Turn a valueless business phrase into an experience that will define your business.
8-21-2016 -- No introduction, no names. When the phone picked up, I started right in.
"What is this noise?" I yelled over the incessant beeping, holding my phone up to the radio. I don't really know why I did that, since I was using the car's Bluetooth and the sound wasn't actually coming from the radio, but rather from the installed radar detector speaker. At the same time the two blue LEDs took turns lighting up my car's interior. With the factory red dash lighting, it was like getting pulled over, just inside-out.
I figure my dumb phone holding was either because of the frustration of not knowing what was going on, or the surprise that, at 11:36 p.m. California time on a Thursday, some guy named Brian in Chicago actually answered the phone.
"It's the speed alert," he said, with all the patience I wasn't feeling. "It looks like you may have accidentally set it."
Sure enough, I slowed to under 70 mph and the sound stopped. Yes, I was speeding. A little bit.
"How in the heck did I do that?" I said, now feeling even more out of my depth. It's not fun to have electronics in your car that intimidate you.
"Well, if you're willing to pull over and park somewhere safe, I'd like to stay on the phone with you and get you fully set up and calibrated."
“Right now? I asked,
“Sure, right now,” he answered.
Holy Cow.
Whenever I interview a retailer or vendor for a story, I ask them why customers do business with them. The inevitable answer is some form of "We have great customer service." The term itself is something you hear and see every day, from just about any company that wants your money. Add to this the fact that the selling world has expanded from the old days of neighborhood shopping to worldwide access. Because it's so overused, most customers see “customer service” as useless jargon; a statement that adds no value to the buying experience.
So when this guy is willing to stay on the phone with me, I oblige. For the next half-hour, he walks me through every feature of the system, recommending settings based on where I live and how I drive. It wasn’t just a “turn this on; press that button” conversation. Every step came with an explanation of what the feature controls and why I should set it a certain way. Then he left me with a number to text if I had any further questions.
After this service experience, businesses are going to have to meet a pretty high standard to get my loyalty.
Reda hte rest HERE.
[Read] the on the digital platform for Mobile Electronics magazine
Finding hope for our industry in this most critical time
by Chris Cook
Ask me what is on my mind and you may get an earful of what I believe and how I think things will play out. The reality: None of us knows how things will turn out. Right now, I am more interested in our future as a country and more specifically, as the mobile electronics industry. I am humbled and honored to serve as the president of the Mobile Electronics Association (MEA), especially at this period in our history.
At MEA, we are doing everything in our power to help mobile electronics specialty retailers sustain their businesses. We created www.MEAhelp.com as an effort to aggregate important information critical to our industry’s survival during this time. Please take a moment right now to review and let us know if there is anything more we can provide to assist you.
Education and Training Resources
Since this crisis started, we have been busy with meetings, webinars and gathering important resources to help the industry. Every Friday we meet with a group of industry leaders which includes manufacturers, distributors and other industry associations. During our meetings, we discuss the week’s events, learn from one another and consider ways as a group to sustain our industry during this crisis. I can say firsthand that if you are a retailer in this industry, your suppliers have your best interests in mind and at heart.
Another group we meet with weekly are sales representatives. They are on the frontlines and your best resource for information on the goings-on of your suppliers. They, too, lend their wisdom to the discussion of supporting the specialty retailer.
One of the positive results of this crisis is the near endless amount of education and training being delivered via webinars. The entire schedule can be found at MEAhelp.com under Education and Training Resources. If you are a supplier, we have a quick and easy link to submit your event and gain more attendees. Look for this website to become the new place for all things education and training—your best resource from the association that brings you KnowledgeFest!
MEA Webinars to Help You Through the Crisis
Since we launched this resource, MEA has provided hours of education to help specialty retailers through this crisis. Most notably, we have hosted several webinars on the Small Business Association Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and Economic Injury Disaster (EID) Loan programs. These webinars and many more are viewable on-demand at MEAhelp.com.
Just as important are the weekly MEA Retail Owner & Manager webinars that have covered topics such as: How to establish and maintain your business as an essential business, how to stay connected to your customers and community, how to create consumer-facing videos to keep your customers feeling safe when doing business at your retail location, and understanding the new sales process as we reopen our society. These important webinars will continue for the near future to assist our industry as we all learn together how best to adapt in this ever-changing environment. If there is a topic you feel we as your industry association should be teaching, please take a moment and contact us at the email provided on MEAhelp.com.
Looking Toward the Future Together
MEA will continue to provide the latest and best information we can find to assist you in sustaining your business. We are committed to helping you strengthen your business as we move from stay-at-home orders to emerging with a new and focused purpose.
As you finish reading, I encourage you to look toward the future. A future that enables us to come together with a renewed purpose. Personally, I look forward to being together once again at a future KnowledgeFest event. I greatly miss seeing all of you and hearing the inspiring stories of how you learned and applied new knowledge gleaned from education workshops, manufacturer trainings, and some of my favorites, just hanging out with your peers at great networking events. Until that time comes, please stay safe and healthy. Also, let us know if there is anything we can do to help in any area of your business. Know that MEA is here for you as your Industry’s #1 Resource!
Read the latest issue of Mobile Electronics magazine [Click Here]
Read the on the digital platform for Mobile Electronics magazine [Click Here]
Want to Win at the Awards? You Will Be the Judge of That!
Tell the industry your story and get ready to rise to the top.
When it comes to your Mobile Electronics Industry Awards, you can count on the process to be fair to everyone in our industry. We at the Mobile Electronics Association consider the integrity of the Industry Awards our highest priority. We know the industry counts on us to manage a fair process that accounts for all aspects of the program. To that end, each year we pick an esteemed panel of judges who review and cast their vote for each of the Top 12 categories. In addition, we have an audit team that oversees and reviews the voting process. These teams are made up of past winners, staff and an outside accounting firm which will audit the results.
The Mobile Electronics Industry Awards comprises a months-long process to recognize and honor those in the industry who best exemplify the professionalism, business ethics, service and expertise we want consumers to think of when they do business with us. Candidate companies and individuals submit video nominations and are narrowed to a list of finalists after a voting and selection process. In certain award categories, finalists submit materials which are then judged by a panel made up of past winners and other trusted industry experts. In other categories, final voting tallies determine the winners. All winners are announced at a special awards ceremony, held on the last day of the Dallas KnowledgeFest tradeshow and conference.
Here is a quick review of the voting rules: Votes for all industry awards are only open to industry participants. You may make one vote for each selection field. Voting takes place online through an approved submission platform. Emailed votes or votes placed in any other way will not be accepted. Each voter must provide contact information and employment information to determine eligibility. For contest accuracy, IP addresses for each vote are captured and compared to deter fraud. Voting by several members of a single location using a single computer/IP address is allowed.
The awards recognize Installer of the Year, Retailer of the Year, Sales Pro of the Year, Trusted Tech Award, Rookie of the Year, Retail Performance Awards and Customer’s Choice Award (this is the only award that allows your customers to vote). The top in each category are announced prior to Awards Night.
Other awards recognize industry professionals and companies: Distributor of the Year, Expeditor of the Year, Rep Firm of the Year, Representative of the Year and the Top Vendor Awards. These are voted upon by the entire industry and finalists are announced prior to Awards Night.
Let’s take a deeper look at the process for picking the Top 50 Installers, Retailers, Sales Professionals and other retailer awards. These are based on nominations from you and your peers. Your votes elevate the best of the best to the next level—the Top 12. Once the Top 12 votes are tallied, we announce the winners and move to the next part of the process. Many of the retailer awards have a phase two and phase three process. For the most part, both require the creation of video presentations which are judged using several criteria.
When it comes to the Retailer of the Year, several things need to be submitted. Remember, the video doesn’t need to be professionally produced, but it must provide the following information: The basics of how long you’ve been in business, number of locations, location type and number of employees. Also include the business philosophy or mission statement. What’s your sales performance over the past three years? What makes your business unique? What’s the greatest challenge you’ve overcome in the past year? Why should your location or chain be part of the Top 50 Retailers? Include a video walkthrough revealing the customer experience from parking lot to point-of-sale and employee areas. Add still shots of any required documents.
The Installer of the Year requires video as well and must answer the following: Name, years of experience and number of years at your current location. What’s your installation specialty, and how do you describe your philosophy as an installer? Name some installation professionals who’ve had influence on you and your career. How do your co-workers describe you? What’s the biggest challenge (personal or professional) you have overcome in the past year? What do you want customers to remember about the installation aspect of your service, and why should you be part of the Top 50 Installers? How does your performance influence team and store culture? Provide a video walkthrough of your work area and tools including still shots of work samples.
There’s a lot that goes into a successful awards process, and it’s worth it. I have spoken with many industry professionals who have submitted and been named Top 50, Top 12 and overall winners. The common theme of the conversation is how it made them better at what they do. I encourage you to take the time to review the awards website. Visit meindustryawards.com. Get started on the next level of your career. You will be glad you did! See you on Awards Night!
If you’re considering getting involved in the Industry Awards, there’s no better time than the present
Candidate companies and individuals submit video nominations and are narrowed to a list of finalists after a selection or voting process. In certain award categories, finalists submit material that’s judged by a select panel to determine a winner. In other categories, final voting tallies determine the winner. In past years, the awards ceremony has been held on the last day of KnowledgeFest in Dallas, hosted by the Mobile Electronics Association (MEA). But as you probably know by now, this coming year will see the industry’s return to Las Vegas.
Many in the industry have expressed a wish that the Industry Awards undergo a refresh. You let us know, and we listened. We’ve gathered a committee of past award winners in various categories to discuss the best way to evolve and to honor our industry participants. This fresh presentation of the Industry Awards allows for clear progression from one award to the next, further encouraging winners to continue pursuing excellence as they advance in their careers.
As part of this refresh, we’ve engaged some of the new committee members to help explain what’s new for 2022 via online video presentation. Kicking it off are Jeff Smith and Dean Beyett—both of whom have won Industry Awards in the past—to preview the changes. The entire video presentation can be found on the Mobile Electronics magazine Facebook page [Click Here]. To help us all stay on track and aware of our deadlines, we’ve created a clear timeline that’s now listed on the homepage at www.meindustryawards.com. In addition, the submission process has been refined to make it easier to create your submission and video. Most of the changes are related to the retailer and installer awards, with a couple of new awards for the vendor community.
The Installer of the Year will consist of one award with no runner-up. All of the questions for the initial video submission have also been streamlined and presented in order. We also reduced the number of years of experience required from five to two years.
KnowledgeFest Dallas will be held December 10-12. If you attend, you’ll get an additional ribbon to display on your badge that recognizes your place on the Top 50 or Top 20. This is a great way to encourage peers to vote for you during the event. Voting for that round ends on December 19 at midnight.
The Mobile Electronics Association would like to extend a special thank you to all the Industry Awards committee members for their time and contributions.
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