Imagine you could ask established AV pros from other integration companies which software tools they use to run each and every part of their business. Think about all the useful ideas you might come across that would help you improve your own process.

Okay, that’s enough imagining for one day. Let’s make this happen...

I’m Kirk, the founder of Portal, and the only thing I love more than process is efficiency. That’s why I’d like to take this slowdown as an opportunity to help you improve your process and increase your efficiency. But first, I need your help.

Every morning, I like to check out industry Facebook groups and forums to see what’s going on. About once a week, I see this question: “What’s everyone using for ____________?”. Whether the question is asking about proposals, drawings, project management, or something else process-related, the response is pretty much the same. A dozen people reply, debates ensue, a troll stops by for breakfast, someone feeds said troll (and then gets offended), and so on. Meanwhile, I chuckle while sifting through the responses to find the gold—but I usually don’t end up with anything more substantial than a list of potential ideas. 

This got me thinking about the expertise of the thousands of dealers who have used Portal. I wondered: What if someone asked them, in a very organized way, about their process for running an integration company? And what if that same someone analyzed the data, segmented it by company size (stage of growth), and delivered it back to the industry? 

I ran the idea by several of our dealers, who loved it, so I decided to host video interviews with a few of them to see how it might go. Wow, it was a lot of fun. It was incredible to hear dealers open up about exactly how they do things. We recorded the calls, so you can check them out here if you’re as much of a process nerd as I am. 

Now, here’s where you come in. As much as I’d love to get to know each of our dealers, I know you don’t all have time to chat for hours about your best practices (even if you want to). That’s why I’ve put together this 30-minute survey for you to share your expertise. It’s simple: You fill out the survey, and Portal will share the results in a way that’s organized and useful. No Facebook sifting required.

(takes about 30 minutes) 

Here is a quick explanation on what we're doing and what we hope to accomplish with this study: