A while back, then CE Pro Editor-in-Chief Julie Jacobson wrote an article about how to differentiate your smart home business from the competition, whoever that may be. That was penned roughly seven years ago at this point and, rather then let it let it languish from the digital rot that has begun to afflict our older content, we thought it prudent to bring back these suggestions–albeit with some slight touchups for modernization–as they still ring largely true to this day.
Written following a CEDIA Business Xchange event, most of what Jacobson said regarding how to differentiate businesses has been preserved. Slight updates have been made, however, to include more relevant examples from today’s business landscape.
Integrators compete with a variety of professions, and while the industry has adopted a more “let’s all work together as much as we can” approach with one another, there’s still a little bit of friendly competition that floats around. There’s also Geek Squad, electricians, security dealers, cable companies, consumers themselves and so many other entities depending upon the market where you’re working.
In this industry, the word ‘competition’ can mean a lot.
However, the foundation for any competitive business strategy is first understanding who your competition is. From there, you can pick your targets, and tailor your messaging in order to better differentiate yourself from potential competition.
For instance, let’s look at the current hot topic of the industry: lighting. Both electricians and integrators can offer lighting as part of their services, and that can sometimes put the professions in slight competition with one another. Now, pretend you offer lighting as part of your portfolio (if you don’t already) and need to come up with a campaign to differentiate your lighting offerings from an electrician’s.
How would you go about conveying that value to the client in a way that wouldn’t put you at odds with the electrician? After all, you are going to still be working with them at the end of the day.
It isn’t always the easiest thing to break into, but if you see the opportunity to deliver a service that a small group of clients are absolutely feverish for, it can do a lot to differentiate your business. Perhaps you’re uniquely equipped to install ultra-large video walls, or your business excels at setting up video projectors to display stunning works of art for high-class elites.
Once you establish yourself within a niche community of consumers, you can start running circles around the competition.
It’s not just your products and installation services that make you different. It can be the very way you run your business.
For example, maybe you’re the company that presents gorgeous proposals with drawings and images. If no one else is making that kind of impression, “The architect is going to say, ‘That’s my guy,’” says former integrator Randy Stearns.
Here’s another example: Peter Aylett of the UK-based Archimedia sells three different packages for commercial installations – huddle room, board room and full-blown conference room. The differentiation here is that Archimedia is making it easy to shop for otherwise complicated systems.
And another: What you call RMR (recurring monthly revenue) can be “sold” as a differentiating feature to clients, much in the same way frayednot offers around the clock monitoring and support for its AV racks.
You can have the most unique business proposition in the world, but how are you going to differentiate yourself from everyone else at the table if you don’t sell that uniqueness? Say you’re the company that has a cabinet-maker on staff. Do you make a big deal out of it? Do you let would-be clients know that you’re different because you can blend technology into furniture?
Maybe show them side-by-side images of a TV that looks ridiculously awkward in a cabinet that’s too big or too small next to an image of a beautifully finished-out display installed by your firm.
Remember when it was a really big deal to use the iPhone and then the iPad for home control? You gave out free iOS devices and promoted the heck out of your app-related services for the first year, until everyone was doing it.
Being able to differentiate yourself means not becoming complacent with your business. What’s the hot thing today? Pick it up while it’s still confusing to consumers. Maybe it’s voice control, maybe it’s home energy, or maybe it’s something industry chatter hasn’t picked up on yet. Keep your ear to the ground.
Once upon a time, some AV enthusiasts made a unique business out of designing and installing home entertainment systems. Now look where we are.
Home-technology specialists, by virtue of their training and breadth of expertise, are inherently “different” from the other guys. You do what others would never even dream of doing, but because that’s your every day, sometimes you forget just how special you are.
I was reminded of this at a recent seminar on renovating a mid-century modern home. One of the architects on the panel explained how the homeowners didn’t want an ugly TV on the wall, so they installed a motorized drop-down mount. Gasping, the audience members furiously scribbled down notes like it was the first time such a thing had ever been attempted.
Yeah, you’re a lot cooler than you give yourselves credit for.
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