I recently caught up with Cliff Clarke, LM Electronics Partner and Managing Director and Jon Perryman, CyberSmart CEO and Founder to talk about business health during the time of COVID, how they help their dealers and joining Catalyst AV Distribution Network.
Maureen Jenson: What sets you apart from some of the distributors that are in your area?
Cliff Clarke, LM Electronics: We service Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Louisiana and strive to provide best in class service for both logistics and technical support. We try to work with our dealers to ensure they have timely stock information so they can plan their projects even during the global supply shortages. By not charging for items until they ship, dealers can keep their cash flow for important things, like payroll, so they can continue to drive business in the door. We are also very excited to have just added StormAudio to our line and we are celebrating our 65th anniversary in business!
Jon Perryman, CyberSmart: Since 1996, CyberSmart has covered the Phoenix to Tucson, Arizona metro areas. We have developed strong relationships with both our manufacturers and our dealers. We’ve picked the right manufacturers to team up with, Legrand and Leviton are just two that come to mind. Also the home builder market is very strong in our area and we provide much of the new-build infrastructure in Arizona. Training at CyberSmart is so important, this video from our website proves our training commitment to our dealers: www.1cybersmart.com/cybersmart-legrand-av/
Maureen Jenson: How has your business succeeded during this time of COVID?
Cliff Clarke, LM Electronics: During this unprecedented pandemic three major reasons stand out for our continued success: the tireless efforts of our dealers in the field, our internal team that supports them and our vendors’ heroic efforts to keep products in stock. Our business is incredibly strong right now.
Maureen Jenson: Why did you join Catalyst AV instead of some of the other distribution groups?
Cliff Clarke, LM Electronics: Joining Catalyst AV provides us with access to some of the finest products in the industry, to grow our market presence with professional marketing resources and increase our backend support structure so we can continue to provide best-in-class support to our dealer base.
Jon Perryman, CyberSmart: We chose Catalyst AV after looking at other groups. Those other groups didn’t seem like a good CyberSmart fit. We are very excited about being a Catalyst AV member; we share the same work philosophies and best practices as the other members, and yet there is much we can learn from each other and contribute. There is power in being a Catalyst AV member.