Latest headlines: Lee Distad on living on the margins, Nathan Haynes on where the mentors are in the AV industry, plus news from DTEN & more
October 23, 2020 | Volume: 17 | Issue: 20
Hi, home readers! Welcome to your last newsletter issue in October! I hope this has been a good month for you all, and you are ready for some good reading to end the month strong!
I have a ~rare~ occurrence of three columns for you guys today. The first is from the one and only Lee Distad. He writes about profit margins and a few ways to make sure you are maintaining/growing them at this time. Nathan Haynes writes about mentorship in our industry and why adding more opportunities for that in our industry could make it better in the long run. Finally, Omar Prashad writes about why free isn’t the answer when it comes to trying to obtain/maintain clients during COVID-19.
Also — here are some news tidbits for y’all: Visionary introduced a new multiviewer solution. DTEN announced some new products at Zoomtopia. Plus, in industry news, Tabatha O’Connor announced her departure from CEDIA. Also, Dan Dugan won an Emmy!
In talking with my dealers — across all those conversations — common threads emerge. Big on everyone’s minds right now is “what’s going to happen next?” concerning COVID-19, not to mention other potential disruptions. A concern that’s been ongoing for some time, regardless of other issues, is maintaining or even growing margins. We all know that profit margins are shy, elusive things that can vanish right before our eyes. One certainly can’t rely on any one brand or product category to carry them forever.
We’re seeing leading voices in AV take packages and buyouts, or just flat out retire and focus on golf swings and garage studios. So it’s no wonder I’m constantly being asked for referrals for reputable lead technicians from companies across North America and the United Kingdom. Ironically, the jobs are there, but no one’s sending resumes or CVs. So where are the technicians? Or, maybe, where’s the knowledge or path getting lost? So here we are, my point: Where are the mentors?
One interesting strategy I have heard espoused by more than one of the knowledgeable sales leadership voices was that sales teams should be using this time to focus on strengthening long-term relationships with customers. It seems like sound and logical advice that’s always applicable. My issue is many of these people were suggesting the pathway to achieving this was through doing things for free or at no margin. When we give something to a customer for free, we’re really doing two things: We’re helping another company at the expense of our company, and we’re hoping (consciously or subconsciously) that doing this will leverage the very powerful psychological principle of reciprocity. Here are three reasons that’s a bad idea.
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