Snap One Launches Control4 Connect & Assist Recurring Revenue Solutions
New Control4 Connect and Control4 Assist to provide Snap One dealers RMR opportunities, enhanced customer experiences via subscription as-a-service model with ongoing software updates and remote service at the core.
Starting immediately, for an annual subscription fee of $899, customers get proactive system monitoring and access to the Control4 Assist Team of programmers, AV technicians and certified networking administrators.
CHARLOTTE, N.C.—For years now, recurring revenue has been an aspirational goal for dealers seeking to augment cash flow and boost their business. With this and other benefits in mind, Snap One has introduced the Control4 Connect and Assist programs to make earning RMR, well, a snap.
In what is anticipated to be a major boon to its dealers—and the smart-home market—in general as an RMR opportunity and customer experience/service model—Snap One’s new Control4 Connect and Assist are complementary solutions that address these vital needs for integrators.
In fact, the highly data-driven company employed its integrator base to ensure these “Custom Integrator as a Service” or CIaaS models, as Snap One CEO John Heyman refers to it, were fully ready for prime time, easy to use, and optimal in delivering in-demand client services.
Snap One explains it spent more than a year developing the Control4 Connect and Control4 Assist offerings in close collaboration with 23 integrators, while also leveraging experience and input from thousands of the company’s Parasol customers and 100,000+ 4Sight subscribers.
Heyman has been steadfast in his belief that a paradigm shift of the custom integration industry is inevitable as it moves from hardware centric to the CIaaS subscription model more grounded in software and new software integrations – and in helping generate more RMR.
“It’s clear the industry has evolved. It is still very much based—the entire industry model—on what we would call the next install. Integrators install something in a customer’s home or business and they go onto the next install, that is how they drive the profitability of their business, pay their people, etc., and we think now is the time for that to evolve as well,” says Heyman. “Here at Snap One, we are incredibly excited to lead the way.”
Control4 Assist & Assist Premium Offer Optional Remote Support RMR Opportunities
Launching on Jan. 18, for U.S.-based dealers that become Assist Authorized, Control4 Assist is an optional remote support service that the company says significantly reduces the burden of providing customer support while still offering recurring revenue benefits.
For an annual subscription fee of $899, customers get proactive system monitoring and access to the Control4 Assist Team of programmers, AV technicians and certified networking administrators who remotely solve issues, answer questions and help manage customer experiences.
The Assist Team will support customers leveraging Snap One OvrC and Control4 Composer tools and offer video assistance as needed. Control4 Assist customers can contact support staff from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., 365 days a year.
Customers requiring more frequent support or who want additional assistance with post-install programming, 24/7/365 support access, and more, can upgrade to the concierge-level Assist Premium service for $2,999 per year.
Assist Premium also includes two personalized manufacturer “check-ins” per year during which the Assist team will review the full system, address personalization wants, and optimize automations as needed.
“Software capabilities have gotten to a point where they allow us to enhance the system that’s installed today over the next decade of ownership like never before. That’s a really important thing – it’s no longer just hardware that improves those experiences,” comments Heyman.
“Product interoperability is becoming more important with all the devices coming into the home. that requires more software, it requires more integration, it requires more testing in an ongoing basis. It’s not just the interoperability, it’s the proliferation of those devices that are trying to operate together.”
Snap One’s Essential Control4 Connect Is Core Software
Starting on April 23, 2024, Control4 Connect will be required for all new U.S. Control4 systems. For systems installed prior to that date, 4Sight continues to be available.
TheControl4 Connect software service enables essential features that keep customers’ systems up to date and secure, provides convenient access and insights, and ensures smooth integration with new devices as they are released, according to Snap One.
The software provides system control and functionality, while delivering “in-demand smart living features such as voice control, remote access, Intercom Anywhere, When >>Then scene programming, system backups, on-the-go visibility and personalization of notification for mobile devices,” the company details.
Control4 Connect enables Control4 dealers to produce multiple recurring revenue streams that they don’t have to manage: clients pay for the service directly in the Control4 app upon registration of their new system, allowing Snap One to manage billing and payment. There’s no website to develop, no software to learn, and no records to manage, the company emphasizes.
“Regarding the end-customer experience, we believe the smart living industry needs to do a better job improving on delivering on that. Customers who are happier with their smart solutions will seek out more, not less of it,” states Graham Jaenicke, VP New Ventures, Snap One.
“From the expansion in their home, to the next home, their business, their next business – and ultimately those happier customers will help drive the growth of this industry.”
The annual customer cost for Connect will vary depending on the type of controller installed. Systems with a CA-1 model are free of charge, systems with a Core Lite unit cost $99, and systems with any other controller, or multiple controllers, cost $249.
Control4 dealers will receive a “generous revenue share” paid monthly over 12 months by direct wire payment – what the company says amounts to a significant change from the $30 product credit previously offered through the 4Sight program.
There will be no changes required for existing Control4 customers or 4Sight subscribers, but certain software improvements will only be made available to active Control4 Connect accounts.
“The hardware required today to implement and install generally costs less, or less of it’s required, than just five years ago, so that’s something that we have to ensure the industry evolves in a way for integrators to protect their own health through software,” remarks Heyman.
“At the same time, we know customer expectations are continuing to evolve – they want more experiences, they want better experiences, they want more reliability, and they want their systems to be secure and stable.”
Dealers Enthusiastic About New Connect & Assist Potential
Early feedback from the Control4 services’ beta testers was overwhelmingly positive, the company reports.
“Control4 Assist helps my technicians to not have to field calls for simple matters during the workday, after hours and over the weekends,” says Chris Bell of Bell Integrated Home Solutions. “It helps my techs stay focused on their daily task at hand and allows for uninterrupted after hours, weekend and family time for non-emergency situations.”
Ed Gilmore of Gilmore’s Sound Advice notes that the potential blowback from customers about the prospect of paying for a CIaaS subscription has been a non-factor.
“In discussing Connect with my clients, there has not been a single client that has reacted negatively to it. They all understand the world is evolving and changing. They all understand software-as-a-service models. This is presented to them daily,” he says.
“I think they’re a little comforted by the fact that a manufacturer takes their product seriously enough that they’re going to maintain and support it through software.”
Adds Snap One dealer Johnathan George of iWired, “I believe that Connect and Assist are the first steps forward for integrators to begin to change their business models from the ground up – to no longer think about individual projects, but to think about ongoing lifetime value, and creating lifetime value with the customer base that they serve every single day.”
More news from Snap One: Snap One to Host Training Sessions at ISE 2024
This article originally appeared on Security Sales’ sister publication’s website, CE Pro
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About the Author
Arlen Schweiger
Arlen Schweiger is editor-in-chief of SSI's sister publication, CE Pro. He was SSI's managing editor from August 2018 to June 2023.
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