Bidding Out Your AVL System – Part 4

Thank you for joining us for Part 4 in our series. So far, we’ve presented: Part 1 – The Key Players in AVL Design Part 2 – The Key Tools in AVL Design Part 3 – The Key Phases in AVL Design Now, we’ll finish our series by addressing the final phase of AVL Design […]

Bidding Out Your AVL System – Part 4

Dealing With RFQs, Part 2

In the prior installment, I had begun detailing the Request For Quote process, and my observations on them. And by “observations on them,” what I really mean is my cynical outlook on them. Don’t get me wrong, jumping through the RFQ hoops set out by organizational procurement managers can be a tedious and unrewarding exercise. […]

Dealing With RFQs, Part 2

Dealing With RFQs

Anybody who sells into commercial, industrial or institutional channels has to deal with Requests For Quotes. A request for quotation (abbreviated as RFQ) is how large organizations invite vendors to bid on systems, services or individual products. For AV pros, quotations on systems and services are the most common. Additionally, what’s asked for the in […]

Dealing With RFQs

Scope Leak: The New Profitability Black Hole

If you are an AV integrator reading this post, you are most likely very familiar with the term “Scope Creep”.  It is a term that typically describes what happens when a contracted project starts to grow incrementally at the end-user or client’s request.  “Scope Creep” has been a traditional sieve for project profits, because in […]

Scope Leak: The New Profitability Black Hole

Losing to Lowballers? This is Nothing New, and Neither Are the Remedies…

Note: Chuck Espinoza, CTS-D/I,CQT,ISF-C,DMC-E,EAVA is a co-contributor to this blog article (where noted). After being through the bidding and install job competition wars for over 15 years in the AV industry, I can safely say that I along with others who have written blogs and articles have some great (and frustrating) stories to tell. Many of […]

Losing to Lowballers? This is Nothing New, and Neither Are the Remedies…

Show, Don’t Tell – The Language of the Story and the RFP

Show, don’t tell. It is THE quintessential writing advice for good reason. Don’t tell us that a character is brave – show them facing a fear. While you’re at it, don’t tell us they are afraid — show us the quickening pulse, the sweaty palms, the tightness in the belly. Paint a word picture. Avoid […]

Show, Don’t Tell – The Language of the Story and the RFP

Making Sense of the RFP Process

By Chris Robinson Digital Strategy Director, Microgigantic Goals Why are you building the project? It may sound trite, but it is important to understand what you trying to accomplish. The first essential step is defining the business need. There are multiple facets to establishing such goals. It’s important that these are clearly articulated both from […]

Making Sense of the RFP Process