At CEDIA EXPO, there are so many exhibitors, so many products, so many classes, so many contacts. If you spent just a few minutes at each booth, you could easily waste days of your valuable time hearing about products that are not right for you and that will really not help your business at all.
I wont pretend to offer you a pocket planner, training schedule, or a Top 10 list of things you must do there. In this ocean of endless opportunity, the key question is: How do I use my time wisely at CEDIA to take home what I need to make my business succeed?
If you want to return home knowing that you accomplished this, you must be truly aware of your core business, your market, and your opportunities. The EXPO will be a sensory overload, so you must focus your time only on the products and opportunities that fit your business model.
Instead of being at CEDIA with thousands of electronic product choices, imagine that you were at a different trade showpicture yourself at an auto parts show with a mission to get all the parts you need to build the car you have designed.
Before you came to this show you spent time creating a blueprint for the car you planned to assemble. Then you created a shopping list containing exactly the parts you needed: the engine, the chassis, the tires, the seats, etc. The blueprint showed all the parts you needed to the last detail. Your list contained the specifications of the parts you need and your finished design took into account exactly how all of the parts would fit together to assemble your car.
With your blueprint and shopping list in hand, you would know exactly which suppliers you needed to visit. The shopping list would allow you to focus on your objectives. Until you acquired all of the car parts you needed.
Think of CEDIA as your auto parts store. These suppliers sell parts and pieces. Stop thinking of your company as a parts reseller, who stocks and sells any part requested. Instead, think of your company as the automaker who sells, builds, and delivers only finished cars.
When you finalize the blueprint for your car, you change the way you do business. First, your unique design sets your company apart from every other competitor. Second, you add value and confidence by building and road testing the car before the client purchases it. Third, you cut production costs because you no longer need so many miscellaneous parts. You now order only the specific parts you need to build according to your blueprint.
Customizing everything is not only a poor business modelit can lead to financial disaster. Having a blueprint takes your company to the next level with a manageable business plan. Only a specific plan empowers your company to create a standardized system approach for your operations. Did you make or lose money on that last job? Why? The blueprint method provides invaluable management feedback to allow you to make intelligent decisions to guide every part of your future.
There are many rewards for custom install companies who sell systems that are consistent in design and execution. Your systems will be easier to sell because you can show the prospect exactly what you are proposing. Systems will be easier to program and quote and will be more profitable because your team has specific experience installing this system.
Service will be easier, because your techs know what to expect and you have spare parts of gear being readied for the next install. Clients will be happier and you will have more referrals because your systems perform better.
Create a blueprint to guide your companys future. The bottom line is you will make more money with less effort.
