Testimonials
Dealer Success Stories
Jim Cook - Palm Beach Avionics
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“…you cannot beat the TAS600.
It really has no competition in that price and performance range, and I think our sales success in the last 30 months is testament to that.”
To Jim Cook of Palm Beach Avionics – it’s all about relationships and trust.
In a long hangar at a small, uncontrolled field near the upscale community of Palm Beach, Florida, Jim Cook and Palm Beach Avionics, for thirty years, have been a one-stop shop for top quality aircraft electronics installation, service and support. They’re dealers for most avionics lines, and have a broad range of customers.
“Were sort of like a family doctor,” says Cook, “Sometimes we make house calls, but generally the patient comes here. Rather than focus on a specific type of airplane, I like to focus on a specific type of customer. PBA works on everything from Citation Jets and turbine helicopters on to single-engine trainers, experimentals, and everything in between.
PBA focuses on the owner flown airplane and works with these customers to solve their needs, but the relationships and trust that Cook builds with customers allows him to recommend to customers capabilities and equipment they might not be aware of.
Cook only recommends to his customers the best and most reliable products available.
“We’re pretty particular about the brands that we recommend. Just because a manufacturer might have a promotion or a new product, although I like to be leading edge and innovative, I never try out things on my customers. I try things out myself, in my own airplane first. If I think something’s really neat, I’m going to look into it and try it. We’re successful because of the trust our customers put in us, so the only products I’m going to recommend are reliable products that we know actually deliver. Advertising is one thing, but what really counts is the performance of the product.”
Manufacturer support is of utmost importance to Cook. Avidyne products and support meet his stringent standards.
To Cook, the reliability of a product, the performance that it delivers, the manufacturer support, are as important as making the sale. “Our customers see us as a resource. I try to position ourselves as such, and they see us that way. If you’re going to be a resource to the aviation community, it means you have to be trusted. You have to always do what you say you’re going to do. I never get into a debate with a customer over warranty. If a customer comes to us with a problem with something we’ve installed, we try to take care of their problem. In order to operate that way, just like the customer needs to know who he’s doing business with, Palm Beach Avionics also needs to know who we’re doing business with. Avidyne is a manufacturer that we’ve always had great product support from. When we need a box, and we need it real quick, it’ll be there the next morning. We get great turnaround time. The product itself is very reliable. It works good and customers like it. [Avidyne] stands behind their product. So that’s what we have with Avidyne, a good product and good support.”
PBA looks at its relationships with manufacturers and customers as partnerships, and PBA’s partnership with Avidyne has been especially fruitful, particularly with Avidyne’s traffic systems.
Avidyne TAS600 a phenomenal success for Palm Beach Avionics.
“One of the things that’s been phenomenally successful for us, and it was an Avidyne initiative, was their acquisition of Ryan and what they’ve done with their traffic systems, especially the TAS600. In 2006 we sold six TAS600 systems. Then in 2007 we sold 12. And in the first four months of 2008, we’ve sold 15…
If a person has an airplane and flies under 18,000 feet and under 200 knots you cannot beat the TAS600. It really has no competition in that price and performance range, and I think our sales success in the last 30 months is testament to that. I expect to sell at least 25 TAS600 systems. It’s such a good value for the money, and it’s really needed when you fly around in the busy airspace of South Florida. More and more people are becoming aware of the performance of the TAS600 so I’m hoping it’s been a successful product for Avidyne, it sure has for us.”
Cook and Palm Beach Avionics excited about Avidyne’s new WSI weather implementation.
Jim Cook is also looking forward to the implementation of Avidyne’s new weather option for their EX500 multifunction displays, – WSI weather. Says Cook, “I think Avidyne is going to do quite well with this arrangement. I think WSI is a superior weather product compared to XM weather. It’s got more detail and you’ll see light rain that you won’t see with XM. So I think there’s a tremendous opportunity now that WSI has a very good delivery platform in the airplane with the Avidyne EX500.
PBA looking at getting into EFIS systems retrofits.
Cook and Palm Beach Avionics are especially looking forward to getting into the integrated flight deck and EFIS game. “EFIS systems are clearly revolutionizing aviation. Cirrus with the Avidyne EFIS system has been setting sales records. I just wish we could be installing those systems. Now Avidyne has some retrofit programs and we’re hoping to participate in that. They realize there’s a good market in retrofitting airplanes. We think people are willing to spend money on airplanes because of the technology. Everybody wants glass in their airplanes now. Sure there’s a learning curve, but I think the Avidyne Entegra system is very intuitive.”
It’s an exciting time in avionics.
And considering what’s been happening in aviation in the past few years with the rapid integration of advanced technology EFIS systems that was once the domain of airliners and business jets, Cook thinks, “It’s really, really neat and it’s exciting to be in aviation at this time. I almost wish I were 20 years younger because I think the best days in aviation have just started. I think the FAA is going to make it easier for manufacturers to get STCs and AMLs and that’s going to make it possible for smaller shops like mine to sell and install complete EFIS systems. So I think we’ve got a great future with installing retrofit EFIS panels. When it comes to manufacturers we do business with, it has to be a company that’s very reliable, a track record and history. For 12, 13 years now Avidyne has had multifunction displays, Avidyne had the first EFIS in a certified piston aircraft. Avidyne is now the first to make retrofit installation possible.”
Palm Beach Avionics banks their reputation on the relationship with Avidyne.
Reputation is everything to Jim Cook and Palm Beach Avionics. The aviation community is a small one, where airplane owners, customers and potential customers heavily research products when looking for a particular solution, and often rely on word of mouth regarding where to go for a sometimes complex product installation. “When we sell a product and make an installation, we’re very concerned about our reputation, which means that the manufacturer we’re doing business with has to be as concerned about their reputation as we are about ours. It’s a partnership. I like the quality of Avidyne’s products. They’re products that we can recommend. They’re reliable products with consistent performance.”
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