dontpanic42 Posted October 19, 2023 Share Posted October 19, 2023 Hi everyone. I have a problem -- question: I don't get an answer. I applied several times to become a dealer, but there was silence. what to do? can anyone help me with this question? Thank you Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Control4Savant Posted October 19, 2023 Share Posted October 19, 2023 Have you worked with the product professionally before or carry any other elevated brands? Unfortunately you are likely SOL. I am not sure what market you are in but being a 20 year old brand, there are an abundance of established dealers in most areas. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew luecke Posted October 19, 2023 Share Posted October 19, 2023 49 minutes ago, dontpanic42 said: Hi everyone. I have a problem -- question: I don't get an answer. I applied several times to become a dealer, but there was silence. what to do? can anyone help me with this question? Thank you This is primarily a user forum, so whilst there are snap employees drifting around, it seems to be in an unofficial capacity. Have you given them a call directly? https://www.snapav.com/shop/en/snapav/contact Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cyknight Posted October 20, 2023 Share Posted October 20, 2023 https://www.control4.com/for/dealers/ But yes, market saturation may work against you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rolecgroup Posted October 23, 2023 Share Posted October 23, 2023 Even if they do allow you to become a dealer they may take it away at anytime... We were a dealer (not massive) but ticking over, had about a dozen systems installed and then one day C4 told us no longer a dealer as didnt want to dilute for other installers, and that was it, no real notice, just chopped us off... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Control4Savant Posted October 23, 2023 Share Posted October 23, 2023 5 hours ago, Rolecgroup said: Even if they do allow you to become a dealer they may take it away at anytime... We were a dealer (not massive) but ticking over, had about a dozen systems installed and then one day C4 told us no longer a dealer as didnt want to dilute for other installers, and that was it, no real notice, just chopped us off... This is market specific. A place like Chicago had close to 50 dealers in the metro area at one point. It’s also honestly dealer specific. There are plenty of dealers who have active accounts in several brands that are “unlisted”. But yes, it is possible that they would cut you at any point they feel is no longer in their best interest. Thats been that way for a while. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
msgreenf Posted October 23, 2023 Share Posted October 23, 2023 And it's not unique to c4. Every dealer centric retailers have requirements and can cut you for not meeting them... RyanE 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Control4Savant Posted October 23, 2023 Share Posted October 23, 2023 LOL…Savant just restructured their whole bottom tier into distribution only. Tech is a fickle one. Always plan accordingly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
turls Posted October 27, 2023 Share Posted October 27, 2023 On 10/23/2023 at 2:57 AM, Rolecgroup said: Even if they do allow you to become a dealer they may take it away at anytime... We were a dealer (not massive) but ticking over, had about a dozen systems installed and then one day C4 told us no longer a dealer as didnt want to dilute for other installers, and that was it, no real notice, just chopped us off... What happens to customers when the original dealer disappears? Most dealers don't seem to want to take on rescues, which is basically what the former customers become... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Control4Savant Posted October 27, 2023 Share Posted October 27, 2023 29 minutes ago, turls said: What happens to customers when the original dealer disappears? Most dealers don't seem to want to take on rescues, which is basically what the former customers become... They need to find someone else. Most good dealers enjoy taking on existing systems. As long as its a good experience it will always lead to additional business later on. turls and msgreenf 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew luecke Posted October 27, 2023 Share Posted October 27, 2023 3 hours ago, turls said: What happens to customers when the original dealer disappears? Most dealers don't seem to want to take on rescues, which is basically what the former customers become... When I was an installer, the company I worked for happily took on most customers who contacted us. Most installers will imho, but they'll simply charge per hour When existing customers get rejected, it could be for a few reasons though. But often: Really ancient Control4 equipment the customer won't upgrade (like equipment released in 2008. Generally this is a purchased house, but sometimes installers are reluctant to touch it because of the support. A DIY Network / bad network setup (unmanaged switches, crappy mesh network, ethernet over power, buggy "wifi 7" routers residental grade routers, etc). This is FAIRLY common actually, even in multi-million dollar houses which have been set up by the family. Sometimes it can be hard to convince people their overpriced junk sucks.. They are clearly shopping around for the cheapest quote, or for a quote to take elsewhere. There's been times we got quote requests for the same customer from different locations.. They are purchasing lots of ebay equipment they want installed, which could potentially be embernet, is heavily outdated, hasn't been deregistered properly, or is faulty. Again, most installers would go, but charge per hour, and not warrant it, or offer free support. The installer is fairly busy msgreenf, RAV and turls 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RAV Posted October 27, 2023 Share Posted October 27, 2023 6. Caller blames everything on the original installer, negative attitude, it never worked right. Typically these are a lack of communication, or tight finances, there are bad installers, but 8 out of 10 it wasn't all the installer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Control4Savant Posted October 27, 2023 Share Posted October 27, 2023 5 minutes ago, RAV said: 6. Caller blames everything on the original installer, negative attitude, it never worked right. Typically these are a lack of communication, or tight finances, there are bad installers, but 8 out of 10 it wasn't all the installer. I couldn’t disagree more… Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
msgreenf Posted October 27, 2023 Share Posted October 27, 2023 5 hours ago, Control4Savant said: I couldn’t disagree more… I dont agree either. If you take over a job - you have to spend time reviewing everything. None of my customers that i have taken over feel this way. they appreciate the level of service and speed that I bring to the equation. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RAV Posted October 27, 2023 Share Posted October 27, 2023 Curious. You don't get a lot of reluctance from takeovers, or delays making decisions? It's not as bad as the person buying a home with a system installed, but they do seem to stretch the project more than necessary. We do the on site, reply with a report of where they're at, their issues, and the solutions, providing options and stages, and it's like getting children to eat their vegetables. Yes, you need to address the network. Yes, the HC300 needs to go. Feels like the previous company walked because they didn't want to spend the effort to service them any longer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eggzlot Posted October 27, 2023 Share Posted October 27, 2023 36 minutes ago, RAV said: Curious. You don't get a lot of reluctance from takeovers, or delays making decisions? It's not as bad as the person buying a home with a system installed, but they do seem to stretch the project more than necessary. We do the on site, reply with a report of where they're at, their issues, and the solutions, providing options and stages, and it's like getting children to eat their vegetables. Yes, you need to address the network. Yes, the HC300 needs to go. Feels like the previous company walked because they didn't want to spend the effort to service them any longer. not a dealer here - but for the "new homeowner" who buys a house with C4 installed (or Savant or Crestron, etc)....someone who just purchased a new house...its $$$$$$ to buy the house, move your stuff (or have it in storage, then move it) and you may need to paint, do the floors, add window treatments, fix things that are broken/out of code, blah blah blah. and now someone is coming in and saying you need to upgrade home automation stuff so you can watch TV or listen to music or use your doorbell- all before knowing what the automation can do - its just a lot at once and 95% of people have no clue about home automation, but they know about paint or removing carpet - those are "expected" costs of moving. replacing an HC300 isnt really an "expected cost" most consumers budget for when buying a home. Look up any online resource for moving guides and what to expect, and no one mentions home automation take over costs, so yeah, I can see a lot of home buyers being like WTF.....I mean here in the US I wonder if home inspection reports will even include HA equipment - regardless if it is working, is it considered "infrastructure". A report would look at your electrical box and say its up to code, has X circuits or something...but would they look at an AV rack and say there are 50 ethernet runs in the house? likely no. so from the POV of a new home owner, I could see budget issues/reluctance... on the other side, if you paid to put stuff in and your dealer did a subpar job, I could see why you are hesitant to hire someone else to do the same "job" but do it right this time. What dealer is going to say "yes its 100% on me why things arent working, go find someone better". The dealer will disappear, or blame the product, or blame the homeowner. Its unfortunate, and I've always thought C4 should have a more formal "take over" procedure and then hand it off to a local dealership who specializes in takeovers. I could see having a small % of dealerships in a market that get fed "takeover" referrals from C4 corporate, and dont have the sales quotas but can be a smaller shop focused more on programming/service and yes sell, but selling/quota wouldn't required to keep their dealership status. Build those businesses on programming/drivers/wiring/infra type stuff to fix/clean up what is there...Kind of like remote dealers, but local resources as some people would rather deal with a local business. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
turls Posted October 27, 2023 Share Posted October 27, 2023 18 hours ago, Control4Savant said: They need to find someone else. Most good dealers enjoy taking on existing systems. As long as its a good experience it will always lead to additional business later on. That was not my experience when I needed a rescue about 10 years ago. And this was going through Control4. They basically found one dealer to take it. I am an hour away from a metro area though... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cyknight Posted October 29, 2023 Share Posted October 29, 2023 Heh I don't think 'enjoy' is the right term. Some are sort of fun, some are just plain hilarious (not in a good way) and from time to time we come across a system by a dealer that just isn't around anymore but did good setups. In most cases takeovers happen because something's WRONG. While I like the challenge as such, it's usually equal parts sadness.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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