Gary Hall knows that partnerships are essential for getting bigger and better business. He’s the vice president of La Quinta, California’s Radio Active, a custom installation company with a good reputation in its region. But over the past year he has had another brand name under his belt, The Legends Group. This alliance of home improvement businesses is one of the most unique of its kind, one that has been a boon for each in working with the public and with builders—and it’s growing

At a recent Professional Audio/Video Retaliers Association (PARA) conference, Sunfire’s General Manager, Mark Weisenberg, watched as a consulting company showed video footage of mock customers visiting a selected dealer’s store. This firm recorded the video as part of an analysis of consumer habits and how they responded to sales techniques. “They interviewed these people after they had experienced a visit to this store.

I have had the privilege of watching our industry grow and prosper over the past twenty-years. Through it all, I have experienced three down markets, two boom markets, times of sweeping change and moments of stagnation. All in all, it is a fascinating ride and as the keeper of one of custom installation’s premier brands, I take great care in analyzing how branding works in our industry.

Today’s luxury market represents every marketer’s and retailer’s “sweet spot.” The top 25 percent of U.S. households (incomes of $75,000 and higher) have incomes two-and-one-half times larger than the nation’s average and they spend about two-times more than the average on most categories of consumer goods. In effect, the luxury consumer buys more of everything and they spend more every time they shop.

Home theater installations certainly have their bragging rights, and that’s part of the motivation for your clients to have one. What better opportunity, then, to help them show-off that beautiful new media room or system, while at the same time building a few new leads for your business? In-home events are common in the luxury industry, but they do take a certain amount of finesse in securing and organizing.

Pioneer has been going through some changes lately. The rumor mills about the company’s future in the display business were ignited when the Pioneer announced intentions to stop making glass for its plasma televisions and seek out a manufacturing partner. Another large decision was to partner with Sharp to make LCD televisions.

There can be a lot of power found in organized groups. For a long time, independent dealers have learned that getting together collectively can strengthen individual businesses, whether that be in buying power, collective learning or targeting demographic markets.