In this week’s episode, Founder Frank G. Cannata and Jerry Blaine, president and CEO of LDI Connect (Long Island, NY), continue their discussion about how dealerships can improve profitability within the partner channel. When branching out with new service offerings, Blaine advises hiring people who know what they’re doing. From adding VoIP phone technology and managed IT to physical security and cloud services, all these were “new businesses” for LDI. They are all different and can take a long time to learn and scale, Blaine notes. Learning curves can be steep and, realistically, you’re going to make mistakes. He also points out that recurring revenue for AV services comes in the form of program delivery and technical assistance, which are under contract.
Getting the LDI sales team on board can be challenging, Blaine admits. Becoming “educated” and fluent in new services is an often painful learning experience for reps, but they like having “more arrows in the quiver,” he adds. Blaine concludes by saying that peer support has accelerated LDI’s entry into these new areas, citing best-practices groups such as BTA and CDA, where fellow dealers share their experiences—good and bad.
