The
true secret to an integrator’s long-term success in the entertainment hospitality
market lies in each integrator’s ability to extend their creativity beyond the
systems they design and install to the ways they manage their customer business
relationships, according to Stampede Presentation
Products, Inc. President & COO Kevin Kelly.
“For an integrator to grow their business in this challenging
market segment, they need to fully evaluate each individual project and pursue
only those that operate on terms that keep their bottom line protected and
ensure that money is coming in,” Kelly challenged today.
According to Kelly, it’s no secret that the entertainment and
hospitality market thrives on ‘what's hot,’ but it’s important to always
remember that this idea is not solely limited to the drinks and food served or
the live acts that are booked. Audio/video solutions greatly enhance the “night
out experience” for guests, and because every establishment wants to stay fresh
and attract guests night after night, the market reacts positively, often
enthusiastically, to just about every creative and cutting-edge technology
solution brought to market.
“Whether
or not guests interact directly or indirectly with installed A/V solutions,
their overall ‘atmospheric’ experience can be greatly influenced by the A/V
system that surrounds them,” Kelly emphasized. “For example, a restaurant may elect to have
audio/video control functionality at each booth, allowing each party to
personalize it’s own unique atmosphere. For a large multi-level nightclub,
cutting-edge CCTV surveillance systems allow the establishment to monitor and
ensure guests’ safety throughout the venue. To keep business booming,
entertainment hospitality providers need to integrate all traditional AV
elements, such as flat panel displays, projectors and sound systems, plus take
advantage of increasingly popular energy management solutions that protect
their equipment and reduce their energy bills.
“When
the opportunity is right,” Kelly continued, “and an integrator takes on a bar
or club installation project, they may discover that the owners expect payment
terms that allow them to slowly pay off their AV investment from the cash flow
that comes in over the first few months of operation. But every integrator
knows that the only way to guarantee you make money on a job is to be paid in
full, before the new venture has time to fizzle out. Finding agreeable terms
for both parties is where creativity is paramount. “
When
a potential customer demands payment terms, an integrator’s suggested
conditions could range from a simple solution of requiring the venue to pay a
deposit, with the remaining balance to be paid in full on the first day of
installation, or they could suggest a more creative payment structure, an idea that one integrator has done for projects
in this unpredictable market.
“Instead
of operating on a sales model, he converts the proposal to a lease with a
specific payment schedule,” added Kelly. “This contract allows the integrator
to remove the equipment on a Thursday or Friday afternoon unless the payments
are made on schedule. Amazingly enough, this scenario can work out to the
benefit of both parties. No pub or club owner wants to go into the weekend
without their AV equipment, so the integrator found that venues with this term
structure pay their bills promptly – and in full!”
About Stampede
Known
for its value-added distribution, Amherst, New York-based Stampede is the
leading distributor of presentation equipment including LCD/DLP projectors and
flat panel displays. Stampede provides a complete range of brand name
presentation equipment to a variety of audio/video, computer, and home theater
resellers and integrators in the United States, Canada and Latin America. These
resellers rely on Stampede for value-added services in distribution, marketing
and solution- based sales. Stampede annually produces the “Big Book of AV,” a
1,000-page catalog and companion website (www.BigBookofAV.com) providing
hundreds of sales, installation and spec tips for Stampede’s dealers in
addition to product details on more than 5,000 SKUs. For more information on
Stampede, log onto www.stampedeglobal.com.
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