SnapCount Insights

It would be impossible to accurately predict where the LED lighting industry is going in the next few years without first looking back at the unprecedented period of disruption we’ve just experienced (and, in some ways, are still going through).

When we gathered four leading LED industry insiders for a lighting retrofit roundtable during Retrofit Showcase 2021 (a virtual conference this May sponsored by SnapCount), the official topic of conversation was what lies ahead for the rest of 2021 and beyond.

And as it turns out, there’s reason for optimism.

The nationwide labor shortage is real, and it’s a significant problem for nearly every industry.

Unfortunately, in the retrofit business, a labor shortage – a skilled labor shortage, to be more specific – is nothing new. The post-pandemic employment landscape has only exacerbated a challenge that lighting professionals have been dealing with for several years.

The good news for retrofit contractors is, although the skilled labor shortage has been around for a while, technology provides one pathway to a solution. Technology has served to engage and attract a broader audience of talented energy workers to the retrofit industry, and digital providers like SnapCount are helping pave the way for continued growth.

The electrical revolution is upon us.

Businesses, governments, and individuals around the globe are all embracing a vision of a fully electrified future — and once that happens, there will be no going back to fossil fuels.

Over the next two decades, no sector will change more due to electrification than the transportation industry.

The SnapCount Retrofit Showcase 2021 was another huge success. But if you had other plans and couldn’t make it, don’t worry. One of the perks of an online conference is that you can always go back and revisit video recordings of the sessions you missed.

We brought the SnapCount Retrofit Showcase back this year by popular demand – and because of the speed at which the retrofit industry changes, there’s so much new ground to cover.

An LED retrofit may seem like a no-brainer to you – it’s easy to calculate how quickly your customers will pay back the expense in cost savings. But large capital expenditures are often wrapped in red tape no matter the energy savings or ROI, especially for larger organizations.

LED lighting retrofit financing offers you a way to get your foot in the door with cash-strapped (or spending-shy) organizations so you can save them money in the long run.

Whether you’re in Wrigley Field or your local high school gym, there’s something kind of magical about sitting under those lights, sharing the excitement and the action with a crowd.

And as large public gatherings resume and sporting events become a regular part of our lives again, we’ll appreciate that experience more than ever. To make it even more amazing (and economical), it may be time for sporting facilities to look at upgrading their lighting.

As a retrofitter, there is a world of business opportunity in ballfields and gyms across the nation. The question is: How can you win more of these deals?

Energy efficiency is BIG business. NAESCO reports that Energy Service Companies (ESCO’s) add $7 billion of business to the national economy every year, doing work in every state of the country. Government and business leaders are making building energy management a priority and are turning to ESCOs to make it happen.

In turn, ESCOs need expert subcontractors to secure and execute their projects.

For lighting retrofitters, working with ESCOs provides huge business opportunities. But to work effectively with them, you need the right strategies.

Most people would say having more business than you can handle is a pretty good problem to have. But it’s still a problem your business needs to deal with – and quickly.

Your team may be overstretched with current projects. Or the inability to hop on a plane to visit a customer site may leave teams struggling to handle certain geographic areas. The answer for most retrofitters is hiring subcontractors. But there are risks if you don’t hire the right partner.

For many lighting retrofit companies, the idea of landing a large, national account sounds pretty good. In reality, working with larger companies brings its own set of challenges.

During our recent SnapCount Retrofit Showcase we were joined by Lynn Hawkins, the CEO of Sustainable Turnkey Solutions, who has deep experience landing and managing such large national accounts.

Here are the strategies he recommends to help you secure large national accounts, using lighting retrofit software to set you — and the customer — up for success.

Throughout the past weeks, you’ve likely learned about the forthcoming user interface refresh that the SnapCount development team has been working to bring to life. Below is an in-depth dive of some of the new features of the SnapCount Ion Experience.