Showcase wins 2004 Consumers Choice Award
	November 2004

The Consumers Choice Award is an initiative of CONSUMERS’ CHOICE INSTITUTE (USA) and CONSUMERS CHOICE INSTITUTE (CANADA), which has retained a leading independent research firm to conduct a survey in major U.S. and Canadian cities. It is unique in North America, as the winners are determined by consumers and not by a panel of judges. It covers a broad range of categories of interest to the public and to the business community. Its purpose is to publicly identify those establishments which have been voted by consumers as being their choice for excellence. The CONSUMERS' CHOICE AWARD™ is considered the seal of excellence. As such, it serves to enhance the city's business climate. For recipients the award not only constitutes the crowning achievement of their efforts, but more importantly it also represents the most valuable reward of all, the knowledge that they have earned the trust and loyalty of consumers. Hon. Ralph Klein, Premier of Alberta Edmonton Gala 2002 "...Congratulations to each of the award recipients. Earning the trust and loyalty of consumers signifies the high standard of quality, reliability, service, and value that you continually deliver to the people you serve. May you walk away from this gala with a renewed and reinforced commitment to excellence in business..."

	Dealer of the Month (CE Pro)
	November 2003

Canadian Conversion By Jason Knott Calgary-based Showcase Home Theatre & Automation doubles sales by changing from solely a high-end home-theater company to a builder-focused integrator. The world-famous Calgary Stampede rodeo festival and competition is known as the "Greatest Outdoor Show on Earth." Likewise, Showcase Home Theatre & Automation in Calgary is "stampeding" through the homebuilding market to help create the "greatest indoor show on earth." The company, run by President and CEO Joe Strang, has transformed itself from a high-end home theater dealer to a diverse integration company, targeting homebuilders and developers with a broad-based offering of high-end A/V, automation, structured wiring, security and control. Initiatives such as using a showroom that will soon be expanded to 6,600 square feet, establishing solid relationships with builders and developers, and creating a specially-made DVD for homebuyers have helped Showcase's revenues skyrocket to more than $6 million ($4.5 million U.S.) in 2003, up from $3.2 million ($2.4 million U.S.) last year. (Note: All dollar figures are Canadian. One Canadian dollar equals roughly 3/4 of a U.S. dollar.) That nearly 100 percent growth is not unusual ... the company has averaged 100 percent growth every year over its eight-year lifespan. Meanwhile, Showcase's average upsale in production homes has risen nearly 400 percent, while its average high-end home theater sales price has tripled. Solving Growing Pains Nestled at the base of the Canadian Rockies, Calgary has shed its reputation as a cow town to become a booming city of nearly 1 million people, making it Canada's fifth largest city and fastest-growing urban area (Calgary has had 16 percent growth over five years, according to the 2001 Canadian census). Logically, the local housing market has boomed along with the economy. But when working in a big-box retail store, the market for home electronics in new housing in Calgary was virtually nonexistent. All Strang knew was that satellite TV systems were strong sellers, and made it his specialty. "No other salesman wanted to touch satellite, because it was too complex. So while others gravitated away from that big sale, I excelled at it," . In 1995, Showcase was formed finding customers by word of mouth. Luckily, they had done some jobs for several members of the Calgary Flames hockey team, and word circulated. (Editor's note: You knew there would be some sort of reference to hockey in a profile of a Canadian company!) In 1998, they opened a tiny 400-square-foot showroom, and the next year he doubled the size of the showroom. Still, Showcase's concentration was solely on high-end, one-at-a-time custom jobs. At the time, they were struggling with the company's focus and growth. "Clients still had to get around the hurdle of our small showroom so I could demonstrate the quality of our work. Many customers immediately judge the book by its cover, so it seemed like I was always starting from behind with every customer. These clients were building expensive homes and they were expecting something more elaborate in our showroom," he says. Like many dealers, when he first started, he handled it all ... meeting customers, doing the installations. Eventually, he desperately needed someone to handle service, manage the books, increase sales and oversee the jobs. "All of a sudden your overhead is growing but your installation staff is the same. If you don't handle it, you dip below your profit line, I needed to either scale back and stay small on a custom level, or grow the business big. There was no in-between." That's when Strang's expertise in sales, marketing and growth came to the forefront. "I looked at the business plan and books, and attended a CEDIA [Custom Electronic Design and Installation Association] regional," recalls Strang, who says the ultimate goal was to get the company to $3 million in revenue. Focusing on Builders While not totally abandoning high-end custom, Showcase quickly embarked on a new focus: serving homebuilders. The plan of attack zeroed in on multiple fronts: the homebuyers, the builders and the developers, says Strang. First, Showcase approached homebuilders, but it was an uphill battle. "It was only price, price, price," says Strang. Frustrated, the company started marketing directly to the homeowners to increase awareness. Showcase placed large advertisements in local newspapers for eight months, touting the benefits of a connected lifestyle. In total, Strang says they spent about $7,000 per month on the ads, but still he believed the company wasn't "winning the battle." "So we began to work directly with the developers," says Strang. "We had already met with one developer, but out of 500 homes, only 20 were connected homes. I told the developer that we wanted to pull every wire in every house, whether it was an 'e-home' or not. We like to think we helped convince him that an e-development was the future, and that he needed to be a developer known for the best product and to quit pulling twisted-pair and RG-59. That's all it took. It only took one proactive-thinking developer to start the ball rolling." Soon the developer required structured wiring in two of his communities, and other builders followed suit. Defining an E-Home Showcase's first e-development was a large six-year project that the developer ended up "hanging his hat on." Soon, he was advertising it as an e-development and placing details of its connectivity on the development's Web site. And even though there were only two builders in that development, they went to their next projects and decided to wire those homes to the same connectivity standard used by the previous developer. The snowball was rolling! Before Showcase ever met with the builders and developers, Showcase helped define an e-package, along with the developer, and then defined their own sales strategy. That package included structured wiring based on the Home Director Network Connection Center. (Home Director began as a business within IBM in 1996, and was launched as an independent company in January 2000. In the Canadian market, the IBM brand name was just recently replaced by the Home Director brand.) "It proved to be a big win for us," says Strang. "First, the developer agreed to require a basic package in the development. Then the developer began to require homebuilders to use the IBM Home Director system exclusively." "We had seen so many connection centers come and go. We wanted a stable name. IBM had the name. They were not going to go anywhere. That's why we picked it. Also, Home Director showed loyalty to their dealers. It wasn't sold to every dealer or through distribution." Another bonus to the strategy was that once the developer specified Home Director, it instantly narrowed down the potential bidders to just four integrators in the city of Calgary. With just three other dealers to compete against for the jobs, Showcase was able to set itself apart from the others. Honing the Builder Schedule Those first jobs with builders were trial and error, "We really stumbled and fell. It was a work in progress. We just stuck to it. At one time, I actually thought about pulling out from working with builders and just doing custom work, but it didnt make sense. When we finally honed the process, we shot past all our competitors." This year, Showcase will run wire in roughly 5,000 homes. One of the keys to maintaining a proper schedule is complete control. Showcase's formula, presented by the builder to the homeowner, is: "If you want phone and cable TV, you must meet with Showcase." Simarily, Showcase's agreement with the builder establishes a set price for wire, and specifies that every customer must meet with them. "We do that to sell the upgrade, of course, but more importantly, the customer does not realize the importance of the wiring unless we explain it," says Strang. "Every homeowner tells us they are glad they came in, now that they understand it, and calls it one of the best investments they can make in their house." The company has created a detailed timeline that tracks several construction milestones, including: After the builder has a signed commitment from a buyer, Showcase picks up the blueprints twice a week from the builder. Showcase then meets with the homebuyer in its showroom facility and generates an updated copy of the blueprints for the builder within 10 days. The builder is then asked to schedule the low-voltage rough-in dates. If Showcase does not have a purchase order for the rough-in within two months, the company's software system generates a reminder message to check in with the builder. Moreover, if the company does not have the rough-in schedule from the builder within two and a half months, the software triggers a phone call from Showcase. Using this level of detail is the only way to keep on track when running wire in thousands of homes. Strang says he asks builders for one week of notice prior to their start date, but only about 80 percent actually do this. The contracts also specify payment terms, with most builders paying 60 percent upfront and 40 percent upon completion. The company helps all its builders draw up schedules that include low-voltage integration services after electrical and before drywall. They call it "the gap." The construction supervisor coordinating the job provides Showcase with a rough-in and final schedule. At first, Showcase was forgotten about. "The insulation and drywall can never be 'forgotten,' but it can still happen on the low-voltage". To handle those circumstances, Showcase decided early on it had to be a complete service provider, not just. Thus, Showcase employs a team of wire-fishing experts, as well as specialists in services like faux finishing, waterfall construction, drywall, cabinetry, building blackjack gaming tables, interior design, fiber-optic lighting, and all low-voltage services. Today, the company has 28 installers, three accounting personnel, three project managers, one quality service coordinator and five salespeople. "We don't farm out anything, unless we are working with the customer's interior designer or architect," says Strang. "We found that minimizing the number of contractors on the job matters to the homebuilder." Once Showcase has a deal with a builder, it works hard to maintain that relationship. Strang can often be seen commiserating with builders over dinner or on the golf course. Another branch of the company's sales division is devoted to marketing to new builders. The pair says they have lost only two builders, and both of those instances were their choice. Ultimately, says Strang, the key to keeping the builder happy is keeping the customer happy. "It's a simple statement, but there's a large formula behind it," says Strang. "To keep the customer happy, we have to be on time with the right price; be able to explain to them why they are putting in the wiring to begin with; sell the correct upgrades for their household without overselling them; and educate them on how to use their system. And of course, the pricing also has to be right for the builder." Strang says homeowners seem to fall into two groups: those who have unrealistic expectations about the operation of their systems, and those who don't buy enough equipment and end up regretting it later. To manage those expectations, Showcase has developed an "expectation sign-off sheet" that tells the homeowner exactly what they will get and what they will not get. "And we make them initial every item," adds Strang. The focus on builder satisfaction at Showcase is now leading them to open a new office in Edmonton, about 200 miles north of Calgary. They see nothing stopping their success in that market either.