New Sales Master Class provides Runco dealers with proven tips and techniques specific to the brand and the luxury market
Runco, the leading brand in luxury video solutions, announced a redesigned curriculum for its industry-leading Runco Academy dealer education program. Authorized dealers who sign up for Runco’s Master Class–Mastering the Art of Home Cinema–will be invited to the company’s Beaverton, Ore., headquarters for a two-day focused session of sales training. The sales training session can be taken in addition to or independently of Runco’s traditional three-day technical training session.
For more than 15 years, Runco Academy has provided Runco dealers with advanced technical training, certifying more than 2,000 custom installation consumer electronics professionals since its inception. Runco Academy’s Technical Master Class, widely considered the industry standard for video manufacturer training, is a three-day technical training session to ensure dealers’ install and technical teams have the knowledge, tools and equipment to properly install, service and maintain any Runco solution.
Runco dealers will now also have the opportunity to elect to send its sales staff to the new two-day sales training program. This new value-added program was specifically designed to provide dealers with competitive sales tools and techniques for the luxury market. Upon completion of the Runco Academy Sales Master Class, attendees will have the skills and confidence to present the entire luxury line of Runco custom home theater products and be able to specify appropriate Runco products for each client.
Bob Hana, Runco’s vice president of sales and marketing, was instrumental in implementing the new program and will instruct the course. “In this difficult economy, with competitive pressures getting increasingly intense, we want to give our dealers both the sales and technical skills they need to not only survive, but to thrive,” said Hana. “Adding a Sales Master Class specifically for our dealers’ sales teams, the front line of our brand and point of contact for their clients, provides a tangible advantage that Runco dealers need out there in the trenches.”
Runco welcomed more than 35 attendees to its Sales, May 15-16, and Technical, May 17-19, training classes. The Runco Academy Master Class, a certified training program for Consumer Electronics Design and Installation Association (CEDIA) professionals, is held quarterly during the year at Runco headquarters in Oregon. The next Academy sessions are July 17-21. Graduates of the technical portion of Runco’s dealer training program are eligible for CEDIA Continuing Education Units (CEU) credits and also qualify for ISF (Imaging Science Foundation) certification.
About Runco
Founded in 1987 and acquired by Planar Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: PLNR) in 2007, Runco is a market leader in state-of-the-art projection systems, flat-panel plasma monitors, video processors and other components for the custom consumer market. Runco’s innovations have won numerous awards and citations from the world press. Runco continues to be a pioneer in the custom video display market.
Planar Systems, Inc is a global leader of specialty display technology providing hardware and software solutions for the world’s most demanding environments including hospitals, space and military programs, utility and transportation hubs, shopping centers, banks, government agencies, businesses, and home theaters.