If you frequent LinkedIn or YouTube and you’re into audiovisual tech, you’ve likely seen the videos of the signs on a street corner with a lion jumping out, a spaceship landing or a Jeep spinning brodies where the subjects of the video seem to escape the edges of the screen and break the fourth wall. […]
A few years ago, a group of AV professionals were discussing our industry and the culture that we’ve inherited — some of it is good and others, well, they leave a lot to be desired. So, to create change, we headed to LinkedIn and created a group to isolate several places we thought AV could […]
Technology is an essential part of every company and employees’ workflow, and given the events of the last 18 months, it has become more important than ever. Technology is only as good as its adoption, however. You can provide people with amazing tools, but if they are unused or underutilized at their minimum capacity, the […]
It’s good to have an idea of your goal for a meeting, but — of course — you don’t want your meeting to be overly scripted. Learn how to keep EQ in the equation for achieving your desired outcome. Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: RSS
As someone who has been in AV for years and spent the time to get all of my AV certifications through AVIXA (CTS-D and CTS-I), I appreciate tools that help with designing systems. Through my years in AV, I’ve been blessed to work with some amazing engineers that developed their own calculators and spreadsheets for […]
A few months back, I wrote a piece on the 3 environments integrators should be offering to their customers. One of those 3 environments is the studio. In the piece, I stated, “Whether producing marketing content like podcasts and unboxing videos, teaching hybrid classes, doing worldwide company events or introducing new products and services to […]
It’s Merger and Acquisition season again, and if you didn’t see it, Diversified just brought HB Communications into its fold and staked its claim as the world’s largest AV integration firm. In 2019, AVI-SPL and Whitlock became one as well, making it the previous heavyweight champ. These two titans have been battling it out for […]
We spend way too much time upfront combating the consumerization of AV. This week I address how to capitalize on momentum of consumer tech experiences to lead into your professional AV sale. Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: RSS
I just finished watching Loki, a Marvel-inspired series on Disney+. For those that haven’t seen it, I won’t include any spoilers here, just that the show revolves around a concept called “the sacred timeline.” This refers to the way we see the world and all of the potential opportunities the timeline had to branch, creating […]
I am actively engaged in the online AV community on Twitter. This weekend, a chat called #AVintheAM challenged integrators to discuss and explore how sports broadcasting as a vertical could yield some fruit on the local and K-12 level. There were a lot of ideas on the viability and profitability of systems and projects […]
OK, so I’m clearly on a storytelling kick. Tim Duncan asked about storytelling on Twitter, so I thought I’d share an effective and interactive story I’ve found myself telling more than once. Enjoy! Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: RSS
If you’ve been telling people about your product or service and find that they’re just not responding, perhaps you need to tell better stories. In this Selling AV, I talk about how to do just that. Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: RSS
There are 1,001 blogs on the hybrid workplace and hybrid classrooms. Heck, I may have even contributed to that total. But before you dismiss this one, I’ll tell you it’s short, intuitive and not quite the same as the others. If you’re doing hybrid meetings or classrooms, you already know the main components: Audience facing […]
I’ve been talking to quite a few integrators lately and the good news is that there seems to be a large backlog of projects coming back online. As exciting as that is, the past 15 months are still creating shockwaves that mean for most integrators, these projects are potentially going to be a lot less […]
Today, a friend of mine named Kyle Davis @ mentioned me on Twitter to get my thoughts on the future of the huddle space. I responded with this tweet: I have to do a blog- short answer- the huddle room we knew it will not be as prevalent and will change. The reasons? Blog to […]
I saw a license plate today that read “DWN7UP8,” and it really struck a chord with me. In a society where we are always being measured, compared, monetized, KPI’d and ROI’d, it’s hard not to get caught up in where you are RIGHT NOW. However, like life, our careers are a journey. A long game […]
If you’re in sales, you’ve heard plenty of advice on how to close, get the sale, get the PO, win. Today, I ask you to consider switching your perspective to adding value instead. Listen to find out how changing your thinking can change your outcome. Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: RSS
When going in for a big presentation, salespeople often spend quite some time creating what they believe is the perfect deck of slides to best promote their company and its products and services. However, overdependence on the “sales presentation” may just be blocking your chances of success. Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: RSS
I love seeing the advances in Virtual Reality, Augmented Reality and Mixed Reality. I believe as the world continues some version of its distributed workforce, these tools and the content creation skill sets required will become valuable ways that AV integration companies can continue to help their clients. That being said, all of these Extended […]
Spin the stats however you want, the short answer to “what does the return to work look like” is that most people want access to an office at least part of the time. We’ve seen a lot of articles written about technology as it pertains to the return to the office. Many talk about touchless […]
You’ve likely noticed that there is a lot of chatter about technology these days as it pertains to the hybrid work environment, remote collaboration, touchless interfaces and the return to the office in general. I’ve stated in the past that you really can’t be an expert in workplace technology without first being an expert in […]
I’ve always heard the key to sales is always be closing (ABC, right?) However, in my experience, many salespeople try close too soon or close the wrong sale. Too many professionals go into an appointment with an agenda. i.e., I am going to said clients office to close X units of Y. But do they […]
I sit and talk to Jay Myers about his book “Rounding Third and Heading Home: The Emotional Journey of Selling My Business and the Lessons I Learned Along the Way.” Jay shares lessons he learned over the 22 years he spent building his AV business, eventually resulting in a sale to the world’s largest integrator. […]
Hybrid. It’s a two-syllable word that seems like it would be easy to define, but it’s actually not. The hybrid workplace is defined as one in which by default, a percentage of employees are remote while the rest are in person. If you’re watching any of the studies out there, its obvious that the five-day, […]
At the end of February, the National Systems Contractors Association (NSCA) had its annual Business and Leadership Conference. If you haven’t been to one before, whether in person or virtually (like this year), then you should prioritize it next year. There were a lot of great keynotes, talks, and breakout sessions spanning sales, marketing, design […]
If you attended rAVe’s LAVNCH WEEK 3.0 last week, you may have caught the keynote by Kevin Carroll. Kevin is a storyteller, a speaker and an author. His book, “Rules of the Red Rubber Ball,” is a highly visual explanation of the power of play in life and work. If you missed Kevin’s keynote, it’s […]
If you follow my Selling AV podcast here on rAVe, then this blog will be right up your alley. I haven’t done a point/counterpoint article in quite a while, but today I came across a blog shared by the NSCA about the importance of having a sales script, and honestly, I couldn’t disagree more. Full […]
“Value engineering” are two of the most dreaded words in AV — they typically mean compromising system designs to meet the client’s budget. Most of the time, integrators use a shotgun to evenly distribute the discount across the project. In this episode of Selling AV, I suggest that may be a really bad idea, and […]
If you’ve been paying any attention to the conversations in professional AV right now, you’ve undoubtedly heard the word hybrid over and over again. There are countless products, articles and strategies for deploying technology that bridges our physical spaces to our virtual ones in ways that try to level the playing field and create equity […]
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 […]
It’s always a great idea to have conversations around Technology at a higher level with regards to the value it brings to a business. As such, it’s tempting to talk about Return on Investment (ROI), but is that always the best approach? Listen in to hear my thoughts. Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: […]
I’ve worked at lots of companies where I was considered a leader even though I was not technically a manager. Leadership is definitely a skill and role that transcends titles, age groups, gender identities and cultural backgrounds. Something strange, though, happens when you are elevated into the management hierarchy, and people may follow you because […]
