Just looked back at the "Anyone actually USE any Control4 yet?" thread
[Link: remotecentral.com]Just to recap, here's a little smattering of posts from the 12 pages relating to distribution...
On April 24, 2005 at 12:27, Barry Shaw said...
On the marketing side, one of PHAST's many problems
was signing up *way* too many unqualified dealers.
I see Control4 going after the "mass" market in
a big way & doing the same. At least when I call
Crestron, I'm not on hold while the Tech fields
100 calls from "Wires-R-Us", chain-store salesmen
and even end-users.
My worst-case scenario is the products actually
*do* work, but are sold through every big-box
and DIY'er channel on the planet, with margins
& support to match.
Am I being realistic or pessimistic?
This isn't my 1st rodeo.
On April 28, 2005 at 20:48, Brijaws said...
All those of you who are waiting for the product,
relax - It will be on the shelf at Tweeter, Best
Buy, Circuit City and even CompUSA before you
know it...
WooT!
Ohyeah, i Heard Control4 and Home Depot are going
to be sharing a both a CEDIA this year...
Somebody's Ouija Board is fully calibrated.
On April 29, 2005 at 23:09, jgist said...
Ok, I just stopped laughing.
You forgot Sam's club and Costco too.
I'll get back to distribution in a second.
...
While our products aren't going to be sold into
Costco, Sam's Club or Depot we are selling to
Tweeter. This will only help you, the more exposure
the better.
Have a great weekend!
Jim Gist
801-523-3108
C4 can't be accused of sneaking up on you with the whole "market awareness" thing... and "Have a Great Weekend!" was nice touch.
On April 30, 2005 at 14:41, Brijaws said...
Tell me again how selling to tweeter is going
to help the Custom Installer again? Last i looked,
i didnt see very many "Tweeters" listed in CEDIA
database of custom installers...
You're just not thinking outside the box here Mister Cranky Pants.
On May 4, 2005 at 01:59, pilgram said...
Guys, lets face it.
We're just a bunch of 'lab rats' until they(WE)
can perfect it, then they will sellout to the
Home Depo, Walmart,etc.
I'm quickly tiiring of this game!!!!!
Yah, I had a bad day!
Another glass-half-empty guy.
On May 12, 2005 at 09:10, Carl Spackler said...
Jim, let me ask you something. And don't take
this the wrong way. But why, why the fauck is
the beer in Utah limited to 3.5%? Why do I need
to be "sponsored" to go to a bar and have a a
drink?
This has nothing to do with distribution - I just think Carl's a funny guy.
On September 19, 2005 at 15:58, idodishez said...
Same problem here. They have never called me,
after about 2 months now. They ARE good at actually
answering the phone when you call, but my rep
never calls me back. I DID get to speak with
him at CEDIA, and got the impression they dont
want to mess w small operations. 200 installs/year
seems to ring a bell as far as what theyre looking
for from a dealer. He made no apologies for partnering
up with Tweeter, or anyone else who would do numbers.
They WANT to be in the mass market, and appear
to have no desire to support the CI side of the
biz. all of this combined, has led me to not
pursue the line any longer. Ill probably go with
something like Homelogic in the near furure, even
though its not retrofit.
Nit-picker.
On September 19, 2005 at 21:24, Trip109 said...
After too many phone calls to the Control4 rep's
cell phone, several complaint phone calls to the
Control4 home office, emails etc ... I finally
got hold of my rep.
This guy was THE most arrogant sales rep I have
ever met. Within 3 minutes of being on the phone
with him he had informed me that:
1) There were "Many" dealers in my area interested
in his product line.
2) Our market was not large enough for him to
worry about until he got the other 20 markets
he manages in order.
3) "He" was looking for large, established operations
that could promote the Control4 product on a RETAIL
basis. OTC sales will be encouraged! Since we
don't have a showroom, he flat out told me I wouldn't
"have a prayer" of getting "[his] line".
"We have a new un-tested product line, but rather than internally debug it & roll it out slowly, lets ramp up the launch BIG! Lead, follow, whatever, but get out of my way!"
On September 24, 2005 at 15:44, QQQ said...
-
If you can't say anything nice...
On October 14, 2005 at 01:25, AHEM said...
Just out of curiosity, would you be as enthusiastic
if BB/Magnolia were dealers?
A valid question.
On October 14, 2005 at 01:33, Moe's original BBQ said...
Will, when and are is a little more accurate AHEM.
And a realistic answer. You guys are good.
To be fair, Jim Gist did say this was where they were headed... seems like this "test marketing" isn't suprising anybody.
