Welcome back to HowToAV.tv we're still here at ISE 2019 and we found ourselves on the
Meridian stage back with Hugo Fitzjohn and we're gonna talk all about quality audio in
the home again.
Hugo you've been on the Cedia training stage and really talking about why we should sell
less.
Yeah and that sounds controversial doesn't it?
So why we should sell less is we actually want to make more profit out of the systems
that we are installing.
So a really good way of doing that is honing down on the areas that people are actually
going to be listening to music.
So there's been some polls and research done recently - top places people consume music
is in the car, so obviously we can't do anything about that but we can do something about the
home.
So relaxing at home a lot of people will listen to music whilst relaxing at home, in kitchens
but not so much in other places in the house.
Like bedrooms it's not used so much.
So my contention is that what we should do is focus on putting really good quality products
and giving clients a really great experience in less rooms meaning that we are putting
better higher profitability kind of equipment into those zones.
Less labor because it's something that we're struggling with within the industry at the
moment - that we haven't got enough talented people to do all the installs.
So putting less in, putting better stuff in and because you put less in, there's less
stuff to go wrong, better quality equipment so you shouldn't be going back to site and
costing yourself money in the future.
So you were saying earlier - there really can be a trying to fit as much kit into every
room in the house, can sometimes be something of a vanity project.
But in a real world - when residents move in you find that the people just aren't using
it in so many of the rooms.
And therefore people should really think about making the most of that budget and getting
quality kit,a quality result in the rooms that actually matter.
Absolutely - in the past when I was out installing in the field, your putting systems in for
people, you go back to see them later and talk about the rooms that they insisted on
having guest rooms.
and actually they are saying their guests when they come round are absolutely frightened
of touching anything because they fear they are going to break it.
So why not just give them a simple alarm clock radio in those rooms?
So yeah just concentrate on the rooms that really matter.
But then the other thing that's really important as well is to consider the sources that we
are getting music from today.
Things have really changed in the last few years.
Smart phones are driving the content we are getting.
You know there's people that are now getting their music from Youtube of all places.
That again similar survey they are saying 35% of people didn't want to pay a subscription
because they can get everything that they wanted from Youtube.
So I guess more and more we are having very different sources in different areas of the
home.
The way you're really using that music you might be back to vinyl by now it's growing
and growing.
Where as in a bedroom or a bathroom it might be simply down to a smart phone and a speaker.
Yeah and everybody in the household is going to have different sources for their music
so the father of the home might have his curated music collection he's had for many years on
a hard drive so he wants to stream that.
But his kids might be using Spotify or wife just wanting to airplay stuff.
I think cater for all the different sources and bring them into the home and give people
actually something they are going to use, love and enjoy.
It does sounds scary - it really does sound like Hugo is telling everybody buy less stuff
and it isn't the case.
It's about allowing yourself to use the budget that's available, using that same budget - but
using it on better quality equipment that's really going to give a better performance
and going to last a lot longer really.
Yeah and I know it's a brave sell to go out there and tell people they should have less,
but actually what we are selling to people and I think we should never forget this - we're
selling experiences.
Technology is merely the vehicle to upload those experiences.
So let's try give people excellent experiences.
So this isn't about a product, this is about how we design our systems.
And we were talking earlier on about system design and we do have to refresh the way that
we're thinking.
But we're also talking about both for yourselves and for us as well - the manufacturers, the
product suppliers, we're having to change our model to deliver that system design.
We know that there is a greater requirement from us to deliver that service to the end
user and to the installer as well.
You guys have done what we've done as well - and it really is about delivering a service
of system design.
So what do you guys do?
So we've got the design service - so our dealers, distributors can come to use directly with
their project, we'll help them work to put an amazing project together that is going
to deliver the results that the clients looking for.
It's co-branded by us and we are going to guarantee that they can get the performance
they are looking for.
And you are finding that throughout the industry now.
Absolutely.
Every good quality provider - whether it's a manufacturer, whether it's a distributor
it's there providing that service.
We know that to make sure that our products work we need to know the systems going to
work as well.
Absolutely - when it comes to the cinema design for example we've got dealers out there who
are maybe doing 2 or 3 cinemas a year.
We've got a guy who is an expert in designing stuff and that is what he's doing everyday.
So why not use our skill and expertise, our understanding of our products to help them
to put an amazing experience together for their client.
Help them close the deal as well.
So when you're looking for the right product and when you are looking for the right provider
- make sure that those guys are there to help you out as well.
A really good provider or really good manufacturer has got a great team of system designers,
technicians that are not just there to sell you the most products or the most expensive
product, they want to deliver to you a system that will work.
Hugo thanks for joining us once again.
Plenty more from HowToAV.tv over at ISE 2019, join us again soon.