Latest headlines: Daniel Shatzkes on virtual trade shows, Mark Coxon on selling technology, Tony Sprando on what makes an AV company good
February 12, 2021 | Volume: 10 | Issue: 3
In reading Daniel Shatzkes’ column from today about in-person vs. virtual events, I realized that it was just about a year ago I was last on a plane — for ISE in Amsterdam, no less. What a difference a year makes. Daniel misses in-person trade shows, like many in the industry. Check out his column and leave your thoughts in the comments.
Finally, integrators — don’t miss good columns from Tony Sprando on building your company reputation and from Mark Coxon on not becoming overly focused on technology when selling. Mark advocates for selling successful outcomes; if you focus too much on pure technology, it’s not too long before you’re in a nerdy conversation about what inputs and outputs a particular switcher needs. This is particularly good advice for selling to the HOW market, in which buyers are stewards for their budgets and outcomes always matter more than specs. Finally, read what Andres Caamano has written and learned about as many churches have pivoted to streaming. Is there a perfect platform? What do all churches need to know?
I can remember a time, long ago, when people with shared interests used to meet in large gatherings. They would travel from far and wide and journey to a single location in order to sell their wares, share stories, renew old friendships and make new connections. By day, these travelers would converge to discuss their trades, goods and commodities. By night, revelry was the norm, with celebrations of food, drink and feelings of mirth among the masses of friends and comrades. These pilgrimages were fondly referred to as TRADE SHOWS. Maybe you’ve heard of them. Maybe you even remember them.
Among the more valuable aspects learned in recent months has been the importance in encouraging engagement among online audiences. Many church attendees were regularly attending in-person services as recently as March. Quality streaming of services was already in place at many churches before the pandemic. Others, however, began streaming from scratch a few months ago. Why was streaming not a given for all churches a few months back? “For many, the thought was ‘Everyone who needs to be here is here.’ Streaming was seen as more of an outreach,” noted Todd Heft, director of media arts at Hillside Community Church in Bristol, Connecticut.
As technology salespeople, it is very tempting to have early conversations around technology itself. I’ve attended job walks or integrator interviews where the representative of a technology company quickly turns a discussion about a room into questions about how many inputs and outputs the company needs on their switcher or what brand of control system they like best.
This idea of judging a book by its cover has been around for eons. When looking for a place to eat, when looking for a new book to read, even when looking for a spouse we tend to go with things that we notice first, things that catch our eye. The problem with these things is that they tend to not last or properly represent their value. I have read plenty of books with gorgeous covers and even better pages, I have also chosen based of the flashy cover and they ended up being awful. There is precedent importance on the little things, though not as shiny they hold a much deeper hidden weight.