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 […]
I logged into rAVe today to write a completely different blog post about management and an analogy to cheer squads, but as I landed on the rAVe site here, I ran across an article by Daniel Shatzkes titled “Why You Should Hire an Acoustics Specialist at the Outset”. I wasn’t familiar with Daniel as a […]
It’s report card time and my youngest just brought home her marks from the first trimester of sixth grade. I’ve been blessed with three children that are self-motivated and have an appetite for learning and a drive to excel, so report card time has never been stressful for anyone in my house. They usually bring […]
We’ve all heard the phrase “a meeting that could have been an email.” Add in today’s additional methods of communication and you’ll get “a meeting that could have been a Zoom call, that could have been an email, that could have been a phone call, that could have been a text.” I put this idea […]
If you’re cold calling, odds are you won’t be getting through on the first call often, which means you’ll be leaving voicemail. Ditch the gimmicks and follow these simple tips. Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: RSS
Given today’s environment and my role with a workplace technology company, I have been exploring a LOT of different collaboration tools as of late. Collaboration devices have officially gone well beyond wireless screen-sharing at this point. In fact, with Zoom, Teams, etc. offering screen-share as part of their software platforms over the Wi-Fi connection, I’d […]
Many times when talking to someone on a cold call, they will share a reason for not engaging with you at that time. Tune in to find out how to assure the reason is the right one, and to learn about the 4 types of objections that are offered. Podcast: Play in new window | […]
Assumptions crush cold calls. If you’ve ever been taught to assume the relationship and assume the sale, you need to stop right now and listen to this episode for 3 tips on first contact. Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: RSS
If you want to be successful in navigating a new organization, you need an ally. In this episode, I tell you what phrase you need to eliminate from your vocabulary and who that first ally may be. Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: RSS
As human beings we have a positive association with memory. We view those with good memories as intelligent and reinforce the idea that remembering mistakes of the past assures we won’t repeat them in the future. I don’t discount the value of memory on the whole. However — is there an advantage to being forgetful? […]
In today’s world, we have access to all sorts of information about our prospective clients. As professionals, we need to be diligent about doing our homework before we make that first call. This episode talks about what that homework should include. Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: RSS
Suppose you’re active in social media at all. In that case, you may have noticed that quite a few strong opinions are resurfacing about AV’s “Experience” movement that has been happening since InfoComm became AVIXA. I believe the sudden rise of cloud-based conferencing, AV-over-IP and the retraction of hospitality, live and experiential events due to […]
The look, feel, and workflow a space needs to provide are not always easily found on the floor plan. This week, I answer a question from Graham Kirkpatrick on how to better align our systems with furniture, fixtures, and equipment to create efficient and cohesive designs. Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: RSS
Everyone is using video right now to communicate and webinars and Zoom calls abound. However, is there a better way to build video into your long term meeting strategy, even for in person meetings? Thanks to Chris Neto for this week’s question. Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: RSS
I think I can confidently say that we’re tired of hearing about “Unprecedented Times” and “The New Normal.” The truth is that things are always in flux, and there are always businesses that are making money hand over fist while others are struggling to get by. Sure, a global pandemic and economic meltdown has caused […]
