Vendors Speak Out

VENDORS SPEAK OUT! FEATURE

Insider Magazine talked to Dave Keller, Legrand’s VP, Sales & Service, Shading & Residential Controls; Angie Larson, VP of Sales Operations, Savant Systems and Rian Cain, VP Sales, Séura about COVID-19, inventory disruptions and forging into 2021.

INSIDER MAGAZINE: There has been quite a bit of inventory disruptions over the last several months. Has this affected your products? How about your customers? What are you doing to help?

DAVE KELLER, LEGRAND: Yes, as many others in our industry, it has affected our products to some degree. We’ve been able to keep an adequate stock of materials and sub-assemblies to produce our finished goods, but we have experienced some delays in shade fabrics due to the supply chain impact of COVID-19. The freight companies also seem to be taking slightly longer to deliver

“We have completely revamped our training for both QMotion and Vantage so that dealers can attend online training and get certified completely virtually.”

QMotion in action in a home located in Seattle.

products to our customers, but we’re proud to say that the delay is very minimal.

To mitigate any issues, we’ve really prioritized communications with our customers. Our sales and marketing teams are in frequent contact with both our independent sales reps and dealers in order to meet and exceed expectations. More than ever, it’s important for all manufacturers that dealers

provide as much information as possible on upcoming projects and the required installation and commissioning dates.

ANGIE LARSON, SAVANT: We have been very fortunate that so far our operational team has been able to navigate the supply chain waters very effectively and we have been able to consistently meet integrator demand.

However, we have seen our customers impacted by many of the shipping challenges and delays felt across the country. To combat these delivery delays and better serve our customers, we have temporarily moved our shipping default to our west coast and central region customers from ground to a standard three-day shipping model. RIAN CAIN, SÉURA: The disruptions helped our domestic mirror business as customers scrambled to replace orders that couldn’t ship out of Asia. Our New Shade 2 and Ultra Bright (full sun) outdoor TVs are 100 percent in stock and ready for immediate shipment. Lack of continued on page 30

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The Savant Experience Center in New York City.

supply in the industry has increased demand sharply in the last few months. To help our customers bounce back we have been offering Free Shipping on all outdoor TVs.

INSIDER MAGAZINE: How have you scheduled/structured your vendor/customer meetings? What is the most advantageous way you have found to communicate netting the best results?

DAVE KELLER: Since we’ve found communication is vital, having dependable software to improve our virtual interactions has been most advantageous. Our operations team is utilizing Microsoft Teams to communicate with our vendor partners, while our sales team relies on this software for meetings with dealers. In both cases it has proven to be effective. The use of video conferencing has helped make up for the lost face-to-face interaction we usually have. In cases where our dealers want to have in-person meetings, our local independent sales reps are able to make those visits on our behalf. Additionally, we have completely revamped our training for both QMotion and Vantage so that dealers can attend online training and get certified completely virtually. They are expected to make a small investment in training materials, but we are no longer charging for training sessions.

Angie Larson, Savant

ANGIE LARSON: We have many communications outlets, including topical online webinars, and this month we are launching a new initiative to support our dealers - Virtual Tours of the Savant Experience Center in NYC. We were proud participants of the first-ever virtual CEDIA Expo and are embracing education initiatives at all levels.

“We were proud participants of the first-ever virtual CEDIA Expo and are embracing education initiatives at all levels.”

ANGIE LARSON, SAVANT

INSIDER MAGAZINE: Have you been emphasizing online sales, marketing?

DAVE KELLER: Though QMotion and Vantage do not sell online, we have been emphasizing online marketing communications. For example, QMotion just launched a brandnew website with several improved features, including faster load speeds, intuitive product navigation, and a more user-

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friendly design. It’s a huge improvement for our customers and we’re confident it will help them to interact with our QMotion brand and find the resources and documents they need. We’re currently working on a new Vantage website as well, which we plan to launch before the end of the year.

Over the past few months, digital communications have become even more important. Not only have we increased our email communications to keep our customers informed, but we held additional webinar training sessions earlier in the year for both QMotion and Vantage, which had great attendance and participation. In addition, we post regularly on social media. We’ve found that social media is a great place to interact with our customers and see some of the great QMotion and Vantage installations our dealers are completing.

ANGIE LARSON: Sales and marketing are critical elements and we have focused our efforts to try to support our dealers and help them market new services and features to

“To help our customers bounce back we have been offering Free Shipping on all outdoor TVs.”

RIAN CAIN, SÉURA

Rian Cain, Séura

existing clients as well as deliver sales tools to help them showcase the smart home experience to potential clients.

In May we launched an initiative in partnership with our dealers to educate end-users on our new Pro Remote X2 – while the com-

Circadian daylight lighting control courtesy Savant.

munication came from Savant the end-user was directed to follow-up with their dealer to get more information on how to upgrade. We are opening up the Savant Experience Center in NYC for virtual tours, and this means that any Savant Dealer world-wide can utilize the showroom and education labs with not only a potential client but also their architect and design teams.

RIAN CAIN: Absolutely. Séura.com launched earlier this year with our full catalog of products, dealer resources, promotions, dealer locator and on-line ordering. Dealers in our data-base receive regular emails with product updates, promotions and marketing

resources. It’s never been easier to shop, compare and buy Séura’s broad assortment of Outdoor TVs, Lighted Mirrors, Vanishing TV Mirrors and Indoor Waterproof TVs.

INSIDER MAGAZINE: What are your growth categories? Has the pandemic actually helped your sales in these areas?

DAVE KELLER: We are experiencing growth in both our lighting and shading business. People are spending additional time at home and more homeowners are investing in smart home and wellness technologies, which are a perfect fit for QMotion and Vantage. This renewed interest in lighting control and HCL are helping drive sales.

ANGIE LARSON: Like others, we are seeing growth in key categories, but one of the most interesting trends is in project size. We are seeing projects that started out small blossom into larger projects as end-users realize how much time they will be spending in the home and how much they could benefit from additional AV zones, wellness features, etc.

RIAN CAIN: It has been a wave of activity that continues well past the traditional Outdoor Season on TVs. The ebb and flow of the markets are impacted by what each state is continued on page 34

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doing so you tend to go through pockets of pent up demand and an abundance of business in a short time span. Our TV Mirrors, Entertainment mirrors and Lighted Vanity Mirrors have been positively impacted by the construction and remodel business which is strong.

INSIDER MAGAZINE: Any significant areas of the country booming compared to others?

DAVE KELLER: We have noticed significant growth in Southern California, Florida, and the Southwest. Northern California has been slower to restart.

ANGIE LARSON: We have seen growth in nearly all major markets, with particular strength in the midwest, south central and western areas of the country.

INSIDER MAGAZINE:How is your business model changing in case we are still in this pandemic into 2021?

DAVE KELLER: We will continue to refine our business model to provide the best-possible products and services. One of our goals is to be the easiest company to do business with and we’re always working to provide better products and services to our customers. To do this, we are investing more in online ordering and remote support tools to assist dealers with installation and service while at the customer’s residence.

ANGIE LARSON: Savant was well positioned for a move to support our customers in an online fashion with an online dealer community, online university and an online store and with custom design/quoting tools. Admittedly we have had to double down in online tool development, including product marketing videos to take the place of live product demos, virtual experience center tours vs. hosting customers live, a move to 100 percent online dealer certification, etc.

The Séura SHD2 55-inch TV keeps these homeowners informed no matter what the weather.

What we have been most impressed by has not been how we are handling the downturn, but how resilient the integrator base has been. Dealers world-wide have been creative in their business practices and determined in their resolve to support their clients. They inspire us to keep innovating at every level.

RIAN CAIN: We have to assume things Séura Allegro lighting at the Crowne Plaza Hotel. won’t change for a while and business as “it used to be” is the right connection with our Dealer/ forever changed. Virtual meetings, electronic partners. What hasn’t changed – and never communication and online resources have will – is our dedication to the industry that all thankfully, dramatically improved. built and continues to support or business. We will continue to develop new ways to We know that if our customers don’t thrive, provide the right information and maintain we don’t thrive.