Latin America. Success depends on sales, but remarkable growth can also present new challenges. Datapath has had a fast-growing presence in Latin America, with sales that have increased exponentially, year after year, over the past five years.
The UK-based company is now a "gateway to video wall processing needs" in Chile, according to Greg Babbs, Datapath's sales and account manager for the region.
While demand for Datapath has been accelerating, Babbs explained that meeting customer needs always comes first. The question for Babbs and his team became, "How can we take advantage of the growing demand, coming from all over Latin America, and better serve our customers?"
To address this logistics and deliver exceptional experiences in new markets, Datapath partnered with Demco in January 2018, to bring its pro-AV products. Datapath's visual solutions complement Demco's established portfolio of IT products, LED displays, professional monitors, access points and tablets.
Invest in best practices and education
With the Company Datapath in place, Demco is positioned as the leading professional AV distributor in Latin America. Describing the partnership between Datapath and Demco as "the perfect marriage," Babbs said that, after creating best practices for distribution and inventory, the two companies wanted to emphasize the importance of AV training. "Now, we will focus on education and training, to raise the bar and standard of education throughout Latin America."
Adding value for loyal and potential customers, Babbs claimed that Demco surpasses the average "product presentation" and offers customers "industry-essential AV training and technical training to help them improve the quality of their installation, whether with Datapath or not."
Datapath Training Academy creates a level playing field
A recent Datapath Training Academy, held in Demco in May, was energetic and well attended. About 50 attendees filled the showroom during the morning and afternoon sessions. Demco also plays a pivotal role in creating new connections; 75 percent of attendees at the May training day were new to Datapath.
DEMCO is in the final stages of building a new full-featured showroom in Santiago. "They're going to have Datapath products there, with Samsung video walls, and they've also brought the Vogels mount brand. Now they are looking to add a cabling company so they can train 'solution selling' in Chile," Babbs said.
To take place in the new showroom, the Datapath Training Academy will continuously train and educate AV professionals. Integrators will be encouraged to take end users with them to show them the specific advantages and features of different technologies, "so that everyone is on an equal footing," Babbs added. This agonist and best-practice approach will help drive broader growth for Latin America's VA players.
A Datapath Training Academy is planned later this year in the fall at Demco's Chile showroom. As new products appear on the market, and more integrators and end users invest in their av skills, the Latin American Datapath Training Academy will likely increase in frequency.
