Flexibility makes a lot of people nervous. It can signal uncertainty, a hesitation to commit or an undesirable compromise. As you prepare for 2023, however, it may be a good time to reframe your relationship with the word flexibility: For dealers with the right approach, flexibility is the key to success.
Flexible Spaces
Over the last year, home office technology has gained a real foothold throughout the residential AV industry. Something that was once reserved for top executives at Fortune 500 companies is now becoming a mainstay. Between 2019 and 2021, the number of people primarily working from home tripled from 5.7% (roughly 9 million people) to 17.9% (27.6 million people), according to data released today by the U.S. Census Bureau. Not every home has the square footage for a dedicated office, but that does not mean there isn’t an opportunity for integrators.
Dealers can add value to their system designs and help clients see new possibilities by incorporating lesser-known components that make a big impact on the usability of a space. For example: a high-end HDMI extender with KVM capabilities can reduce cord clutter while allowing a space to seamlessly transition from meeting room to family movie night.
Flexible Products
As customers build out flexible spaces, dealers are stocking up on flexible devices. With no end to supply chain turbulence in sight, it pays to stock up on products that can solve multiple problems on a wide range of projects – as long as your “do-it-all” device doesn’t compromise on quality. For example: one of our newest products, the award-winning Vanco Evolution EVEXHDB3 HDBaseT 3.0 Extender, is the extender to rule all extenders. It provides uncompressed HDMI signals up to 4K@60Hz resolution, 4:4:4 chroma, with full HDR compatibility over distances up to 100m and built-in features like eARC, KVM, and 1 GHz Ethernet pass-through. This is the only extender on the market that delivers true HDMI 2.0 functionality from source to sink. One dealer at CEDIA Expo told us he plans to carry of stock of these extenders on every truck.
This extender isn’t a budget product, but it works in any context, from residential to commercial and everything in between. Products like this ensure that the client’s current and future needs are met. They also save dealers time by enabling them to spec a wide range of projects with a manageable number of SKUs.
In 2023, we’re anticipating increased demand for quality products that are equally at home in residential and light commercial contexts. We’re looking at a potential recession, which means dealers themselves will have to be flexible about the types of projects they take on. Dealers may be building a whole-home audio system one day and outfitting a local brewery with sound reinforcement the next. With the right partners and design, you can meet those different needs with a very similar product mix. Finding products that can flex to fit your needs is a key strategy for streamlining operations in a potentially lean year.
See also: Getting Into A “Day 1” Mindset
