Behind the Rack
Behind the Rack is the AV industry podcast where Pro AV, broadcast, and live production come to life. Hosted by Hugo Chevrette, Franco Caruso, and Vincent Simoneau, each episode dives into the latest audio, video, and broadcast technology trends, while sharing real-world experiences from integrators, tech specialists, and industry leaders.
From new product launches and system integration tips to AV industry trends, audio solutions, and video workflows, the hosts keep the conversations casual, practical, and easy to follow. Expect honest insights, a few rants, and plenty of useful takeaways that go beyond what you’ll find in spec sheets or trade show booths.
Whether you’re an AV integrator, dealer, broadcast engineer, or just passionate about pro audio and video technology, Behind the Rack helps you stay connected, learn something new, and see what’s really happening behind the rack.
Behind the Rack
Ep.3 - The Evolving Role of the AV Distributor
In this episode, we pull back the curtain on the AV supply chain and explore how a modern distributor creates real value—service, strategy, support, and technical depth—not just logistics.
We walk through the roles of manufacturers, distributors, integrators, and end users, then dig into what separates simple “box moving” from true master distribution: repairs and fast turnaround, market compliance, bilingual marketing, brand management, and the ability to support dealers with real technical expertise.
We also break down the Canadian AV landscape, the impact of the Amazon effect on speed and stock visibility, and why training, networking skills, and Plus services help resellers scale into AV over IP, Dante, and modern installs with confidence.
We wrap with a great reminder that watts don’t tell the whole story—and why the right distributor helps guide customers to the right solution, not just the biggest spec.
If you enjoyed this episode, follow the show, leave a review, and share it with someone in the AV world.
The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the hosts and guests, and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of SFM.
SPEAKER_04:Welcome to Behind the Rack, your casual AV industry hangout with hosts Hugo Chabinet, Franco Caruso, and myself, Vincent Simono. We dive into products, trends, and the occasional rants, all to share, learn, and spark new ideas across promadio, life sound, broadcast, and systems AV. So grab your headphones, pull up a chair, and join us for some honest, sometimes nerdy, always fun conversations all happening on the So what's happening, guys?
SPEAKER_02:You know, I think uh today we'd like to talk about what's a distributor in the AV industry and what's what's the role of a distributor uh in the realm of AV and in the market. Um so I don't know, let's let's uh let's let's talk about this.
SPEAKER_04:Yeah, I think I think um I think we've all we all work for a distributor now, but we've all had a past history in in distribution. And I think um it's I'd I'd love to to hear about the evolving role of the distributor of the AV industry, of the AV distributor as a whole. Um But I I think we should start with explaining who are the different for all those who don't understand what a distributor is, who wants to kick that off. I don't mind.
SPEAKER_03:I don't mind doing it. Yeah. I think there's four different I think there's four steps in the supply chain that we need to talk about and just define who they are and what role they play. Um so I guess you're starting from the we'll call it from the bottom up, you've got your end user who's the person that's buying the product at the end of the day. They are then buying it from the reseller or an integrator, or an integrator in our market. That reseller or integrator is then buying it from a distributor, or directly. Or direct, depending on the manufacturer, depending on the manufacturer. And that distributor is buying it from the manufacturer. So there's four levels. I think we're gonna stick to that lingo. There's a lot of people that intertwine those terms and use them differently and have different definitions, but for today's conversation, talking about A V distribution, manufacturer, distributor, reseller, integrator, and then end user. That's right.
SPEAKER_04:Yeah, great. And just to clarify, uh on the reseller integrator side, so depending on the product that you're buying, typically a consumer product, typically you'll get it at a reseller, and that's usually like a it could be a big box store, it could be a mom and pop shop. Uh, and if you're looking for services or something a little bit more personalized or a product that's specific for tailored for another application, it could be an integrator or somebody who's doing the install or somebody more specialized.
SPEAKER_02:So yeah, typically integrator would sell solutions that they would integrate into the workflow of the customer, and a reseller is more like a mu could be a music store, could be even could be even a a best buy, or that those are called. That's true. Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_03:Usually there's a physical transaction that's being done at the reseller standpoint, and the integrator is also including services.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah.
unknown:Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:Good. Well, I think that starts the conversation pretty well.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, to understand for sure.
SPEAKER_04:Um and there's different types of distributors on that point. Um depending on the the industry. I think I think industry also dictates a little bit about the type of different distributors, right? Yes. Um, and can I go on a little rant? Yeah, yeah, go for it.
SPEAKER_03:I want to set some of the things.
SPEAKER_04:We've been waiting for a rant. Yeah. This is the Franco rant of the episode.
SPEAKER_03:You know, when I speak to people and they're like, oh, what do you do for a living? Oh, I work for a distributor and I'm brand manager and category manager. Oh, you move boxes. I can't tell you the box pusher how much that insults me and how much it upsets me. And that's where I go into the four-step process. Well, you see, you're an end user, then there's the reseller, and there's distributor manufacturer. And I think it's because, you know, like even when I think back to my schooling in business school, like I can remember vividly in the business classes, you have the picture of the manufacturer with like that brown cardboard box making it, and then the distributor box is like a warehouse full of those brown boxes, and then the next picture is like someone holding that brown box and smiling. And yes, different industries, distributors have different levels of um uh of importance, and they add different types of value, and some industries they are just holding stock and acting as a logistics point in that country, but in the A V industry, the distributor has such an important role that impacts the end user, yeah, and it impacts everyone else throughout the supply chain, and there's so much value that should be added, that is added, and it's important, I think, that we talk about that probably later on in the episode. Yeah, but it's so much more than just holding inventory. So I just want to get it out of my system, or else I'm gonna get irked the entire episode.
SPEAKER_04:Yeah. No, I think I think even from before, I think my earlier days going into the beginning 2000s when I I started working at my first distributor. I mean, it it's it was um it was a little there was always a little bit more than just box pushing. Uh, the service was always I think that there's always um uh room for improvements and stuff like that, but there's always a push for um helping customers in the end of the day, and then it's finding those ways. I know back then um service was huge, and I'm talking about like post-service, so even repairs. Um and when we got bought out, uh, that company got bought out, they kind of closed that service department down, and it made huge difference in terms of customer loyalty and stuff like that. We lost a lot, like I think that we lost a lot of good customer base who were loyal just because of the post uh after sales service, whether it was advanced replacements or even just technical expertise, that was such a huge value. And I think that's what's um I think that's what's important in distribution. Now that has evolved, obviously, but I back then it was uh even just to that level was really, really important.
SPEAKER_02:And it's also important that the distributor has a very good relationship with its manufacturers. Yeah. Because they are basically the special like for Canada. I mean, the distributor role is uh is basically represents the manufacturer. So here at SFM, we have specialists about shore microphones, we have specialists about bird dog cameras, we have specialists about all of our products. We assign a technical person to this product. So someone can pick up the phone and call if he has an issue, whether it's an end user or a reseller having questioned pre-sales question because he wants to put some products or some solutions we we sell. So I think a distributor is also one of the roles of the distributor is to make sure that the the manufacturer has a good stance in the country.
SPEAKER_04:Um, the I I think there's different types of levels of distribu distribution too. I mean, there's some distributors that just are there for logistics. Yep. And I'm not not to downplay that, because I think there is a huge role for that type of uh that type of distribution. But there's a depends on the industry as well. Exactly. That's right. That's right. Very industry-based. And then you have the secondary level that has, I think, a little bit more services, added value services. And then you have what I'd call more master distributors where they are the brand, they're the front face brand for for the country. And um I think that's that's super important.
SPEAKER_02:Typically, those master distributors would handle, uh, and I'll let Franco go on a little bit more on this because he's been working for our company for nine years, but uh typically they would handle every type of uh marketing initiative that that are happening in the country. Uh, they would also handle for Canada, for example, traduction, uh translation, sorry, because we have a French market and we have an English market. So typically it's going to be the role of the distributor to make sure that it complies with all the laws relative to French, for example. Yeah. Uh also uh ensuring that we have repair services for brands that need repair, tech support, yeah, uh, and even finance, you know. So that's that's a master distributor, in my opinion.
SPEAKER_04:That's right. And and you bring up a good point. Actually, we're three people that are in three different departments in distribution, and it's funny, and we all play uh a slightly uh different role, obviously. Which very important, but I think we're also very um intertwined uh and and work directly uh together. Uh Franco, how do you how do you as a brand manager at a dish at a distributor, how do you how how do you differentiate yourself from let's say another how do you explain your role or a distributor and the importance than just box pushing like that difference?
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, no, it's a it's a great question. Uh first of all, brand management, the way I explain it to people is we're really the quarterback in the country for that brand. And what does a quarterback do on a team? They make sure that the offensive is doing their job, you know, defensive, and at the end of the day, they're scoring goals. And that to me is being successful. What does that mean? Um, you're you're coordinating that delicate dance between all the departments. We've got someone from the tag group here, technical application group, technical marketing as well, you, Vince. Uh, and it's making sure that all the resources that the distributor has to offer are working together in order to achieve that end goal. That's the way I like to explain it. Obviously, it's a lot more complicated, it entails so much more uh um planning and strategy. But what's really cool about my job and what I enjoy about it, you know, we're talking about entrepreneurship and everything, is every single brand has a different strategy. Every single brand requires a different amount of resources. Um, and every single brand has a different market. So it's a really uh I find it exciting. I you know, to wake up every morning and come into work and change your hats a thousand times throughout the day, that's what makes it so fun and exciting. Not every single day is the exact same, every single day is different, which is a lot of fun. Um, so from the brand management science standpoint, you know, we're really that liaison between, you know, most of our brands are obviously uh located in the United States. So I like to explain it as we're their arm in Canada, we're their liaison, we're representing them. So even internally, right, we are then taking their messaging and strategy, explaining it to the internal marketing department that we have here at SFM, making sure that the strategies are aligned, making sure that we're planning efficiently. You know, if they're planning a product launch, do we have all the assets? Do we have everything ready to go? Are we on the same schedule? Is pricing ready? Do we think of our inventory strategy correctly? How much inventory are we bringing in? We're dealing with procurement, we're dealing with absolutely everybody to make sure, like I said, that that team reaches the goal at the end of the day. Um, so it's a lot of balancing, it's a lot of uh negotiating externally and internally as well. And you really are running your own little business, which is you know, I find so much fun. I love that part of it. Um, and that freedom and flexibility and trust that we have to ensure that the brand is successful, I think is the most important part because, like I said, every single brand is different. Yeah, then you take every single brand, you break that down, every single province is different. Yeah, every single market that that brand caters to is different, right? So there's so many different rabbit holes that you can get into. It can become so technical, so different. Yeah, but our job at the end of the day is to make sure that we're representing the brand correctly and that we're successful with the brand at the end of the day. So it's uh it's a lot of fun. I enjoy it. Uh, it's changed definitely throughout the last couple of years. Um users are a lot more, I think, demanding, a lot more educated, exactly savvy, a lot more educated. Um, and our job is to ensure not only the success of the brand, but you'll only have success of the brand if your reseller or integrator is successful. Yes. Right? So it's what type of tools do they need to be successful? What type of support do they need? What type of extra marketing do they need? It's so important that we listen not only to the end users, but we're also listening obviously to that next step. We're talking about those four steps. Our direct link is those resellers and integrators. Um, and like I said, every single brand has a different market, different type of reseller, and every reseller has a different need. So our job is to kind of figure out this puzzle and make sure that the machine is as oiled as well as possible so that as many people as possible are happy. So it's uh it's I I love it. I enjoy it so much, and hopefully that shows. That shows definitely. But it's uh it's a puzzle every day to figure out what's needed and to make sure that we're adding value throughout the entire chain because they call it supply chain for a reason. Every single step is interlinked. Yeah, so that end user will have the impacts and will feel the difference if everything from the manufacturer is properly translated throughout the chain. Yeah, and that's the the most important part, right? Is the messaging clear? Is it consistent? Every single country is different.
SPEAKER_04:I was actually gonna bring that up because we're talking about uh how distributors are different and stuff. And when you're the face, uh you're the liaison for the Canadian, I was just gonna say that the Canadian business is completely different than the US. And I think sometimes I I I've already have been in situations where you can tell that the even the US manufacturers, like, yeah, that's a completely different business. We we don't even know the footprint. And even in when you're in Canada, territorially, it's different brands sometimes. Like sometimes on the West, they're very specific on a certain brand, or and it it's very uh it's a very unusual word, definitely a different breed in terms of in Canada, and sometimes manufacturers um that come from outside of Canada don't always understand that, and that's another reason why they'd want to choose a distributor who takes care of all the uh marketing and the and a distributor that's capable of of also educating the manufacturer.
SPEAKER_03:I think that's really important as well. It's not that, yes, some might have more knowledge than others about that country that they want to expand into. Um, but the first thing I do when there's a new brand that's being presented or or we're looking at is evaluating, okay, what's their knowledge of the Canadian market? What are some of the gaps? And let's let's talk about it. Um, you'd be surprised how many people, you know, they look at at the map, and this is really rudimentary, right? You look at the map of the world, you see Canada, it's massive. So, what's the first thing you expect? Massive amount of people, massive amount of sales, right? And then when you start explaining numbers, you know, how the entire population of Canada is smaller than a single state in the United States, just that one fact is like okay, I'm starting to understand now. Just because we have this massive amount of land, we have all these different hot pockets, you know, we're not we're not heavily, it's not the density is not high. No, but we have those major hot pots throughout the entire uh country where there is business being transacted. And it's it's about educating them, it's about explaining to them that what's happening in Montreal, Quebec is very different than what's happening in Toronto and Ontario, even though we're six hours away. Yeah, you compare that to Vancouver, completely different as well, right? The integrator strategy in Vancouver is very different than Montreal. Yeah, the production houses, very different strategies, different markets, uh price points are also very different. That's right, yeah. Uh, I mean, obviously, we're all in business. We're not gonna hide the fact that we need to talk about profitability. And that's our role too, as a distributor is making sure that our integrators and resellers, as well as end users, are making as much profit as possible and that they have the tools they need to do that. Yeah, um, so it's uh it's about educating, it's about explaining to them the different strategies and just making sure that they're able to cater to the Canadian market in the in the right ways to make sure that everyone's successful.
SPEAKER_04:Yeah, that makes sense. What about you?
SPEAKER_02:And in your opinion, I mean, what we mentioned a few things that have changed throughout the let's say 15 last years, but what has changed what has changed the most in the distribution chain uh in the past 10 years or what what's your let's say the the main thing that changed everything?
SPEAKER_04:I think I think it would be like in your department where the level of service has has um been even more in-depth. So now I think you guys are coming up with plus services, yes, and offering all these type of uh add-on services to help dealers qualify certain projects and and and and have that added where I never I didn't see that in the past. Uh there was always the the post sales, but uh yeah, I think uh I think that that for me it always has been the uh the biggest change.
SPEAKER_02:To me, I think it's um as I mentioned earlier, uh the customers are more educated than than ever. Yeah, because of there's more podcast talking about gear, there is more internet is now prevalent. I mean, uh even AI, uh so now customers are making and users, let's let's use the right word, and users are making very informed decisions. And sometimes if it's a brand new product, that us, the technical team, didn't even have time to put our hands on it. So I don't I don't know what I don't know. I I can't know what's yeah, what's the feature of this new product if it came out yesterday? Same goes for the integrator.
SPEAKER_04:He may not have the time either to kind of get up to speed roll the sometimes.
SPEAKER_03:We do and we're dealing with you know 40 plus brands, whatever the number is, and we're already trying to keep up with the amount of knowledge that we need to then train the reseller integrator and even end user. These end users are looking at hundreds of brands. These resellers and integrators are not only dealing with a singular distributor in Canada, they're dealing with multiple. Yep. So you take you know the 40, 50 brands per distributor, whatever it may be. I'm using that number theoretically, you multiply it by 10 distributors, there's a lot more options now. And I think that's for me from the brand management side uh and and uh market side, competitive analysis-wise, there's a lot more options in the market today than there were 10 years ago. And the end user are aware of all those substitutes that are available to them. So uh I think to me that's probably the biggest change. Yeah, which relates to the aspect of them being a lot more educated, um, and and you know, they're asking the tough questions, which is really good for our industry. Yeah, our industry, you know, we were talking about technology and how fast it's changing. Uh I mean, guys, look what we can do over a cat six cable now. It's incredible when you really talk about this in another podcast. We'll talk about this in another podcast, but we can do over a single cat six cable, the complexity of it, the technicality of it. The end users are are pushing products to their limits. Yeah, they're trying different ways of doing things. I mean, I think in the first podcast, you had said, you know, two plus two equals four, but three plus one also equals four. Yeah. And end users are realizing that. So they're they're trying different combinations, they're trying different designs, they're doing different things with products, they're pushing them to their limits. So we need to be ready to answer all those questions. And that's where pre-sale support comes in. Post-sale support, yeah, extremely important. Being an authorized service center, this makes a huge difference. This is something that personally I feel like we don't market enough, we don't talk about enough. We add so much value. I mean, take it uh, you know, we're take our DJ brands, for example. A lot of our products that we distribute, people are making a living off of. And I think that's something that we need to keep reminding ourselves, whether it be through marketing, through business strategy. We are controlling people's livelihood with the products that we sell. Yeah, right. Not only our own livelihoods, but their livelihoods as well. So when you have the opportunity to take something that's making you X amount of money during the week or on the weekend, have it repaired within 24 hours. Wow, let me tell you, that's important. And I've gone through that myself, being a DJ, bringing the equipment here. I spoke about how I, you know, got the job here was by meeting Wayne at the window. Yeah, but that is so important. It is to have your cue button fixed within 24 hours. That is something that is so important. And that's what end users are starting to realize now, right? It's not only okay, who did I buy it from, but who do they buy it from and what's the support that comes with that product after I've purchased it? Yeah, so that strategy, that that um way of thinking is a lot more uh is a lot more, I would say, common now amongst end users than it once was.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah. In the same kind of uh ID, I mean, something I've noticed in the past 10 years on the reseller level, because I I I've been working for a reseller for resellers for 20-something years before joining a distributor. Uh is I mean, yes, price is always important, but I remember 20 years ago I had to cut pricing to make the sale, maybe because I was a bad salesman, or maybe because the market was asking for this. These nowadays, I mean, yeah, pricing is still a question. Uh, but am I gonna try to save three dollars by buying it outside of Canada or on the web somewhere? Or I'm gonna try to buy it from someone who seems to know what he's doing, like a reseller or an integrator, at the list price. Because of course, this is kind of the elephant in the room. I mean, the pricing. Uh, as you know, manufacturers have list pricing or retail prices that we as a distributor are trying to enforce. Uh, when I say enforce, I mean we're saying our resellers, you should sell it that price. But the reseller can decide what what price you want to sell it for. But I have noticed that resellers and integrators are now trying not to cut pricing too much anymore. Uh, so that's something I've noticed. And maybe the end user is more aware of the value of the knowledge that's behind that price or even the average value that's gonna come. Yeah.
SPEAKER_03:Well, that comes with increased visibility too, right? Yeah. Ten years ago, I mean, we had internet, but it wasn't as in-depth or as competitive as it is today. The end user knows all the price points, and they're already evaluating where they're gonna buy it from, even when you think they're gonna buy it. And then at the snap of a finger, they've changed their mind for XYZ reason. Yeah, they can get it quicker, it made it even more expensive, it's in stock, right? Even the fact now, I was talking about this with um with a couple of clients, and we're talking about e-commerce and and the way websites have changed and all that. Uh, and there's a hot conversation of you know, showing your inventory status of a product online back in the day, there was none of that. There was a it might be in stock, or if it's not in stock, we'll get it for you in one to two weeks or whatever. There was no live inventory indicator that is super important nowadays because people are making a decision based on that, right? So I think the way people are making decisions as well. So I, you know, I said savviness and education and and the amount of knowledge they have today is important, but I think the decision-making process of a consumer has also changed drastically, yes, yes, which has also impacted us, right? So we're talking about supply chain and how everything's linked from the manufacturer all the way to the end user. Well, it's the same thing the other way around. That's right. End user all the way back to the manufacturer. Yeah, so it's um yeah, can uh consumer behavior, uh, the psychology of it has changed drastically.
SPEAKER_02:And let's be honest, I mean, Amazon has changed a lot of this with its uh with its prime service, you know?
SPEAKER_03:Absolutely, yeah.
SPEAKER_02:You can get it, and I don't want to talk too much about Amazon, but I mean it's it's still a very important player in the business in general. Uh I mean, the fact that now people can get stuff that they purchased yesterday today at their door has also changed what a customer expects from their reseller or an end user expects from their reseller, and what a reseller expects from its distributor. Absolutely. So this is where like the whole team, Franco's team and the warehouse team, has to play a big role. What do we keep in stock? What has a good velocity? I think that's the word they use. Yeah, so velocity is the amount of bucks you're you're shipping every day. So this is very important. And it goes even what are they gonna which products are they gonna put closer to the door of the of the warehouse? Because basically, if if they sell 16 a day, they're not gonna put in in the back of the warehouse. So this is more on the logistics side, right? This is something a distributor has to as to you know the role that of a distributor.
SPEAKER_03:That's a really interesting podcast topic, by the way. So write write it down, but just talking about warehouse management software, yeah. How we decide bin locations, velocity, dimensions, yeah. That is so important.
SPEAKER_04:Yep.
SPEAKER_03:Um, it'd be interesting to get someone from the warehouse and the operations team stuff.
SPEAKER_04:Even on the supply chain, yeah. What fits in the container, how many costs, like it's there's so much uh yeah. But on that, I mean I I think I'd like to think that distribution to um maybe not all, but I think most are also trying to help um grow their dealer's business. So I think everybody, a business, and it's the definition of a business is to make money, right? And obviously you want to make more money all the time, and having fine ways to help grow the customer's business. The customer, I I've I've been on the dealer side and I've worked with dealers for many years, and I know that they're super busy, whether you're mom, pop, shop, or a bigger corporation. You're always, always on the reactive side. Yeah. And I think so is I think sometimes the distributor is too, but I think uh as a role as a distributor is to be on the proactive side, offer education services, like you know, webinars, uh, training sessions, certifications, um, and helping them understand, like helping them uh understand the new products uh that are coming onto market, how it can help um solve issues and applications that they're maybe facing, they don't know that there's a solution out on the market. Um, and little things like how Amazon has helped, you know, finding ways to make the process of buying through a distributor even more efficient for the customer. If he's on the job site, now with apps that you can just click on, yeah, I need two boxes of Cat 6, click, click, and it's shipping to my house. Um has to be that.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, yeah, it's forced us to to change the ways we do business as well. Yeah. And think of our strategy going forward. Absolutely.
SPEAKER_04:Always keeping that at least trying to keep excuse me, the the customer in mind, anyways. And on the services side, have you seen how like I mean with plus, how do you how do you find it with uh the whole plus services?
SPEAKER_02:I I think um uh it's it's slowly picking up. I mean it's it's picking up, but uh the way we organized uh our technical team is ever I mean, we're more than 10 10 individuals on that team, and uh pretty much uh every individual has a specialty. And uh I've personally started doing uh installations at end user sites on behalf of reseller with resellers and integrators. That's something new for me. Uh uh, so this is for resellers who are trying to get into a certain vertical. Let's say I'm just gonna talk broadly about a reseller that was. Doing only video. Now we want when I say video, I'm video editorial. You remember my specialty is more like post-production. And now we he wanna try, or he he has a customer because most of them have audio and video departments. But this reseller wants to get into audio post. He's not gonna get into audio post overnight. He's gonna need some type of training. And this is and recently that's a story that happened like last week. Uh so I helped them to not only spec out what the end user needed, but also going there to install the equipment with them to basically they are ghosting. The word ghosting, I don't know if we can use that, but when when a technical person ghosts another person, he's basically learning in the field. Shadowing, sorry, yeah, thanks. So ghosting is something completely different. Shadowing, that's the word.
SPEAKER_03:I'm pretty sure Hugo answers all his emails. I don't know.
SPEAKER_02:So uh yeah, so he's basically the reseller is shadowing me during my install. So so by offering plus services, we can help uh reseller that have an appetite for a new market or a new I wouldn't say vertical, but a new field, and we can basically help them making their way into that new field of special specialization.
SPEAKER_04:And what about plus? Like, can you tell us a little bit more about plus in terms of what are those add-on? Because again, when I saw Plus first come out, I was intrigued because I've never seen those type of services ever in our industry at all. And I I found it really, really interesting. Um can you touch up on this?
SPEAKER_02:I can touch a little bit on this. Uh uh, I'm I don't have the whole list of services, but I can I can tell you a few. Uh basically, we can program for the customer, we can deploy for the for sorry, we can program for the reseller, we can deploy for the reseller, we can support, train. There's at least six or seven services we can offer. Unfortunately, I was not prepared for that question, sorry about that. Uh basically it's taking resellers by the hand to help them offer more services. That's right. Um bear in mind that we still want them to specialize, but we help them specialize in because the goal is not to do all of the installation for them forever. That's right.
SPEAKER_04:The goal is to help them for invest for those who want to invest into growing and and stuff like that, that's where you guys can come in and eventually we train their tech to program, deploy, and so on. Yeah. So the the the the willingness on the res of the integrator side has to be there, or if yeah, yes.
SPEAKER_03:Okay. And that's where you know training is so important. Because I I think a lot of people when they think training or knowledge is just like, hey, this is the the product, this is what it could do, and that's it. Yeah. But when a distributor talks about training, I, this is my per personal opinion, I truly believe that the training also encompasses sales training as to why then the end user needs the product. It's not a it's not an awareness training. It's teaching them how to deploy the product to your point from a technical standpoint, yes. But why does the end user need that product and how will it help solve their needs?
SPEAKER_04:Yeah.
SPEAKER_03:And three, it's really just making sure that they have all the tools to succeed. And that training has to cover a whole scope of of um of subjects because different integrators will have different strengths and weaknesses.
SPEAKER_04:Exactly. Yep, exactly. Right?
SPEAKER_03:So one integrator might need more of the technical side, one might need more of the marketing side, and that's okay. How do I market this product? Yep. And like you said, you're guiding them, you're shadowing them, you're teaching them so that they could at the end of the day offer more services, increase their profitability, which in turn helps the brand get more awareness, more penetration in the market, and then the whole chain is successful. So it's so important. That training aspect needs to cover more than just product awareness. Yeah. It needs to cover every single aspect.
SPEAKER_02:And you know what? One thing that I think lots of AV the AV integrators have in common is a certain lack of knowledge for network, uh uh, network knowledge or network training. And that's something I see pretty much everywhere. So in the AV industry? In the AV industry, unless you're an IT integrator, which is basically your job, you you gotta know that. Right. In the AV business, the the AV business as it one thing that has evolved a lot in the past 10 years or 15 years, yeah, is the prevalence of the CatSix skill.
SPEAKER_03:So we're talking about the famous Cat 6 game and what you can do. But it's true, yeah. That is now your foundation, it's the foundation to the house that you're building.
SPEAKER_04:It's crazy how another industry started bleeding into the AV industry, yeah. Oh, yeah. And uh now the AV industry, and like you said, it's like I remember when I first started, I loved you know, my component cables and all that stuff, the the basic stuff, and now it's like, oh, I gotta learn networking, you know, and without networking. What's a VLAN? What's a subnet? Yeah, that that that for that's like the minimum. Yeah, that's right. You know, you really have to get into networking, and I know there's still uh dealers out there that are still on the fence, you know, they're they're doing the basics, but getting into VLANs and stuff like that, especially going AV over IP, Dante and all that stuff, that is that is huge, and they're still on the fence.
SPEAKER_02:But it's it's interesting how those industries uh maybe I can add that we offer these kind of trainings, so that's another part of our plus services. We have a training called IT for AV, and maybe that's gonna be another topic, like IT in general in our business. That should be a topic for for our podcast.
SPEAKER_03:But we have so many topics, we'd be doing this full time. I don't think my boss could our day job, but yeah, I think I think we could do this full time.
SPEAKER_04:I think when I was hired too uh for the technical marketing position, I think that was such a cool um that's a cool name.
SPEAKER_02:Technical marketing specialty.
SPEAKER_04:You know what? You know what? I I I had heard about it more on the IT side, and I had understood it and I said that makes total sense. And then on my past my past uh life when I was doing more on the system design side, I I was realizing that depending on the people you're talking to, sometimes you have to rethink on how you're talking. And you know, nerds you can talk specs, and then you know, you can kind of get an idea, and there's some others where they can't see that vision, right? Just by talking specs, you still can't see how how am I getting from point A to point B. And that's when in in my position, I'm able to um really translate or better articulate some of that and tell that vision first, show that vision, and then how to bring that back into a product or uh based on a specification and stuff like that. So the vision and then bring it back to a product or a solution. And I think that too has changed, and there's not much of it out there where it's like you know, it's getting I think in the AV industry we're all about you know, tech, tech, tech, tech, tech specs and stuff like that. And it yeah, in some instances, you know, like watts and stuff like that on the speaker side, everybody just wants the bigger watts, the but it's not always about that. And I think education is huge. And um, if I if I can bring anything to the into the market, it's translating ideas into products and and solutions.
SPEAKER_03:Well, and that changes when you're speaking also to the reseller slash integrator. That's right, but also to the end user. That's right. Right? That messaging has to change.
SPEAKER_04:It has to, yeah.
SPEAKER_03:And that's where you add so much value is okay, what's the strategy? Who are we going after? What are we trying to communicate? What's the thing? And who are we communicating it to? Yeah. Because that who will change the method, it'll change the strategy, the frequency, the reach, it'll change everything. Exactly. So that's where, you know, we're so lucky to have you too.
SPEAKER_04:What's the story?
SPEAKER_03:What's the story?
SPEAKER_04:And what's in it for the customer? At the end of the day, I think it's uh I think w whether we're in marketing or service or or in brand management, I think at the end of the day, and I'd like to think that all distributors are like that, but what what's in it for the customer and how can we better enrich the customer so that he can further uh help uh help the end user.
SPEAKER_03:Can I tell a funny story to wrap up this podcast? So we're talking about the supply chain, right? Distributor, sorry, manufacturer, distributor, reseller, and the end user. When I bought my first pair of speakers, I walked into the uh the reseller that I was buying all my equipment from. And uh I was I was young, I was 16 years old. I had uh a lot of cash ready, I was so excited, wasn't sure if I was making the right decision or not, you know, spending two, three thousand dollars on speakers when before that I was renting rusted speakers from a guy down the street, and I was ready to buy my first pair of speakers. So I walk into the reseller, and at this point, I'm 16 years old, no business school, no schooling whatsoever, didn't understand who a distributor was, what that was. I thought that the speakers magically just appeared at this reseller's store, and that's that, right? I walked in, bought it, and left. And I walk in and I'll never forget this. Um I walk in and I did my my research at the time, you know, as much as I could. I want a portable amplified speaker that does 2,000 watts, nothing below 2,000 watts, you know, because that's what that was the number that was in my head. Yeah. And uh not sure it even exists. I I I'm not even sure it existed back then. Yeah, back then now today I could tell you it does, but back then I'm not even sure. I want something 2,000 watts. I think the average back then, honestly, was a thousand watts. Again, we're talking watts now. And the employee that I knew that usually helps me out is talking to some other guy. And uh the other guy who I don't know, never met this guy in my life before, walks over to me and there's a wall of speakers. He goes, Why do you want something that does 2,000 watts? My hairdryer does 2,000 watts. Watts mean nothing. And I'm like, Who is this guy? Why is he getting angry at me? What's what's happening? Who are you? It ended up being Andre Lamouche, who's one of our sales reps in Quebec, who works for SFM at the time and still works for SFM. And he was visiting his dealer who I was purchasing from. Oh wow. And so I I always tell that story because it's so true. Like, I didn't know I was an end user, I thought it was just watts, watts, watts. Yeah. And he's explaining so much more. Well, what size woofer do you want? What type of room? What's the application? You know, you have to look at SPL, it's not just about watts. And so he was explaining this all to me when he wasn't even the person selling me the box, it was the reseller that was there. And so I tell that story because it just shows how the entire chain shows the importance of a distributor, the importance of a distributor.
SPEAKER_02:Because you frankly, this guy has a lot of experience even back then. Yeah, because he he's been in the business for 40 years plus. Yeah. So he he he basically was probably more informed than the reseller or the the young guy you were buying it from at the time in the in the shop. So you know that I think that story just kind of ties up.
SPEAKER_03:Pretty cool, everything. You know how the distributors helping out the reseller who's then helping out the end user. And uh at the end of the day, I ended up buying speakers he wanted me to buy, which were the speakers he was like. Because he's a good salesman. Yeah, he was a very good salesman. Uh, but I'll never forget that day. It was so funny. I'm like, who's this guy getting angry at me? I'll never walk in here again, you know? And um, still, you know, still very good friends today, and I don't regret that purchase. So now you're in the show. Does he remember that? He does. Yeah, okay, good. He remembers that story, and it's it's crazy to think. You know, this was I don't know, 17 years ago. Wow. Whatever, and now we you know how things happen, it's scary.
SPEAKER_04:Life can be scary sometimes, but are you still looking for a pair of uh portable uh 2000 watts? I know I die not. I know I know a guy, yeah.
SPEAKER_03:I know a guy that can get me some, so uh we're good. Um, but yeah, that's that's a funny story that I like to tell because uh to think that I was buying you know from that reseller and not to think you know we service the reseller. Yeah, it's crazy how things in life happen. But yeah, Andre Lamush for you, everybody.
SPEAKER_04:I'm gonna say this, and I think we're gonna say this often on this podcast, but the AV industry is super small. Super small. Holy smokes. Yep, super, super small. So, with that, thanks for hanging out with us on Behind the Rack. We hope you picked something up new, had a laugh, or at least nodded along with one of our rants. Uh, if you enjoyed today's episode, make sure to follow us, hit that like, and share with a colleague or even a fellow AV fan and help us spread the word. We'll be back with more stories, insights, and conversations from worlds of pro audio, broadcast, live sound, and systems. So until then, keep the curiosity alive and we'll catch you on the next time on Behind the Racket. And don't forget, like and subscribe.
