We're gearing up for CEDIA 2017, taking place this year in San Diego on Sept. 5-9. Ahead of the show, CE Pro spoke to Scott DeLoache, chief design officer, Starke Sound about what the company has in store for attendees in Sound Room 18 (SR18).
See all of Starke Sound's CEDIA news here. If you're looking to become a dealer, email desmondf@starkesound.com.
What would you say to dealers who are stumbling across your company for the first time?
Starke Sound is in the business of helping dealers grow and become more profitable on a foundation of state-of-the art sound quality and design.
Since we are relatively new to the U.S. market, this is a great opportunity for prospective dealers to sit down and experience our fully immersive home theater demonstration and meet the founding partners.
What would you say to dealers who are already familiar with your product line?
Many dealers are already familiar with our eye-catching product design and great performance, so this show is a great opportunity to go beyond the product and educate them about the programs and tools that Starke Sound offers to help make their business more profitable.
Calibration, architectural installation design drawings and custom color programs are just a few of the dealer resources Starke Sound offers.
We also see CEDIA as a wonderful opportunity to hear from dealers themselves, to get an understanding of what they need and how we can help them. The market is ever changing, and being a vertically integrated company, we have the ability to quickly adapt and change with it, to help our dealers stay one step ahead of their competitors.
If a dealer/integrator stops by your booth with only 5 minutes to spare, what’s the one product he should examine or one question he should ask?
Definitely our IW-H5 Elite on-wall/in-wall loudspeaker — a unique surround speaker that really delivers in its performance. A good question might be about its installation versatility, and why the dealer can be confident specifying it with other Starke Sound models.
How do your products help integrators maintain and grow their revenues in a market that is highly competitive, and increasingly diversified through the availability of general, mass-market products?
Product reliability, ease of installation, free design services and custom colors. Our products are easy to use, easy to set-up. High end doesn't have to be high maintenance. We provide comfort beyond the sale with long term warranties (10 year on speakers and three years on our electronics).
But Starke Sound is more than just products. We have a new facility where we offer training programs, education and state of the art demonstrations. No demo room? No problem — bring your clients to our showroom for a Starke Sound VIP experience.
We also offer flexible partnership arrangements to each of our dealers/installers. Because we feel that each dealer/installer is unique, we fine-tune a partner agreement that best suits that dealer/installer’s specific needs.
Why are you looking forward to CEDIA coming to San Diego for the first time?
CEDIA is one of the few shows that provide us with an incredible opportunity to showcase our gear and systems to not just our end users but, more specifically, to industry professionals. Each demo will be a VIP experience geared to dealers and installers.
Be sure to stop by Sound Room 18 (SR18) to listen to our fully immersive 3D surround sound demo and to meet our founding partners and sales team in person.
What 5 hashtags would best describe your CEDIA presence?
#boldisbeautiful
#openplan
#upsellaudio
#DolbyAtmos
#MultichannelAudio
Do you have any course offerings at CEDIA?
We will offer a few seminars on how to “UpSell Audio” for dealers and installers. This informative talk will offer tips and techniques to help dealers become more profitable. Discussion points will include: how to prepare an effective demo, system arrangement, and tips on retaining customers over the long term.
Do you have any giveaways, contests or quirky features planned for CEDIA?
We are proud to offer CEDIA attendees a 15 percent show discount on orders of any Starke Sound products placed within 10 days of the show's end date!
We will also hand out free Starke Sound T-shirts to lucky CEDIA attendees.
