When an organization with the legacy of the International Communications Industries Association (ICIA) changes its name to AVIXA (Audiovisual and Integrated Experience Association), it heralds not only a branding move but also signals a shift to an agile approach for aligning to the rapid changes in the audiovisual industry. Perhaps above all, AVIXA represents a […]

What percentage of your products and integrated solutions are ideally fit for the house of worship market? Of that percentage, how many of those products and services are requested by churches out of their need instead of offered to churches out of their potential value? There is an opportunity gap between products that solve problems churches […]

There is a saying that churches buy a sound system three times. The first is the one the building “comes with” that was most likely designed by the general contractor or a local music store. A well-meaning but ill-experienced volunteer who adds some new equipment typically installs the second system. The third system is usually […]

Each year, I look for the most effective ads of A/V/L gear targeting the House of Worship (HOW) market. I can tell you that, once again, the vast majority (greater than 99 percent – I’ve looked through hundreds of terrible examples) of the current ads for the HOW technology market are either A) too niche […]

Reaching the right church decision-maker with your technology solutions for AVL is obviously important; what’s less obvious is exactly how and where to reach them. I’ve included a starting list of potential places to reach churches online as well as the kind of messaging your firm should focus on in order to maximize your qualified […]

“We’re a church with a limited budget. How much budget do we need for this gear?” “We have ‘this amount’ of budget, what technology do you recommend?” Or, my least favorite, “We need to set a budget for our audio, video and lighting. What’s a good amount?” I hear these question from well-meaning people who are […]

Box sales. Internet commodities. Bottom-dollar buys. Is it too late for the audio, video and lighting market for reversing product commoditization in the house of worship vertical segment? Encourage Systems Integration In the online ‘box-sales’ world of product commoditization, the Internet sale is rumored to have removed service from the purchasing equation. Perhaps for truly […]

The upside of adding Ethernet and/or Wi-Fi to audio, video and lighting gear is both the convenience and scalability of managing technology, but the more IP-addressable the A/V/L industry becomes, the more managing the vast amount of unique data becomes problematic for the end users. Churches are no different than many other venues when it […]

I imagine the engineers and R&D teams working diligently for months, years even, on new products to roll out at the next big trade show. They’ve innovated, broken through with new levels of sophistication and — best of all — it’s going to allow for increased margins! It’s a win — until… The first day […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

I’ve written about growth churches and mega churches in the past because they offer a lot of sales potential for Audio/Video/Lighting manufacturers and systems integrators. Fast growth = frequent sales opportunities. I’d put the majority of my marketing and sales resources there, no doubt. However, there’s something to be said for the other 90 percent-plus […]

By Anthony Coppedge Two is better than one, especially when it comes to mission-critical technology in churches. From the pastor’s mic beltpack to the projectors in each of the large venues to extra dimming modules for the architectural and stage lighting, having an active reserve of technology can mean the difference between a seamless service or […]

By Anthony Coppedge Logically speaking, the prioritization of audio, video and lighting technologies in churches would be 1) audio; 2) lighting; 3) video. Interestingly, this is not always the case, and as integrators and manufacturers, it’s helpful to understand how churches prioritize technology (and why). Budgets and Priorities Considering the fact that nearly 95 percent […]

By Anthony Coppedge There may not be any other vertical markets that use volunteers for mission-critical technical operations as much as churches. These well-intentioned, good-hearted volunteers are often put in charge of entire weekend service audio, video or lighting with often-minimal training and zero professional experience. The systems that are being installed into local churches are […]