For Immediate Release
October 10, 2006
Press Contacts:
Jamie Antcliff
CEDIA
317-328-4336, ext. 119
jantcliff@cedia.org
Joshua Ryan Hall of Publicis for CEDIA
317-639-5135, ext. 116
joshua.hall@publicis-usa.com
Independent survey of CEDIA Members conducted by RSM McGladrey
indicates written plans and dedicated sales employees are key to growth
Indianapolis, Ind. –The Custom Electronic
Design & Installation Association (CEDIA) has released key findings
from its first annual Industry Best Practices Survey. In addition to
detailed reporting in eight business operations categories, the report
indicates that residential electronic systems contractors who have
written strategic plans experience twice as much growth as those who
don’t.
CEDIA’s Industry Best Practices Survey also indicates
that one additional full-time sales employee increases revenue by an
average
of $1 million, and that a written marketing plan will increase the
effectiveness of each sales employee.
“The Best Practices Survey is a roadmap for how to operate and grow
an electronic systems contracting business,” said Larry Dashiell,
Best Practices Committee chairman. “From personnel, financial
and risk management to strategic planning, marketing and customer
relations, this survey lays out the benchmarks for the residential
electronic
systems contracting industry.”
Using data from the report, CEDIA
will develop new supplemental materials for its CEDIA University
core curriculum courses and industry seminars,
such as a strategic planning guide and written examples of business
and marketing plans.
“The CEDIA Best Practices Survey includes great detail on daily operations,
such as how often business leaders hold staff meetings and how
much revenue is typically needed to support additional technicians and designers,” Dashiell
said. “There is no other resource out there that offers specialized
benchmarks for Electronic Systems Contractors to gauge against
their industry counterparts.”
Survey respondents reported that 65-75
percent of their revenues came from the audio-visual category
as a whole, primarily in the home theater
and distributed audio segments. Home networking is the second highest
category representing 10 percent of overall revenue for residential
electronic systems contractors. Many companies indicated that they
sub-contract out security systems because it is outside their core
competency.
Overwhelmingly, the most effective form of marketing
for residential electronic systems contractors is customer referrals.
Over
88 percent
of respondents have high or moderate success with customer referrals.
Yellow pages, store events, Internet and direct mail were mentioned
as other forms of marketing used, but only Internet marketing generated
high or moderate success with more than 25 percent of respondents.
The full report with conclusions drawn by independent
research firm RSM McGladrey will be made available for free only to
the
CEDIA members
who participated in the survey.
The 2007 CEDIA Industry Best Practices
Survey will take place during the first quarter of next year. Again,
those residential
electronic
systems contractors who participate in the survey will receive
the report for free as well as a detailed report that shows
their companies
compared to industry averages in all eight business operations
categories.
Residential electronic systems contractors who are
interested in participating in next year’s survey should contact
Tabatha O’Connor at
toconnor@cedia.org or (800) 669-5329.
CEDIA is an international
trade association of companies that specialize in designing and
installing electronic systems
for
the home. The
association was founded in September 1989 and has more
than 3,500 member companies
worldwide. CEDIA Members are established and insured businesses
with bona fide qualifications and experience in this specialized
field.
CEDIA Members include residential electronic systems contractors
who have emerged as the “fourth contractor” in
the building and remodeling industries alongside electrical,
plumbing, and HVAC
professionals. For more information on CEDIA, visit the association’s
Web site at www.cedia.org.
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