Volume 18, Issue 7 — April 9, 2021

rAVe HomeAV Edition — Volume 18, Issue 7

April 9, 2021 | Volume: 18 | Issue: 7

Listen up! Mark Coxon comes to us with a story this week about balancing (1) how to deliver on clients’ needs (2) how to lead them to a potential purchase. His story tells you what the key is. (Any guesses?)

Product-wise, we were intrigued by a few releases and line updates — like Planar’s new MGP Series fine-pitch LED displays, for customers who want a finished LED product with one-cable connectivity; new outdoor displays by Neptune/Peerless-AV, for binge-watching Netflix/Apple TV+/Disney+/Hulu/Amazon Prime Video/Peacock/HBO Max/Paramount+ … you get it* … in your backyard; and SnapAV now carrying Ring’s professional X Line, which includes installer-only products that might help integrators upsell in custom projects. Speaking of SnapAV, it just made a new acquisition; find the story down below.

*For me, it’s BritBox all day.

— Leah McCann

COLUMNS

+ Building Solid Teams on the Job [Lee Distad]

Everyone may have their own tasks, and each team has its own responsibilities, but everyone is on the same side. It’s essential that everyone trusts everyone else to pull their weight. The installers have to trust the salespeople and designers, and vice versa (although in my experience it’s usually the seasoned installers who are the ones needing to be taught to trust salespeople).

+ Listen Up! [Mark Coxon]

I’ve always heard the key to sales is always be closing (ABC, right?) However, in my experience, many salespeople try close too soon or close the wrong sale. Too many professionals go into an appointment with an agenda. i.e., I am going to said clients office to close X units of Y. But do they even need “Y” at all? How do you effectively discover a client’s needs while still leading them toward a potential purchase? It starts with listening.