Agreed Goldenzrule. Gross margin is only one component of a net profitable business, and business owners should be looking at all the factors in their company's net profit, not just the one. Gross margin, labor margin, RMA, returns, truck rolls, marketing, time spent on proposals, time spent on training, and the extra troubleshooting time that everyone does are just some of the things to think about.

Manufacturers push gross margin because it's an easy thing for a manufacturer to talk about, especially when there is nothing else to differentiate their product. That's why so many people use Sonos. It's not that dealers don't want more margin (who turns away free money), it's because it's easy to sell, easy to program, rarely has issues, and they spend millions of dollars on advertising to get people interested, which is worth more than the extra 10pts you might want. Everyone gets to choose what they value in their business, but if you don't focus on the changing industry, it's easy to get bypassed by those that do. I started in the time of Prontos, Mitsubishi Diamond RP, and $5k 480P Fujitsu plasmas. Guess how many of those are still being offered? Yet many dealers are making more money now because they've shifted their business model to adapt and focus on servicing their clients to build a healthy business. They've also learned to build a more robust marketing engine, rather than just relying on referrals and extra margin from the good times to cover the lean times.

Here's a link to an article on JJ Canon over at Digital Delight. He's installed over 450 Harmony remotes in just the past year, and most have Eero, Sonos, Lutron, Rachio, Roku and many other products, plus solid labor, and he has far fewer headaches; all resulting in being up 50% in net profit.

[Link: cepro.com]

I can respect anyone's choice in manufacturer as there are plenty of options and it's ultimately their business. If the main objection though is a few dollars margin or experiences from years ago, I'd recommend taking another look. Just about everyone that does, confirms it is a great system and that the time savings and lower price point provides a solid value to their client and their bottom line.

My $.02, well okay maybe $.05 cents.