INTELLIGENT BRANDS // Software for Business

Gramophone , a family-owned AV integrator , streamlines proposal development and contract management with Jetbuilt .

1976 , initially as a small stereo store .

With a passion for music and the stereo business , Hudkins evolved his vision into two nationally recognized showrooms .

Today , Gramophone – under the leadership of Andrew Davis – has grown to four locations , including the Kitchen Design Center of Maryland .

A privately held , family-owned company , Gramophone serves clients throughout Maryland , Virginia , Pennsylvania , Delaware and the District of Columbia with high-end home theaters , media rooms , custom wholehouse AV , smart home automation and control systems , and networking systems .

With a showroom , primary warehouse and design center in Timonium , Maryland , and three additional locations in Columbia , Gaithersburg and Hunt Valley , Maryland , Gramophone has adopted and standardized Jetbuilt ’ s cloud-based proposal software to create customized , detailed proposals from any location .

“ We knew we needed a software platform to streamline our proposals ,” said Andrew Davis , Chief Executive Officer for Gramophone . “ With 20 salespeople , it ’ s difficult to create a uniform proposal without utilizing software . As much as we tried to make the proposals uniform , we would end up with a different cover , payment terms or exclusions and , nine times out of 10 , we weren ’ t obtaining signatures on our proposals .

“ We wanted to raise the level of professionalism . So , we started looking around for a solution , and we found Jetbuilt at CEDIA . The simplicity of Jetbuilt really caught my attention .”

For Gramophone , Jetbuilt has removed the need for antiquated spreadsheets .

“ Before Jetbuilt , we were using Excel spreadsheets for proposals ,” said Davis . “ We ’ ve been using Jetbuilt for three years now . Since we ’ ve implemented Jetbuilt into our proposal system , our employees can create a professional , detailed proposal in a quarter of the time .

“ Jetbuilt has streamlined our proposals because a salesperson or project designer can quickly review their pipeline of other projects and quotes to determine if a new project feels the same , and copy and edit the proposal without creating a proposal from scratch .”

Jetbuilt ’ s product database allows integrators , like Gramophone , to pull products with their corresponding specifications , images and product descriptions without having to manually input the information .

“ My favorite feature of Jetbuilt is their product database ,” said Davis . “ If we

don ’ t have the product or SKU in our system , Jetbuilt ’ s search functionality pulls information from their comprehensive database of AV products . It doesn ’ t expose the pricing or other intimate information , but it allows us to pull images , descriptions and specifications quickly .

“ It ’ s helpful with the way technology is rapidly changing , because we don ’ t have to enter information individually every time a new product is released .”

Gramophone , like many other companies , has been forced to pivot amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic . The number of professionals telecommuting has skyrocketed within the last quarter as employers have requested their employees to work from home .

Fortunately , Gramophone has positioned its sales team to operate remotely .

“ Being cloud-based , Jetbuilt has allowed our employees to work from anywhere ,” said Davis . “ Previously , our designers would build a system on our computers in the office . When they needed to obtain the system design , they had to come into the office . Especially today , amid COVID-19 , we ’ re busier than ever , and our people must-have secure access to their proposals remotely .” •

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