In today's interview we chat with Andreas Reinula, the sales manager of Progear, Admiral's distributor in Estonia.
In this interview, he shares insights about his role, working with Admiral products and the recent project he did at the Tallinn School of Music and Ballet.

Blending technical expertise with commercial skills  

Andreas began his career as a technician, gaining a lot of experience working with products such as the ones in the Progear range. His hands-on role led him to become very familiar with various equipment, from cable guides to couplers and everything in-between, and to be able to easily assess their quality.

In his current sales role, he uses his experience to put himself in the shoes of his customers. By using his technical background, he can guide his customers to choose the right products for their job."Now I am on sales, so when a customer comes to our store, I know what to offer them or what they should use in projects.", explains Andreas.

MUBA and other project spotlights 

Besides being a major retailer for professional AV and stage equipment in the Baltic region, Progear also has a projects team that does lighting, audio and videos installations for various types of venues.

"We are currently focused on school and concert hall projects.’’, Andreas tells us. Running projects involve supplying Snake cable guides to a school, which is a significant job for them. The Deco Molton skirting has also become a must-have in their operations, gaining a lot of popularity in Estonia's rental sector. "Basically, right now, every big rental in Estonia is using Deco molton.", says Andreas.

One of the bigger projects they recently worked on was the Tallinn School of Music and Ballet (MUBA). For the MUBA project, they used Admiral's Snake cable guides, clamps and safeties, and truss brackets. ''The Snakes have been great and we haven’t had a reason to look and find another product''. Andreas mentions that so far, customers have shown a lot of interest in these cable guides, asking questions about what they are used for, how they work and why they are Progear's recommendation.

Besides introducing the Admiral cable guides to his clients, Andreas also recently introduced them to a new technician-colleague who has never seen or worked with the product before. In this case, a simple and easy-to-follow instruction was enough to make the installation and usage of the equipment really easy. Even for people who never worked with them.

Also, Admiral clamps have gained popularity due to their great price and quality. ‘’Previously, rentals preferred other brands, but now almost everyday someone comes and buys some Admiral clamps. I would say the price and quality is very good.’’.

Other products such as the Stagedeck dollies and T-fix cable ties have been used for previous Progear projects.

Top picks from the Admiral range

After working with Admiral for a long time, Andreas has some points that stand out to him about the brand and products. ‘’The main thing that comes to my mind is that the price and quality is good. For Admiral, so far, my customers are a little bit surprised about the prices. Then they see the product and they are surprised again.’’

Andreas used and sold many of our products. This also means that he has some favorites. ‘’The Snakes offer valuable project flexibility, and their final results are professional and convenient.’’, Andreas states.

But there is one product that’s getting more popular, according to him: ‘’Another, lesser known, but fantastic product is the Freedom system. We aim to raise awareness about its capabilities, uses, and implementation among our customers.".