AVB COO Dave Meekings heralded a new service pricing tool and underscored HUB’s powerful search capabilities.
And introduces an essential pricing tool for services
By Alan Wolf, YSN
Dave Meekings’ main stage Convention address on Monday was a call to arms to BrandSource members, or, more precisely, a call to HUB.
AVB’s proprietary online information system “has more tools, functions and features to manage your business than any other platform in the industry,” AVB’s COO said, “and has the power and potential to transform how you do business on the sales floor.”
Given its comprehensive functionality, members employ HUB in different ways. Some use its customer relationship management capabilities (CRM) to collect and store customer information and manage the shopper’s journey by sending quotes and follow-up communications.
Others use the platform as their cash register, Meekings said, managing the entire transaction in HUB and integrating with their POS system on the back end.
But the one HUB feature every member needs to utilize, he stressed, is its search functionality. This free tool from AVB provides sales teams with extensive and detailed product information to help them find the best options for customers, make informed recommendations and close the sale in-store.
At Their Fingertips
Designed by professionals for professionals, HUB’s user-friendly interface allows sales staff to drill down by dozens of product attributes and readily find such marketplace intelligence as competitor pricing, vendor inventory availability and future promotions — granular information that is unavailable on consumer-facing websites, which are geared toward a less knowledgeable customer.
“It is by far the most powerful thing you can do to leverage your sales teams,” which are already a major differentiator in the marketplace, Meekings said.
What’s more, the HUB feature is an effective tool for buyers as well. In addition to its search capabilities, merchants can access BrandSource’s sell plans, which indicate the best products to promote at specific times, based on margin or promotional price points.
Getting on board is “incredibly easy,” Meekings said, as:
- There’s no cost to members, whether or not they’re on one of AVB’s technology platforms
- Set-up and configuration takes five minutes (to fill out a form)
- Training is available within HUB (“Just log in and go”)
- No POS integration is required
“And the impact,” he said, “is off the charts.”
Service Charge Calculator
To further support members’ profitability, AVB has developed an Add-On Optimizer that charts what the national box stores are charging for delivery, installation and haul-away services, and calculates how much additional revenue members, who have the best service teams in the country, could generate by setting fair but comparable rates.
As AVB CEO Jim Ristow noted in his Monday morning keynote, box stores are essentially playing a shell game by raising their service fees to help offset some of their sales promotions. Indeed, chain stores, on average, are now asking hundreds of dollars — sometimes as much as the price of some appliances — to deliver, install and remove multiple pieces, Meekings said.
In contrast, members who haven’t updated their rates since 2022 could be missing out on the equivalent of a 3% increase in profit margin, he noted.
“That’s 3% of margin to the bottom line — just by charging what you deserve to charge on things you’re already doing,” Meekings said. “This is margin you can offer yourselves; it’s margin you deserve; it’s margin that you need to capture in order to remain competitive and profitable when we compete with the box stores.”
“We’re utilizing these tools to win,” he added, “and to be as competitive and profitable as possible.”
YSN publisher AVB BrandSource is the nation’s largest merchandising and marketing co-op for independent appliance, mattress, furniture and CE dealers.
