Anthony Coppedge

Anthony Coppedge

Agile Sales & Marketing in B2B Tech | Certifications in Agile Coaching, Agile Leadership, and Agile Marketing. Anthony has been consulting, teaching, and speaking to leaders since 2003 and writing for rAVe since 2012. Connect with Anthony on LinkedIn.

LED Is Almost Perfect

Perhaps no other technology is as poised to be used in more churches than LED. Seemingly the perfect balance of functionality, size, cost of operation and product lifespan, LED is almost perfect for the house of worship market. LED Is Everywhere Once reserved for those in the rarified atmosphere of near-unlimited budgets, LED technology has […]

LED Is Almost Perfect

The Point of Diminishing Returns

How many products have matured to a point where the Nth-degree improvement is now only noticed by a fraction of only the most sophisticated users? I’d submit that we’re long past the days of “good enough” for the kind of products coming out in the audio, video, lighting market. The pinnacle of perfection is within […]

The Point of Diminishing Returns

Too Many Choices De-motivates Church Buyers

Competition is a good thing. I am a fan of the free-market system and like that, when organizations compete, the end-user is better served through better products, better design and better prices. What’s not as obvious is when the number of choices leads to decision-making paralysis. The axiom “just because you can doesn’t mean you […]

Too Many Choices De-motivates Church Buyers

4K Resolution and Multi-site Churches

In 2003, I stood in front of a room of church leaders at the National Religious Broadcaster’s Convention and said: “Churches won’t need to spend the extra money on high definition video for the next five to 10 years.” I positioned my theory that quality NTSC video (SDI in 16:9 format) was more than sufficient […]

4K Resolution and Multi-site Churches

Are You Leveraging Technology As Part of Your Business Strategy?

You’re in the technology business, so it follows that you should be leveraging the latest technology as part of your business strategy. But are you? From creating a styled, personalized brand via social media or exploring user-generated stories as the new customer testimonial, your brand needs to be highly engaged in the digital landscape. This […]

Are You Leveraging Technology As Part of Your Business Strategy?

Selling to Churches? Create Social Media Campaigns

There’s been a real push for brands to engage on social media. Whereas the Internet gave voice to the masses, social media has created something more: personal availability — which can even be accomplished by a brand. To ignore the unprecedented growth of this communication medium is perilous to any brand, but perhaps worse still […]

Selling to Churches? Create Social Media Campaigns

The End of Hype

In 1989, filmmaker Robert Zemeckis took the immensely popular Back to the Future franchise and painted a picture of the future in the year 2015. 25 years later, we don’t have hoverboards as the movie Back to the Future II depicted, but we do have stunning technologies that were simply beyond our comprehension at the […]

The End of Hype

The Generous Giver

There’s a notable shift happening in a pocket of churches here in the U.S. — the turn from churches focusing on Capital Campaigns for major initiatives to a culture of generosity. This change means that the infrequent campaigns that happen years apart are now being replaced by the simple teaching of a generous lifestyle. Jesus […]

The Generous Giver

When the Brand Stands Behind You

Manufacturers love to hear these words: “Whenever I see [nsert-brand-name-here] on my equipment, I feel confident about our production.” This is a powerful endorsement from an end-user that is hot marketing copy for creating brand loyalty ads. But how often do you see the opposite happen? “Whenever we see [insert-church-tech-director-here] using our gear, we feel […]

When the Brand Stands Behind You

Self-Calculating R.O.I.

Early on in my career as a consultant, after years of my own experience on staff in three mega churches and then in the design/build side of the A/V/L industry, I found myself re-designing technology systems sold to churches. Quite often, the technology in place wasn’t the right application for the gear, whether that meant […]

Self-Calculating R.O.I.

Churches Put On Their A-Game for Christmas — Will You Take Advantage?

Churches are taking these two weeks to prepare for their next big push — to connect with those who visited during Christmas and are checking them out again. They put on their A-game for Christmas, but they’ve got to keep the excellence factor high every weekend, and the AVL technology is playing an increasingly important […]

Churches Put On Their A-Game for Christmas — Will You Take Advantage?

The Law of Diminishing Returns

I don’t know many guys — or gals, for that matter — who do not appreciate the artistic beauty and scientific precision of a Ferrari. They’re elegant machines that, over the years, have captured our imagination. They represent the pinnacle of automotive engineering and have resisted the gravitational pull of mere cars to achieve the […]

The Law of Diminishing Returns

The Day the AVL Industry Changed

One need not envision a distant future of me-too products and companies vying for market sales when considering the future of the AVL industry. Our future is upon us and the end of features and benefits has already slipped past, like a buoy fading with the Doppler effect of time on the sea of sameness. […]

The Day the AVL Industry Changed

Loyalty is the New Currency

A friend of mine travels the country providing environmental projection and lighting for churches. The fact that he’s now an Executive Platinum member on American Airlines is due entirely to how frequently he travels the country providing this service to countless churches, where he introduces church leaders to the possibility of endless scenic solutions for […]

Loyalty is the New Currency

How Streaming Services Reveals Audio/Video/Lighting Needs

In an effort to both reach new people and serve those who cannot come to a church service due to travel, work or illness, churches have increasing added online streaming services. Once again, what used to be reserved for “television churches” has now trickled its way down to even the smallest churches, thanks to advances […]

How Streaming Services Reveals Audio/Video/Lighting Needs

How Do You View the House of Worship Market?

Answer honestly (and comment below!): How do you view the House of Worship market? Is it a key part of your business? A market you service, but don’t see as ‘vital’? Or is it the market you’ve learned to avoid? We really do want to hear your answers, because we think this discussion will lead […]

How Do You View the House of Worship Market?

Refurbished and Repurposed

I attend a lot of church conferences and I hear a lot of the same lamenting from smaller churches and church planters: “I wish we had the level of (A/V/L) technology that this church has…” as they stand inside a mega- or giga-church auditorium enjoying the tremendous time, talent and technology accumulated over years. Technology, […]

Refurbished and Repurposed

An Open Letter To The A/V/L Community

I want to start with an explanation and end with an apology. As a veteran of the A/V/L industry and the house of worship market as a former pastor, I wanted to express my thoughts on how a very small group of the overall church community has been lacking in attitude and actions towards the […]

An Open Letter To The A/V/L Community

Who You Shouldn’t Sell To

We do our best to help you sell into the house of worship market, but sometimes you have to know which churches you shouldn’t try to sell. Chances are, you’ve experienced this: the “cheap church.” Understanding the church buyer sentiment is one of the new columns written expressly for those in the A/V/L industry who […]

Who You Shouldn’t Sell To

Understanding Church Buyer Sentiment

It’s obvious that I love helping churches. The columns here in rAVe provide years of insight and experience in the hopes of helping manufacturers, systems integrators, rep firms and A/V/L dealers understand — and profit in — the house of worship market. I’ve shared about the future of the church space in previous articles about […]

Understanding Church Buyer Sentiment

Church “Plants” Booming

There’s a booming segment of the house of worship market that is led by young, tech-saavy pastors looking to leverage audio, video and lighting in creative ways. This group is made up of new churches starting from scratch or new churches launched by either a “sending” church or denomination, with some funding to help kick […]

Church “Plants” Booming

Repair Equipment, Repair the Breach

You made the sale to a church, then you moved on to the next sale. Hey, that’s the sales cycle, right? Yes, but it’s not the customer experience cycle, which is the real paradigm that affects your ability to make future sales. The importance of taking care of customers who have invested into your brand […]

Repair Equipment, Repair the Breach

Better Marketing: Serve the User, Don’t Pander to Him

Shiny things get our attention, but usually more as a distraction than as a valuable use of our time. Marketing, it seems, often leans towards this bent with the promise of “better, faster, cheaper.” But what if the point of marketing was for serving the user instead of just pandering to the user? Two articles […]

Better Marketing: Serve the User, Don’t Pander to Him

Turning Users Into Heroes

It’s safe to say that just about everyone researching a product or company likes a good case study. The story. The context. The technology. Oh yeah: the marketing spin. Have you noticed that the majority of “case studies”  covered in today’s trade publications are more hype and pull quotes than meaningful examples of need/challenge/solution? Surely […]

Turning Users Into Heroes

Social Media – Digital Word-of-Mouth

In the not-too-distant past, I knew of a systems integrator that boldly listed their “Top 10” clients on the back of their sales sheets. They were 10 churches that most pastors in the house of worship market would know. All were previous clients of this firm. The implied assertion of listing these ten churches was […]

Social Media – Digital Word-of-Mouth

The Buying Cycle of Churches

Who do you sell to at a church? Who are the influencers and who makes the final budget decisions? From senior pastors to tech directors to volunteer leaders, churches have a wide range of influencers, recommenders and decision-makers. It’s important to understand when you’re talking to a buyer — or not — when working with […]

The Buying Cycle of Churches

Immersive Church Venues

The forward march of technology has usually meant faster, better, cheaper. In addition to this axiom is a near-future trend for the house of worship market: immersive venues. When was the last time you sat with a close friend, in close proximity, for a very personal conversation? As your mind recalls this moment, chances are […]

Immersive Church Venues

The Post-InfoComm Blues

Did you notice the word “church” in the company name below the person’s name on their InfoComm badge? A lot of churches showed up at InfoComm to see what’s next on the technology horizon that they can fit into their budgets for the next fiscal year. And a lot of them left with the Post-Infocomm […]

The Post-InfoComm Blues

Who Has the Control?

A presenter. A presentation. Audio. Video. Lights. Control. This is the staple scenario for corporate, education, government and military applications in our industry. In the house of worship market, it looks identical. A pastor. A sermon. Audio. Video. Lights. But no control. In any other market, giving the presenter a control solution — from a […]

Who Has the Control?

The Right Fit vs. First to Market

We’re in a technology business. As such, you’d think there would be a collective learning from the past that applies towards future technologies. What we continue to see, however, is that we’re often innovating and inventing at such an exponential rate that we’re not taking the time to learn from the past before creating new […]

The Right Fit vs. First to Market

Don’t Forget Your Easter Follow-Up

It’s probably too late to try and land some last-minute business for Easter with your church clients and prospects, but what you need to be planning for now is the immediate follow-up within 72 hours of those Sunday services. Churches will have experienced one of their two biggest attendance days of the year. As such, […]

Don’t Forget Your Easter Follow-Up

Easter’s Approaching — So Is An AV Opportunity

Did you know that Easter falls on Sunday, March 31st? That’s just under two months from now and for churches, that’s a deadline that’s quickly approaching! Easter church attendance is a big deal, as people who normally don’t attend church often make their way to church on this day (they’re affectionately known as the “Lily crowd,” […]

Easter’s Approaching — So Is An AV Opportunity