Spring Partners Meeting 2020 Recap
Business Review
The Spring Partners Meeting kicked off with Chris Salazar-Mangrum, vice president of USAV, and Patrick Whipkey, director of USAV, providing an update to what USAV has been doing since the Fall Integrators Meeting.
This year, participation in the Spring Partners Meeting increased 30% from last year with 13 net new participants including integrators and partners. We are very grateful for our sponsorship partners who participated with our integrators during this day and a half collaboration. We are fortunate to have the support of the PSA Network staff, especially, Julie Rolles, training manager, and Anthony Berticelli, vice president of operations, who oversee the education department for PSA. Julie’s participation at our last Fall Integrators Meeting provided the insight of our group to help better understand the dynamics and needs to help with our collaboration format. They helped shape the content and flow of the sessions and facilitated speaker preparation.
The Dealer Advisory Council (DAC) is a group of elected integration leaders who advise USAV on programs, strategies and initiatives. They meet monthly and we rely on their depth of experience and knowledge. We are honored to have had Erinn Helphingstine with us for the last four years and value her insight, opinions, and legacy with USAV. Many of our memories were shared over wine, so our farewell gift was in honor of those shared moments as she completed her term as a DAC member at this meeting.
We recapped the 2019 year with the (re)introductions of Brittany Board, marketing manager, who joined in February and Patrick Whipkey, director of USAV who joined in April. The addition of Brittany and Patrick provides USAV a dynamic and forward-thinking perspective to support the visions of the organization. Additionally, USAV has integrated the PSA Network’s infrastructure including accounting, finance, IT, project management and marketing teams. To reinforce the PSA support, Brent Berger of Bridges Systems Integration (VA) was appointed as PSA board of director member, representing the AV and USAV constituency.
The year 2019 also brought us changes to our group with the loss of Unified Technology Systems who was acquired by Solutionz and does not belong to any buying groups. However, we have strengthened our group and growth objectives by adding six more integrators who fit the USAV model and vision. We have also grown through additional partnerships and diversification of our line card. We will continue to build out new relationships and onboard dealers and partners who fit within our strategic initiatives.
To set up USAV for 2020, we established "Our Promise to USAV Members" and our "Four Pillars of Focus". Utilizing the extensive research and data analysis from various meetings and one-on-one conversations, it was clear that it was time for USAV to build upon its existing framework to emphasize it's goal and benefits to our members and partners.
Our Promise to USAV Members
We will support you, our members, in becoming and sustaining your position as the leading technology solutions provider in the markets you serve. We’ll know we’re successful when you consider USAV/PSA to be the single most valued relationship in your partner network.
Four Pillars of Focus
Buying Programs
Working with you, we leverage the purchasing power of USAV members to negotiate exceptional and diverse buying programs that ideally beat what you can negotiate on your own, enable you to keep your margins competitive, and give you access to leading business service providers.
International Network
We are creating an international network of best-in-breed technology solutions providers so you can win and execute global business.
Growth & Collaboration
We proactively grow and foster collaboration across a diverse USAV member network with the belief that we’re better when we learn and grow together.
Education
We provide educational opportunities to USAV members and your teams, so you have the knowledge and expertise required as the leading technology solutions provider in your markets.
Presentation and Panel
Two sessions were presented by USAV partners and integrators. The first session was "Voice of the Customer: Begin with the End in Mind" with Bob Lobascio (Corporate Sales Coaches) and Bill Graham (PCD Inc.). Bob and Bill spoke about their recent focus groups with clients and how they were able to leverage what they learned into a custom offering for the client. They were able to seek client understanding regards budgeting (CapEx vs. OpEx) and it helped them tailor a mutually beneficial solution with recurring revenue.
The second was "Integrator and Partner Perspectives: Wins, Losses, Lessons Learned" with a panel consisting of Brent Berger of Bridges System Integration as the moderator, and panelists Bill Graham of PCD Inc, Dan Dunkel of PSA, JB Fowler of Domotz, and Dennis Schliske from VICOM. The panel discussion had diverse managed services perspectives from integrators and partners and introduced a great topic of AV firmware upgrades and cybersecurity. There are varying opinions on whether or not to always do firmware upgrades because they sometimes cause more problems than they do fix them. However, the reality is the updated firmware will have updated security protocols that will help in terms of cybersecurity. There was also a discussion surrounding cybersecurity awareness and selling cyber services.
Dallas Mavericks Game
#Livinthesuitelife. Monday night, 52 of USAV’s partners and integrators made their way to the Dallas Mavericks game. We had two suites next to one another which allowed for networking, game watching and friendly banter. A relaxed atmosphere helped everyone connect on a personal level and the overall vibe was very fun. One of USAV’s strong suits is the personal connections formed over the years and this event was a perfect way to grow those relationships. Even the non-basketball fans had a great time networking. In the end the Mav’s won and everyone had a great time.
Lightning Talks and Hosted Jigsaw Breakouts
The Lightning Talks took the stage for the first half of this session. After the talks were the breakouts with the different presenters for attendees to dive-deeper into the topics presents. This was a fun format to breakup sitting and listening to presenters since attendees were able to move around the room after the lightning talks.
The attendees first heard from Bob Lobascio of Corporate Sales Coaches and Jim Scheer of Color Art Technologies. They presented "Selling Managed Services for AV". They gave a high-level overview of five steps to a successful AVaaS strategy. The 2nd lightning talk was presented by Bill Bozeman of PSA and Chuck Durant of Sandra Jones & Company, who shared "Managed Services Impact on M&As". Bill shared some of his personal mistakes from his previous companies and told attendees what not to do. Chuck shared the need to have a professional assist in mergers and acquisitions. The 3rd lightning talk focus was "Emerging Technologies Impacting Managed Services" and was presented by Robert Hammond of Stage Front and Cody Kleven from Netgear. Robert amd Cody talked about current market drivers and more specifically, technology drivers. They wrapped up their talk with diving into other types of partnerships to consider (networking, analytics, data management, AI, cloud, cybersecurity, IoT design & management, etc.). The final lightning talk was presented by Brandon Besong of TrueNorth Companies and Rob Simopoulos of Defendify, that was "Cybersecurity and IoT". To kick of this lightning talk, Brandon and Rob first defined what IoT means and the benefits of technologies today. Lastly, they discussed the importance of teaming, partnerships, and processes.
Attendees then broke into breakout discussions on each of the four topics presented in the Lightning Talks and rotated to the next topic every 30 minutes. After lunch, everyone reconvened to hear the recap of each of the breakouts that occurred just before lunch.
Selling Managed Services for AV
There are 2 internal structures to selling managed services:
Entire sales team is tasked with selling products and services
Sales team is split between sales and services
Regardless of who is selling the service, they should understand what they are selling and be motivated (often in the form of commissions)
Consider who is selling services. It doesn’t have to be an AV salesperson by trade
Selling services and AVaaS can’t be a simple auxiliary component to business. There needs to be a constant emphasis within all departments
Best Practices:
Include a services component on every quote
Incentivize your team
Hire the right people for the task rather than the industry specifically
Understand the psychology of upcoming buyers (younger and want to use things vs. own things)
Managed Services Impact on M&A’s
More manufacturer offerings for AVaaS
Own the account / exit valuation
Predictability of revenue
Higher margins
Not all RMR is created equal
Financing / creating cost
Professional services
Emerging Technologies Impacting Managed Services
No single solution on the market today that meets all the needs of a managed services portfolio – no silver bullet
What is the client experience for managed services – needs to be the focus
Big data aggregation and reporting
Network variables – integrators take a hit on gross profit
30-40% of service issues are user errors
Cybersecurity and IoT
Benefits of deploying internally and then remote monitoring – improved cyber posturing
Inform customers on your cyber positioning
Cyber is like driving a car – insurance is necessary and seatbelt and driving safe to protect
Manufacturers and distributors – provide cyber hardening guides and offer services to help integrators
Questionnaires are becoming more extensive (DOD) – asking for types/models of equipment
Dealer Advisory Council Elections
Introducing the newest member of the Dealer Advisory Council (DAC), Jim Scheer from Color Art Technology. Re-elected members were Brent Berger (Bridges System Integration) and Dirk Propfe (ET Group). Learn More About the DAC
Managed Services: ProAV Playbook and Resource Guide Release
USAV AVaaS Special Interest Group (SIG), released their first version of the Managed Services: ProAV Playbook and Resource Guide. Meeting attendees then had an opportunity to sit down with the SIG members to go over the playbook and resource guide, talk about the content and provide feedback and suggestions for the next version. Everyone appreciated the work by the SIG and valued the content.
Cheer to Partnerships | Partner Round Tables
The meeting wrapped up with a "Cheers to Partnerships" and another opportunity for members to talk more with the partners about products and services available, but more importantly, to strength the relationships made over the two days.
Note from Chris, Vice President of USAV:
I appreciate the energy invested by our staff, integrators, DAC, SIG, partners, and NSCA to deliver an exceptional event of sharing best practices and deepening personal relationships. This meeting underscored the importance of having multidimensional perspectives ranging from the AV, IT and security thought-leader lineup that helps our group grow through collaboration.We received some excellent feedback regarding the urge to learn more about cybersecurity and are glad our members received value from the AVaaS Playbook. Our goal at USAV is constantly be improving the value we deliver to all members in our in-person meetings. We’ve heard you would like more “prescriptive/how-to” information on service contracts and managed services. We welcome additional feedback to help us with our continuous improvement.
Note from Patrick, Director of USAV:
Exciting times are in the mix here at USAV, with just under a year in my new role I have learned and grown a lot. I have met some new faces and grown existing relationships. The spring meeting was a testament to the hard work and dedication of the entire PSA/USAV staff. We’re always looking to evolve and keep things fresh and I think the spring meeting was a great example of that. Our focus on av as a service was well received and timely as our industry continues to evolve and change its offerings. We look forward to strengthening the group and increasing our offerings to help our members grow. We loved the collaboration the event sparked and we look forward to continuing those conversations on a more frequent basis. Thanks for participating and we’ll see you in Las Vegas.
Note from Travis, DAC Chairman:
I enjoyed the deep dive into the topics of Managed Services and AV as a Service. For the first time, I believe I have a road map for solutions that will radically improve our recurring revenue service offerings at LINX Multimedia. I really enjoyed the opportunity to engage with existing members, new members and our preferred partners in this conversation.