VAN NUYS, CA—AVAD has reached an agreement with Crestron to develop and support a select dealer base of Crestron customers whereby authorized AVAD dealers throughout the U.S. and Canada will have access to Crestron’s Prodigy and Adagio product lines.
The Crestron lines will be considered “managed lines” for AVAD, meaning that dealers will be required to achieve certain certifications and qualifications to be able to sell those products. This will be a multi-step process, according to AVAD VP and GM Jim Annes. “We’re going to qualify dealers just like we do every day and judge what they’re capable of selling effectively,” he said.
To gain authorization, dealers will also be required to attend Crestron training courses offered through AVAD University and install working demos in their showrooms or other locations. Together, AVAD and Crestron will provide dealers with an extensive number of webinars and on-site training at each of AVAD’s 28 North American branches.
According to Annes, the addition of integrated offerings from Crestron is the next step in AVAD’s evolution. “AVAD has always been committed to providing a very effective and flexible toolkit to our dealers. That starts with point solutions, where you can buy a single remote control from us or a single panel or single Blu-ray player. We also, through the years, with the Integration Partners program have offered a unique way for our customers to bring together multiple brands in an integrated solution. This, in my mind, is the next evolutionary step, where now you can buy a complete closed-loop solution.”
Crestron products were scheduled to arrive at AVAD locations by the third week of April and the distributor started qualifying dealers and solidifying training programs early last month.
