“The path to purchase is changing,” said Jim Ristow, CEO of AVB during Monday morning’s General Session of Summit 2020. “Some of your customers, they actually want to buy appliances, home furnishings, bedding, even large panel TVs online. But what you might not know is that they don’t necessarily want to buy it from Amazon or a big box store. They want to buy from someone local like yourself. They want someone they can trust to come into their home. The real question is, can they do it easily today?”
Along with a recap of the successes and challenges the buying group experienced in 2019, Ristow challenged members to work on their businesses during the three-day conference held in Las Vegas, NV this week by having a vision, planning and acting on that plan.
AVB group members have a plethora of support tools at their disposal to make their business grow and thrive, while making it easier for customers to find member dealers and purchase from them. These include AVB Marketing’s Alta 360 websites, which delivered a 30 percent increase in traffic in 2019, a new tech support service through Allstate that takes care of after-sale support and kitchen vignettes that help dealers showcase appliance packages and connected home features.
Ristow’s announcements reinforced AVB’s commitment to their members, particularly with the news of expanding the group’s education system with ProSource University, a customizable education system that can help systems integrators onboard, train and develop new talent. “It’s not a generic one-size-fits-all,” said Dave Workman, president and CEO of ProSource. “Each dealer can customize the program to their cultural values so it’s ‘their’ product…and it’s low cost. Ultimately, we’ll answer the question of labor, and with labor being solved in some fashion, then you unleash the growth that is available to the dealers.”
Another big announcement for the group was the introduction of health care provider Cigna being added to the group’s health care offerings. AVB members across all 50 states now have more options to choose from to help their employees, families and themselves.
“I want you to understand that all the people here on the floor today are here to help you,” said Ristow in closing. “We’re going to face some opportunities, but we’re also going to face some challenges. Just look at this room. We had to put extra chairs in. We’re going to get through this together because we’re a family, and that’s the way it works.”
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