5 Minutes with… JAN SANDRI, President, FSR

In Uncategorizedby tfwm

TFWM: Over your 25 years of business, what are the three main factors that have led to your success with the worship market?

Jan Sandri: Because we do all of our engineering and manufacturing in the USA, we have the capability to move quickly into markets and product groups. Our success in the worship facilities market is due to several factors. Glenn Collinge, one of our Regional Sales Managers is a media minister in his church near Atlanta, and fully understands the requirements of church presentations. He takes his knowledge of video presentations, video equipment, and his real world experience and blends it all into his classes at trade shows, conferences, and to houses of worship. We are a strong believer in education, and take every opportunity to teach both installers and church members about effective presentations. Education is one factor in our success, but another is having the right products to handle the presentations. Our product range will handle from small to large to mega churches, and we offer products to fit everyone’s budget.The third reason is our technical support. We offer 24/7 technical support, and our phones are answered by engineers who are fully trained on the products. There are times we are on the phone with a new volunteer member of the media ministry on a Saturday night helping them set up for the Sunday services. Support is a vital component to a happy customer.

TFWM: Upon visiting FSR, one can’t help but notice how community oriented your company is. You used to be the mayor of Little Falls, NJ while you were president of FSR. What does this connection say about FSR’s business philosophy?

JS: I recently retired from nine year’s of elected service. As a company we contribute financially to a wide variety of local charities—United Way, Scouts, Animal Rescue, Volunteer Fire and Rescue Companies, Families in Need, Woman’s Clubs—and we sponsor local softball, baseball and soccer teams. There is a lot more to life than products, and we believe every successful business has a responsibility to their community. We take the sense of community to the house of worship group as well with an established program that let’s them earn donations to their “Youth Ministries.” We also take on special groups, such as the Boy Scout Troop No. 1 in Passaic, NJ. It is FSR’s privilege to financially assist them throughout the year, and contributions are made in the name of our employees and customers.

TFWM: Of all your products, which two have been the most successful with churches to date and why?

JS: It’s difficult to select only two products. With the smaller churches it’s the Compass Video and Audio Switcher and floor boxes. With the larger churches, it’s the Eagle 200HD Seamless Switcher family and floor boxes. The Compass is a simple to operate switcher, but delivers a wonderful presentation. The Eagle 200 HD takes presentations to a whole new level, putting creativity and impact at the fingertips of the operator. What crosses all sizes and types of churches is our floor box line. FSR has been manufacturing floor boxes designed for audio, video, power, and data (all in one box) for over 25 years. Our boxes are UL listed, so power and anything else can fit in one box. Unique cable access doors and our all metal construction have established the FSR floor box line as a “must have” in all churches.

TFWM: When churches start to research FSR products for purchase, what product qualities would be recognized first?

JS: (Churches) can immediately grasp the number of products that are available to meet their requirements and their budgets. We also have dealers, representatives and regional managers in their territory to assist them with the proper selection of products. While everyone may want a three screen Eagle 200HD System with Controller, they may not have the personnel to properly operate the system, or they may not have a budget for the system. A member of the FSR team will work with the church to select the right system for the installation.

TFWM: What can houses of worship expect from FSR over the next 3-5 years?

JS: FSR will be engineering new and improved switching and scaling equipment with an emphasis on easy of operation. Everyone is looking for added features, but volunteers need to be comfortable with the operation. Quality will not be an issue because the engineering and production staff at FSR build quality and performance into every phase of development.