Crestron
“Initially, the impact was tough on business as everyone was shut down globally,” says John Clancy, vice president, residential. “However, as time passed, people being ‘stuck’ in their homes created significant opportunities for our residential business. Additionally, with people working, learning and socializing from home these days, many of Crestron’s enterprise solutions were adapted for use within the home. This has certainly helped our residential business through these times.”
MQA
“COVID saw acceleration of a number of internal projects and initiatives, owing to our partners needing to innovate due to the pandemic,” says Andy Dowell, director of licensing for MQA. “This is particularly true with regards to industry partners involved in live music events. As a general impact, with industry colleagues all around the world working from home, we saw a notable increase in productivity.”
Harman Luxury Audio Group
“Interestingly, we were surprised to see an increase in sales of CD players, which in turn, resulted in a further demand for our AV products,” confides Harman’s Scott Campbell.
“It drove more business because people staying at home sought high-end home entertainment products that could provide the best at-home experience.”
Melco Audio
“The main challenge for Melco Audio was the huge increase in transportation costs getting products from place to place,” reports Dan Raggett. “Second, was continuing to do business and provide a service without retail channels open and functioning!”
Fine Sounds UK
“We launched Fine Sounds UK back in the summer, some may say at the worst time given the backdrop, but we’ve had the most positive reception from the market and a real demand for McIntosh, Sonus faber and our other brands,” says Andrew Oattes. “Consumers are craving something better to play their music, something built to last and a pleasure to engage with. Sonus faber and McIntosh are both of these things and a lot more.”
Crestron
“It is hard to say exactly what ‘permanent change’ means, but I do believe the 5-day work week in the corporate office has changed for the foreseeable future,” muses Crestron’s John Clancy. “Where it was not that common for people to work from home, a form of hybrid working, where people go to the office some days, and work from home other days, will be widely accepted in the future. Maybe not for everyone all the time, but certainly for some people some of the time.”
Pulse Cinemas
“We used the time during the Covid outbreak to become more efficient and to streamline and improve our customer’s experience,” says Mike Beatty. “We added a more advanced barcoding system and CRM database to ensure our dealers would see an improved service moving forward. Our team became more efficient, as the systems were tightened and from the daily feedback we are receiving, it seems our tireless work is paying off.”
AWE
“Despite the original full lockdown being a disaster in terms of sales, we retained the majority of our staff on full time in order to stay fully engaged with our customers, supporting where needed and by providing over 400 hours of small group live online training, instead of rolling out dull webinars,” says MD Stuart Tickle. “Thankfully, our industry has rebounded incredibly well as those homeowners who feel secure enough in their financial situation have been spending money previously allocated to holidays and socialising, on improving their homes.”
