How To Profit By Keeping Your Customers On The Couch
Something as awesome as the remote control had to come from a brilliant mind. In fact, the first known remote control was built by Nicholas Tesla and used radio waves to control a ship. Even Tesla would have had a difficult time seeing the wave of technological innovation that was heading towards your customers.
When the first television remote was introduced by the Zenith Radio Corporation in 1950, it was a wired device called the “Lazy Bones.” It only changed the channel and the volume, but it helped launch the craze known as channel surfing that’s continued to this day.
Today’s most avid channel surfers know that the right equipment separates the body-boarding novices from the adventures of the expert surfer. Having the right equipment means having the big screen with picture-in-picture, the complete sound system (with surround and the subwoofer), the Blu-Ray system, and of course the most complete satellite or cable system all connected to an AV receiver available near their beach. But these dedicated channel surfers know that all these devices come with a price: too many remote controls. Like a blue squall or shark-infested waters, too many remotes can take even the most masterful channel surfers to an epic wipeout.
Luckily innovators like Steve Wozniak have been working to make the waters glassy for channel surfers since the 1980s. Universal remotes allowed users to program their devices IR codes into one convenient remote that could handle most of their channel and device changing needs. But they didn’t stop there. Over the last thirty years universal remotes have developed a variety of gnarly skills that make life easier for novices and expert surfers alike.
Perhaps the biggest innovation in universal remotes has been the development of the learning remote control. These devices can “learn” functions on the customer’s devices, even if there isn’t a dedicated button on the control for it, with some relatively simple programming. The end result is that with a learning remote, customers never have to worry about using more than one remote control. If there’s not a dedicated button, just program another button to do the job for you.
Learning remotes come in all shapes and sizes. For the novice channel surfer, a simple add-on remote like the RCA 6-Device Green Backlit Universal Remote is easy to program and will cover the vast majority of the user’s needs without additional set up. At just under $20, it’s a simple solution that changes all the channels and cuts down on clutter. For the more advanced (or devoted) channel surfer, a custom installer might recommend something with a little more oomph. The 48-Device IR/RF Remote from URC gives the customer a 2” LCD screen interface that has infrared and radio frequency capabilities. This device is perfect for big jobs like controlling a whole-home audio system from anywhere in the house, or small jobs like creating a color icon that can be used for favorite channels while watching TV.
Then there’s the smartphone addicted channel surfer who needs everything run through their mobile device. Well, there’s an app for that too. Whether at home or at the neighborhood pub during football games, the ZMart Remote Pro Universal Remote Smartphone Adapter takes your customers’ most valued device and adds even more versatility to it. This adapter fits into a 3.5mm jack on Apple products, and most Android products, to become the world’s smallest universal remote control. It can control up to 200,000 devices at one time with learning functionality. This devices eliminates remote controls altogether replacing them with a device that’s already in your customer’s pocket.
So no matter what sort of channel surfer your customer is, finding the right universal remote can be the difference between catching the perfect wave and crashing on the rocks. Sure, they can use the remotes they came with all their devices, but it sure feels better to take control with the right universal remote. Surf petra.com to learn more about universal remote options and talk to your Petra sales consultant for recommendations that will keep your customers on the couch and profit in your cash drawer.