how it helps integrators achieve the best possible audio solutions.
Why Starin Excels at Audio
According to Kawasaki, the Starin integrated audio business unit consists of a team of systems-minded thinkers dedicated to the client base. “We aim to deliver a system that allows people running the facility and those attending the events in the facility to have a great experience,” he says. The Starin team is committed to “…helping our clients choose exactly the right speaker, making sure it will be loud enough for [the space], making sure the cabling is correct, the power amps are matched up, and that the right mounting hardware is installed…”
Hood adds, “How many times have you heard a sound system from a reputable, leading speaker manufacturer that just doesn’t sound great? It’s not because of the speakers — it’s because the installation isn’t optimized.” Working with Starin eliminates that risk because the value-added distributor specializes in aligning technology with clients’ needs, allowing for a focused partnership at the outcome and experience level.
Providing Dedicated Support
With the Starin integrated audio business unit, projects benefit from true alignment between vendor, designer, integrator and venue management. “The entire village has to be focused on driving outcomes,” Kawasaki says. “Everybody has to work together to drive the outcome because you’re going to get only one shot at doing this.” Sharing a success story, Hood points to a hospitality project that Starin worked on in Lodi, Calif. “The owner of the facility had high expectations for the AV system, and the AV integrator realized he could use some expert commissioning help, our team was there to offer our services in partnership with the integrator…” he says.
Hood emphasizes that a distributor’s aim is not to get in the way of the relationship between manufacturer and integrator but, rather, to provide support as needed. “We’re here as an extension of integrator,” he states. “We provide extra programming and commissioning talent that integrators occasionally need for large or remote projects.”
“What we’re doing is supplying expertise and services [in two ways],” Kawasaki adds. “Either we’re providing overflow expertise…or we’re acting as a gateway, helping [integrators] build an onramp to a higher level of expertise.” In summation, the Starin integrated audio business unit can assist with design, deployment, installation, support, programming and commissioning — an extra set of hands to support integrators’ audio installations.
Starin Pulls Out All Stops
Currently, the Starin integrated audio business unit is working with brands like Yamaha, Bose Professional, Bosch and Electro-Voice. “These are our biggest audio lines and form the core of our business,” says Kawasaki. “It’s also a perfect complement for our core UC lines like Neat and Logitech.” According to Hood, the brands value and trust their partnership with Starin. “We carefully evaluate the needs of our client base to ensure we’re offering the gear and service that truly meets their needs commercially and technically,” he says. “We’re there to ensure the success of every installation we’re partnering on, and that’s why the biggest brands in the industry trust us and will continue to trust us going forward.”
Kawaski adds that, if users have a bad project experience, it creates a loss for all: manufacturer, integrator, distributor and end user. However, with Starin’s commitment to outstanding audio experiences, manufacturers and integrators can be fully confident. Starin takes time to “…[make] sure that we’ve got people that are doing a thorough job of evaluating [the products] and offering best recommendations based upon their experience, and it improves everything up and down the chain,” Kawasaki says.
Hood concludes by saying Starin’s passion can lead to “magical” audio experiences. “It changes people’s day when audio is awesome,” he exclaims.
Learn more about Starin at Starin.biz.
