I’ll never forget standing behind the best salesperson in the online sales department as he watched the timer tick down from three minutes on his monitor during a phone call with a prospect. The VP of sales at a large systems integration firm had stopped my tour of the firm’s headquarters within the sea of […]

The reaction from the senior pastor — interrupted mid-sentence by the unmistakable, squealing shriek of audio feedback — was immediate. As he stood who staring up from the stage below to where I stood behind the audio console above, his backlash was swift and sharp. An audible sigh, amplified for all 2,000 seats to hear, […]

Churches have needs for audio, video and lighting (AVL) technology far more often than most manufacturers or systems integrators know. From changing sermon series with new scenic stage designs every few weeks to the addition or renovation of multi-site venues to production tech upgrades, churches utilize AVL tech week in and week out. It is […]

“Can you come and fix our church AV?” This singular question is rife with implications for the audio, video and lighting (AVL) industry and one that needs to be addressed by manufacturers, systems integrators and rep firms serving the $1 billion (annual) church AVL market so that the pain experienced by all involved is properly […]

The dog days of summer are upon us and much of the commercial and education vertical markets have slowed to a crawl, but the house of worship market is heating up seemingly in proportion to the high temps of the season. That’s because, for churches, summertime is the time when the planning for the big […]

In the sweltering humidity of Orlando in June, InfoComm hosts tens of thousands of attendees, each traversing the exhibit hall floor to find technological inspiration and an air-conditioned respite from the sticky Florida air. Among these roaming masses are the nondescript technical directors, front-of-house engineers, video production staff and volunteers sent by their church leaders […]

Churches deal in large inventories of complex Audio, Video and Lighting (AVL) technology across multiple venues and increasingly across multiple campuses. The advent of the church technical director in the 1970s has become a standard role in even medium-sized churches where the ubiquitous presence of AVL is the norm, not the exception. What these churches […]

How do you make that large technology investment look approachable? Sell the cost-per-service value. To help churches invest wisely in their Audio, Video and Lighting (AVL) technologies, start with defining value before price is discussed. The price should be what something is after the church buyers have determined the value they can expect to meet […]

Mobile-first is a term used to describe the 2017 statistic where people begin their internet searches, browsing and application usage on their mobile device more than on a desktop or laptop computer. They’re searching for social proof (what others say about a brand, service or product), helpful knowledge-building and early research to educate their decision-making […]

Amazing new product? Check. Great fit for a church installation? Check. The dissonance between who you say you are and who your church prospects say you are? Ummmm. To complete this checklist, it begs the question: What is your brand known for? Your brand is not what you say it is; it is what your prospects […]

Video sharing and advertising are ironically lacking from the audio, video and lighting (AVL) industry while the growth of this format and medium continues to become the defacto standard for consumption. The stats are in and they’re staggering. Sometimes the writing is on the wall so clearly that you have to look at another wall […]

It is easier to make good purchasing decisions when armed with timely, relevant information. As such, manufacturers, rep firms and systems integrators alike put a lot of effort into promoting the features and benefits of their products and systems before the sale. What’s missing, though, is arming those same users with useful information so they can […]

Manufacturers want to help systems integrators sell their products so they provide funds to help co-promote the equipment with the vendor. It’s been this way for as long as I can remember, whether it is called “co-op funds” or “market development funds” (MDF) or “channel funding,” the idea is to influence the sale towards the […]

There’s a pattern of overworked teams in the audio, video and lighting industry. From the manufacturers to systems integrators, the lunch conversations at industry trade shows is almost universally the same: too many projects, not enough time, too many quotas, not enough qualified leads. Some of this is certainly due to a business-as-usual approach that […]

In sales, your best client is likely the one who buys repeatedly and recommends you consistently. For a long time, I had two of my best clients fit this description while I was in sales; one was a large airline, the other was a large church. What these two organizations had in common was a […]

Reaching the house of worship market with your marketing message requires a new set of marketing skills and tools that have been widely adopted by software technology companies, but relatively few that I’m aware of in the Audio, Video, Lighting (AVL) manufacturing and distribution firms. To take full advantage of the combination of social, search, […]

To prepare for the future trends in the house of worship market as it pertains to Audio/Video/Lighting (AVL) technology, one must glean insights from the past. There may be no better way to do that than to survey the technical staff of churches actively involved in AVL technical production, which was done earlier in 2016 […]

In the third year of this round up of my pick for the Top House of Worship Ads, 2016’s contenders were few and set far apart from the white noise of bland and ineffective advertising that continues to saturate the church technology vertical market. If anything, it seemed to me that there might have been […]

By aggregating trends from the past, we have a significant indicator of future trends and shifts in the House of Worship market. The word cloud graphic for this article lists the top 25 recurring words from all of the previous columns written here about the church market on rAVE, and they are an excellent look […]

Do you think of the typical church buying audio, video and lighting (AVL) technology as the old church down the street with a few cars parked in front of it on any given Sunday? Or has your firm yet experienced the technology shift that’s happening in the House of Worship market in churches that are […]

It is incredible to consider that less than 100 years ago, the original video signals had about 210 lines of resolution, evolving to 512 lines in 1952 with the advent of color television, to the eventual jump to 1920×1080 (pixels instead of lines) for High Definition (HD) video. It’s now possible to get 4K resolution […]

I made a prediction in 2014 here at rAVe that 4K video would start to become the normative in large, multi-site churches by 2020. I think I’ll still be accurate with that prediction, though I’m now dividing that future-glance into current realities and applications where 4K — at least in part — can be a […]

The house of worship market is like any concert venue when it comes to the impact of real-time mistakes in front of a live audience. Years ago, I had a humiliating experience that shaped how I taught church tech teams and later designed audio, video, and lighting (AVL) systems. This true story illustrates how a […]

There are three main reasons churches upgrade or outright add new equipment: when entering a new building program, when renovating an existing building or when expanding into new technology areas such as multi-site or online services. Given the history most churches had with learning their technology lessons on audio systems (the first systems they use), […]

In my experience, churches need professional training over time to grow their volunteer tech teams. Selling contracted professional services for extended times helps address this huge need in the house of worship market. On-Site Training for Three Months 1) Mentoring by a Pro — There’s something powerful about being invited and asked to participate in something […]

Compared to huge government contracts or big commercial deals, the church market may not seem nearly as compelling for manufacturers and systems integrators selling audio, video, and lighting technology. And while there won’t be $50MM dollar AVL deals in the House of Worship space, there also won’t be the massive complexity and low margins of […]

What percentage of your products and integrated solutions are ideally fit for the house of worship market? Of that percentage, how many of those products and services are requested by churches out of their need instead of offered to churches out of their potential value? There is an opportunity gap between products that solve problems churches […]

I suppose if the Cobbler’s kids had no shoes, then I shouldn’t be surprised that the Audio, Video, and Lighting (AVL) industry doesn’t use video well to reach potential customers. And yet, here in the 21st century, I am surprised and disappointed in the spotty to non-existent use of video as a content marketing medium […]

In even the smallest of churches, the decision to purchase complex solutions is handled by a small group. In some denominations, this is a leadership staff, in others, a volunteer committee. Aware of this truth, vendors often try to bring consensus to these groups through price, benefits or a crisp value proposition. But time and […]

There has not been a time in history when it has been simultaneously easier for any brand to reach far larger audiences than ever before and exceedingly more difficult to cut through the noise to share your message. The democratization of the Internet has been the single greatest advancement of the 21st century, but with […]

If the products you sell are well suited for the church market, how are you using content marketing to close the distance between product awareness and a product purchase? Targeted content goes beyond the typical product features and benefits and instead identifies with the church buyer. Content is the currency companies use to communicate stories […]

Having both attended and exhibited at churches conferences and expos, I’ve learned that while a vendor may have the coolest/best/newest technology on display on the show floor, there’s nothing more compelling to church influencers and buyers than a great training or education session off of the show floor to drive quality leads. The reason is […]