Many times as AV sales people we are asked to itemize pricing on our bids. In this week’s show, I give a couple strategies on how to handle that request. Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: Android | RSS
Next week in Las Vegas, the National Association of Broadcasters holds their annual trade show in Las Vegas. The NAB Show doesn’t seem to generate the same amount of buzz in the integration circles as shows like CEDIA and InfoComm and I’m not quite sure why. There’s a tremendous amount of value in going to NAB, […]
Bidding open RFPs can be tedious and your chances to win the work can be slim. This week I tell you how to multiply your odds. Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: Android | RSS
If you are an AV industry professional in the commercial AV space, odds are you are familiar with InfoComm’s CTS certifications. There are 3 varieties currently, being the CTS General, the CTS-D for Design, and the CTS-I for installation. Many times a consultant or an end user may require that the integrator working on their […]
If you have gone to any AV leadership event over the last several years, ranging from the Commercial Integrator Summit to InfoComm’s AVEC to NSCA’s Business and Leadership Conference, you know that developing a revenue stream based on service has been at the forefront of the conversation. Many integrators have started offering managed services to their […]
There has been a lot of discussion lately about the use of Virtual Realty (VR) technology. One of the applications being touted as ripe for VR is virtual meetings — a Virtual Reality Telconference (VRTC) if you will. But will VRTC be the next big leap in meeting technology? Imagine getting ready for your next […]
I’ve been around AV for the last 15 years and have worked for residential and commercial integrators as well as AV manufacturers. There has been a lot of change in that time, and most agree that the days of selling little black mystery boxes for 60 points margin are all but gone. In fact, many […]
Today another eulogy was given to AV technology. As with most AV eulogies, the problem is that the technology declared dead is still alive and well. In this instance, the projection screen business was “buried alive” by Gary in his latest blog “Is the Screen Business About to Disappear?” However, like Uma Thurman in Kill […]
AMSTERDAM and RANCHO SANTA MARGARITA, CALIF., FEBRUARY 2, 2017 — With the emergence of voice control as the hottest new trend in AV, AVPhenom will be introducing a new voice control product at ISE 2017. “Ever since Alexa’s debut at CEDIA, I have been obsessed with voice control as the future of the user interface […]
On Christmas day in 2016 there was an invasion. Over 1.2 million people awoke to find ornately wrapped boxes from loved ones or “Santa” that contained gifts nearly 62 million Americans longed to receive: Drones. Drone sales in the US hit over 2.5 million in 2016, nearly doubling sales of the unmanned aircraft in 2015. […]
It’s fun to be a part of the tech industry, but it’s also interesting sometimes to take a step back and look at it from afar. I took the opportunity to do that a couple days ago with respect to all the attention Alexa and Amazon Echo have been getting ever since the Crestron compatibility […]
All the biggest stories of 2016 in the AV integration space had to do with acquisition. The latest round of which relayed that Samsung bought Harman Group, AVI-SPL bought Anderson AV, and Compass Group bought Waveguide. Well the AV prognosticators are already out in force predicting the future and they see more of this consolidation […]
As AV sales people we hear a lot of sales advice and tactics. But what happens when those tactics meet reality? In this Selling AV, I talk about a time I went against my gut to deploy a tactic I paid good money to learn and what happened as a result. Podcast: Play in new […]
I’m sure we’ve all heard the term “Fake it ’til you make it.” It’s typically used to relay the mindset that people should act as if they are successful even if they aren’t yet, and that perception and attitude will eventually become a reality. Lately however, it seems this attitude has found its way into […]
A couple years ago I posted about getting my CTS certification. I think I was on an endorphin high at the InfoComm 2014 show, because I even threw down a challenge hours later to see who wanted to pursue the elusive dual certification: CTS-D and CTS-I. The excitement died down a little, and not only did […]
It’s always interesting to hear people’s take on the future of technology. There seems to be a fanaticism built around Moore’s Law, the Turing Test, and the ability of computers to become “conscious.” It usually ends in a theory of technology not unlike the rise of Skynet’s machines in the Terminator movies. If you’re not […]
The biggest news of the year as far as AV acquisitions go is definitely the purchase of Harman by Samsung. In the commercial AV space, there aren’t many deals that start with a “B” as in billion, let alone $8 billion. Harman does over $7 billion in annual revenue and is also sitting on a […]
Play along if you will. . . You go to a restaurant. You order a hamburger. You are given a hamburger. The hamburger is good. You leave. Are you impressed? Are you brimming with joy, thinking“Wow. . .I got what I paid for!” ? Of course not. The idea that satisfied customers are a positive […]
We’ve all heard that “Content is King” but how do we as an industry take that from a cool phrase to a revenue generating opportunity? On this episode of Kings of Content, I talk with Timo Korpela of Idean about design thinking and bridging the UX gap as well as how integrators can increase the […]
Not every customer is for you, (although they may think that they are). Find out when it may be time to fire yourself to avoid a bad fit. Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: Android | RSS
I have the opportunity to work with an amazing group of integrators here in Southern California. Their expertise vary widely, their company cultures can run the gamut, and they range in size from a handful to hundreds of employees. I also worked on the integration side of AV from 2002 to 2012, and those three […]
In the AV world, referrals are like gold. This week on Selling AV we discuss why asking for referrals to everyone will actually yield referrals to no one. Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: Android | RSS
It seems like we have been discussing the changing landscape of AV for years. We have all seen the shift toward consolidated components, hardware that is easier to connect and configure, direct sales and marketing by some manufacturers to end users or other trades like electricians, and shrinking margins on the golden calf that used […]
If you have heard some of the gurus of storytelling out there declare the elevator pitch dead, I am here to respectfully disagree. Listen to this Selling AV to find out how to effectively use an elevator pitch in the storytelling economy. Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: Android | RSS
I admit it. I’ve been trolled. Typically when someone trolls you for a response on social media it means it’s time to take a deep breath and just move on. Convincing someone you don’t know to move away from a point of view they already hold rarely if never happens. It’s a futile effort. But […]
I may be late to the party on this topic but I wanted to give my thoughts on a discussion started by CEDIA’s Vin Bruno when he stated that perhaps it was time we stopped calling ourselves “integrators” and started calling ourselves “technologists.” There have been several takes on this to date. Some like the […]
After I wrote The Cost of Late Adoption last month, I received quite a few comments, Tweets and DMs around the topic. Gary Kayye even did a Rants and Raves on the topic, drawing parallels to the book Crossing the Chasm, one that I have to sheepishly admit that I’ve never read. To tell the […]
If you are a student of technology adoption, you’ve most likely seen this curve. Image via Wikipedia It’s the Technology Adoption curve and it reveals how people adopt technology over time. Looking at the curve as an integrator, you may use this curve to justify a delayed […]
If you’ve been in AV for more than a short time, you’ve most likely heard people in the industry talk about the Good Ol’ Boys network. It doesn’t carry a very kind connotation and has been used to describe activities in the industry that range from sexism to favoritism to nepotism. I think there has […]
For the first time since I saw Brian Solis talk at Customer Engagement Technology World, I was excited about a keynote before a trade show. InfoComm hit a home run in my eyes getting Stephen Dubner, co-author of books like Freakonomics and Think Like a Freak (my personal favorite of his). Making things even more […]
How much is a 55″ touchscreen? If you take a look around online you’ll find everything from single and dual touch screens starting at about $2,000 and going to high end multi-touch units like those from MultiTaction at $20,000. Add a great mount, a PC or media player and installation and you might get up to […]
Well another InfoComm has come and gone, and another Las Vegas record was set this year with over 38,000 attendees at the 2016 show. By attendance alone, you’d have to agree that the show is as healthy as ever. The InfoComm show is an amazing place to connect with industry peers, showcase new products to […]
