Page 74 - Lighting Magazine December 2018

Act Now to Become Connected (continued)
DEMONSTRATION MAKES THE DIFFERENCE
Purchase intent increases signi cantly a er a consultation
“With the connected home, you don’t have to [enter] it all in one big bite. You can pick a few devices to focus on.” —Gene LaNois
70 enLIGHTenment magazine | december 2018
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The connected world will continue to grow. “If [a product] has electricity going to it, then it will be- come connected,” LaNois remarked. “If it doesn’t, we’re going to gure out how to make it connected.”
This connectedness presents a lot of opportunity to those with an entrepreneurial spirit. “What do you have within your infrastructure to expand your business?,” he asked the crowd.
“When you leave this conference, you’re going to want to adopt what you learned here. You have to take the time to learn more about it,” LaNois com- mented. “With the connected home, you don’t have to [enter] it all in one big bite. You can pick a few devices to focus on. If it’s not what you want, don’t feel pressured — but if you are looking for some- thing that will be incremental to your business, then it’s the connected home.”
There are three things every business owner must do, according to LaNois: 1) Adopt 2) Learn 3) Evolve. “You have to pass [what you’ve learned] across your organization or designate [that job] to someone. Smart home adoption is growing rapidly and it is literally going to go faster. We are still in the infancy stage; we are just learning to walk. There is plenty of data out there [on the connected home].
It’s up to you to decide to be in it,” LaNois said, adding, “Google is having to gure out how to do business with you.”
The goal, according to LaNois, is “to build a ‘Thoughtful Home.’ This will take some machine learning and some AI (Arti cial Intelligence) in there,” he remarked. “Having your lights turn o at 11p.m. by using your phone is cool — but having your home know it’s 11p.m. and time to lower the temperature and dim the lights, etc. is the ultimate. Our thoughts [at Google] are revolving around the Thoughtful Home.”
LaNois echoed Smith’s urging that the time is right to enter the market. “Installation is still a major barrier to purchase, and even plug-and-play set-ups can be intimidating,” LaNois noted. “We’ve found that the number one reason someone purchased Nest was the ‘cool factor.’ And the number one rea- son for not purchasing it was that they didn’t know what works with what and needed an expert. This is your advantage,” he commented. “Ninety- ve percent of people will purchase the product [you’re selling] a er they’ve had a consultation. Don’t make the process complicated. If you’re interested in con- nected lighting, now’s the time to hop in.” 
ALA Conference Report
23.4%
30.8%
18.1%
11.7%
Before Consultation Likelihood to purchase in the future
16%
12345 Highly unlikely Highly likely
34% likely to purchase
A er Consultation Likelihood to purchase in the future
4.3%
12345 Highly unlikely Highly likely
95% likely to purchase
0% 1.1%
40.4%
50.3%