The ProSound division of Bosch Security Systems UK held its ‘Big Day Out’ at Villa Park, Birmingham, UK, on 22-23 May to demonstrate both product lines and mark new distribution arrangements for the Dynacord and Electro-Voice brands in the UK. Following the announcement at the beginning of April that both brands would be distributed directly in the UK by the ProSound division, the company invited dealers and integrators to come and experience the array of systems it has to offer.
Robert Hesse, vice president sales communication EMEA and managing director of EVI Audio, stated: “We want to do more customer events than we have done in the past. It’s necessary to show dealers and partners what we have to offer. The UK and the German market are the only two markets to have the distribution directly through us because these are the most largest and most influential to us in EMEA. We’re very satisfied with our Distributor Network in EMEA, yet having your own sales force which is dedicated 100% to our portfolio is a strong competitive advantage.”
Guests were also introduced to the new UK sales team at the two day-long events. Sean Maxwell, sales director ProSound UK, formerly of Shuttlesound, heads the division of five dedicated sales managers covering the vertical markets retail, rental and install. Among the new products demonstrated in the function room at the 42,000-capacity Midlands stadium were Dynacord’s Vertical Array System and the ZXA1 Sub and EVU system from Electro-Voice. The programme included product and sound demos, an IRIS-NET workshop and product development lectures. Hesse believes the benefits of shared services from Bosch Security Systems UK, such as IT, HR, legal & purchasing, resulting from the new distribution channel will provide enhanced support for the dealers: “We’ve basically transferred the back office (order desk, financial services, after sales services & marcom) from the UK over to Germany.” The combined distribution of both brands will also bring a more comprehensive choice to customers, according to Hesse: “With Electro-Voice, customers in the past might have said a mixer was missing or a certain stackable product wasn’t there – now, with both brands available, we’re able to offer our customers a broad selection and enable them to complete the project without calling the competition.” The two brands will be shown on a more permanent basis at the company’s new training & demo room in Peterborough, scheduled to open within the next few weeks. “We’ve got a nice educational room where people can hold academies and trainings, and a showroom area, which is in essence a dedicated demo room where dealers can bring their end users in and say ‘Let’s listen to these systems’,” said Hesse. Hesse added:” After the summer break we intend to hold the next customer event in Peterborough to introduce the new training & demo room to our partners.”
