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Forward-Facing Customer Service
Admit that you’re in the service business. Understand service is not the transactional side of your business, but the manner in which you conduct...
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The Rise of the Brand Portal
Over the last five years or so, most large suppliers and many smaller ones developed special websites–known as portals–where dealers can research products and...
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New Developments in Project Management Software and Web Tools
Exploring New Offerings from BidMagic, D-Tools, Simply Reliable, SupplyStream, Cairnstack Software, Slateplan, and LincEdge
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Applied Training
Acoustic Architects uses the ESC certification Pre-Test Assessment to screen and evaluate job applicants.
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Embracing the Channel
Our world demands instant reactions to the news of the day. Last month’s CEDIA convention was no different, as people at nearly every stop...
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Stearns Looks to Increase Efficiency at D-Tools
In mid-September, D-Tools appointed industry veteran Randy Stearns as CEO, in hopes that he would help the company focus on driving its corporate strategy...
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Apple TV: Bringing Back Family TV Time
Apple made several important new product announcements at their “Hey Siri” event in September. The most important one affecting home entertainment was the announcement...
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Overhaul Your Productivity
What happened next was amazing. When everyone entered the meeting room, we found there was no place to sit.
Behind the Business
The DaVinci Group: A Better Partner
The DaVinci Group has been thinking outside the box when it comes to forming partnerships to distribute its high-end audio products.
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Inside CINEAK’s Showroom
Life is lived large in Los Angeles. From Beverly Hills to Manhattan Beach, to the glamorous star-studded Hollywood Hills, it is a film-industry town...
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Design to Preserve Your Theater’s Image
Aside from the obvious goal of creating an environment that provides entertainment, excitement, and fun, the objective of designing a private theater should be...
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The Rise of the Client Advocate
Tech system consultants have been a part of our industry for years.
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Engaging Technology
As you walk the aisles of the CEDIA EXPO in Dallas this month, you’ll be bombarded with a combination of sights and sounds that...
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The Science Behind Improving Your Sales
Regardless of whether you’re selling residential entertainment and automation systems or painting a masterpiece, there are scientific techniques that can lead you to artistic...
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Government Affairs Update
As this summer comes to a close, we wanted to take the time to recap some important legislative matters.
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The Power of Reps
Knowing that the independent sales rep organization, IPRO, would be holding its 2015 conference right before the CEDIA show in Dallas next month, I...
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Home Theater Checkup Time
It’s still pretty rare for me to encounter an integrator that provides regularly scheduled system checkups. We need more folks to jump on this...
Behind the Business
CEDIA Tech Teasers
Excitement is building with EXPO 2015 just weeks away, so Residential Systems sat down with several of the industry’s most high-profile manufacturers to find...
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Managing Massive Installation Projects
In this industry, it’s all about going big; the dream of equipping a palatial estate with enough tech tools to make James Bond jealous.
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Educating Clientele on Investing in a Great Theater
In the design and engineering of a private theater, when is it appropriate to take it “to the Nth degree?” This is the question...
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Can the CI Business Be Fun Again?
The most common complaint I hear from dealers is, “The business isn’t fun anymore.”
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Madison Electric Products Crowdsources Product Development
I’ve known a few frustrated inventors over the years—the types of people that always seem to have the next big idea in mind but...
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Maximizing Your Value Proposition
After living for too long with substandard wireless connectivity at home I decided to install a commercial-grade wireless system.
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Florida Home Gets One of Sony’s First Ultra Short Throw 4K Projectors
When Randy Rock first contemplated moving full-time with his wife Lydia to their winter residence in Boynton Beach, FL, he faced a tech-lover’s dilemma.
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Pitching Your Company in Three Sentences
If put on the spot to give a succinct elevator pitch about your company, how well can you do it? I’m talking about trying...
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Apple Watch’s Role in Home Control
I’ve had my new black sports band Apple Watch for about three weeks and have now developed some first impressions on what I think...
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Designing Professional Screening Rooms for Private Homes
Designing private theaters is a great business.
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Is it Time to Rethink the Showroom?
I’ve visited dozens of dealerships that had installed a theater and vignettes in years past, and for the most part, their demo facilities were...
Behind the Business
Control4’s Miguel Perez Talks Customer Satisfaction
Control4 has been putting in a lot of work lately to improve its dealer and end-user training to deliver the best results possible to...
Archive
Four Tips for Creating Websites to be Used as Marketing Tools
An effective web presence has evolved to become the central crucial element in the process of marketing your tech business. But the truth is,...
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Is Tomorrowland a Reboot Vehicle for Disney Parks?
The release of the Brad Bird-directed movie Tomorrowland got me to thinking about the amazing power of Disney, and how my family and I...
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Staying in Tune with the Times
Competition is great, especially for the tech industry. Without the perpetual thirst to one-up competitors with better designs, innovation would stagnate.
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Temporary Help
If your business is experiencing a sudden uptick and you are not sure that you have the ability to get all the work done,...
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Demo Scene: Science Fiction Triple Feature
Here’s your chance to show clients just how much better a well-crafted home theater system can look and sound than the commercial competition.
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IoT Jumps the Shark
I’m still hip to this Internet of Things thang, but last month, for about one week, there was a huge amount of buzz about...
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A Faster Smart Host
Savant went to its annual integrators conference Austin, TX, last month to unveil a smaller, single-chassis version of its Smart Host home-automation controller and...
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Trust, but Verify Video
You need to have a systematic approach to verifying the audio and video performance of your installations–using reliable test vectors and documenting the resulting...
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Sound Concepts Creates a Showroom for Selling 4K
“They see it and say, ‘I’ve got to have it.’”
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Color Coding
During last month’s Azione Unlimited buying group Spring Soiree in Nashville, TN, Peter Sieffert, from Swiss Avenue Partners in San Diego discussed how he...
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Big Control in Little Rock
Implementing failsafe security capabilities within residential settings means integrating solutions and components that will ensure error-free operation throughout the home–at all times.