Strategy in TECH...
We continue on with our new Strata-SERIES:RMR Programs series of articles. Smack dab in the middle of Manhattan you’ll find Union Square and in Union Square you’ll find Cloud9 Smart, a leading New York City integrator in both commercial and residential installations.
[Note: this article is part of a series and will make more sense if you read Installment 1 first. You can find it at this link…]
When given the assignment to check up on the state of recurring monthly revenue (RMR) programs, it seemed like a pretty straightforward task. After all, everybody embraces RMR…right? We began by randomly reaching out to custom integrators around the country – including a few large, high revenue businesses. The simple request…tell us about your RMR program.
[This is the first post in a series of articles we call Strata-SERIES: RMR Programs. Read about why we created this series here…]
Have you seen the December issue of Residential Systems Magazine? I wrote the cover story, “Maintaining Customer Joy” (online as: “Maintaining Customer Joy Through Service Plans“), a detailed article about the benefits and challenges of implementing a recurring monthly revenue (RMR) program in an integration company. In that story, I interviewed four top integrators who all had successful RMR programs, about the trials and tribulations of establishing that program…and the benefits they derived from it.
In researching RMR programs, I learned that they are much more than a revenue stream – they literally redefine the relationship with the client. I had uncovered more than I expected…so much more…
New research conducted by NPR and Edison Research has revealed what is likely the key motivation for Amazon and Google to aggressively attack the mass market by offering attractive smart speaker products at ever-decreasing prices – they are a Trojan horse. The data also shows the remarkably rapid adoption of the technology in just a couple of short years.
At CEDIA 2017 CEDIA and Home Advisors partnered to present the results of a recent member survey on the Smart Home market that the two parties collaborated on recently. The results were interesting although not particularly surprising or earth shattering.
For years now, the single greatest driving force behind the entire consumer electronics industry has been the vibrant, forceful growth in sales of television sets. Now, in a surprising new report, we learn that American consumers are beginning to wean themselves off of TVs. What that means for integrators, or for the industry, remains to be seen.
Strata-gee’s founder and editor Ted Green was a guest panelist on this week’s episode of AVNation’s ResiWeek podcast. ResiWeek is specifically targeted at the residential audio visual integration industry and weekly convenes a panel to discuss the top stories of the day, which in this episode, included a post from Strata-gee on Amazon hiring their own Geek Squad.
Recode is reporting that Amazon is testing an installation service for smart home products in several key test markets – in direct competition with Best Buy’s Geek Squad. While these two giants battle over the rights to install smart home solutions into the home, where does this leave the independent integrator?
Lennar Corporation, one of the nation’s largest builders of homes, announced today the world’s first Wi-Fi Certified home designs featuring home automation built-in and voice control by Amazon Alexa. The company says this new program is part of its Everything’s Included approach to home building.
The Consumer Technology Association (CTA) announced this week that at its upcoming Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in January 2018 in Las Vegas, there will be a new area of focus on Smart City technologies. The group plans both a dedicated display space featuring the technologies of Smart Cities, as well as a full schedule of related conference programming.
