What Churches Want and Need from AV Sales

In seven years of sharing practical insights on how to sell audiovisual (AV) to churches, we’ve posted over 70 articles focusing specifically on the opportunities and challenges of selling to buyers and influencers in the house of worship market. During that same time, the church AV market has gone from hundreds of millions of dollars […]

What Churches Want and Need from AV Sales

Taking Responsibility for Church AV Sales

There are over 1 billion reasons for audiovisual (AV) vendors to sell to over 300,000 churches in the United States alone; those reasons all have President George Washington on the front. And those billions of reasons are spent every single year by churches. This represents an opportunity of taking responsibility for church AV sales. With so […]

Taking Responsibility for Church AV Sales

Create Agreement When Selling to Churches

When an audiovisual (AV) solution aligns perfectly with the needs of a potential client, the opportunity just about sells itself. In the house of worship market, local churches across the gamut of denominations have similar challenges and opportunities when it comes to AV technology. This should make selling a simple process for manufacturers and systems […]

Create Agreement When Selling to Churches

Asking the Right Questions

I’m an extrovert. Most people assume this means I love to talk all the time, I’m energized by social situations, I like to solve problems by discussing them, I’m extremely friendly and imminently approachable and I am easy to get to know. Those are all generally true, but being married to an introvert has enlightened […]

Asking the Right Questions

Solve the Pain, Then Introduce Strategy

‘Solve their technology pain, then introduce them to a technology strategy.’ That should be the mantra for consultants, systems integrators, and manufacturers selling to the church market. The House of Worship (HOW) market is not without strategy. In fact, they’re some of the most focused organizations around when it comes to their strategic purpose. However, they […]

Solve the Pain, Then Introduce Strategy

Hiring Sales for Church Market AV

I’ll never forget standing behind the best salesperson in the online sales department as he watched the timer tick down from three minutes on his monitor during a phone call with a prospect. The VP of sales at a large systems integration firm had stopped my tour of the firm’s headquarters within the sea of […]

Hiring Sales for Church Market AV

Selling to Churches? Learn from Amazon Prime

Churches have needs for audio, video and lighting (AVL) technology far more often than most manufacturers or systems integrators know. From changing sermon series with new scenic stage designs every few weeks to the addition or renovation of multi-site venues to production tech upgrades, churches utilize AVL tech week in and week out. It is […]

Selling to Churches? Learn from Amazon Prime

Christmas Church Tech in the Summer

The dog days of summer are upon us and much of the commercial and education vertical markets have slowed to a crawl, but the house of worship market is heating up seemingly in proportion to the high temps of the season. That’s because, for churches, summertime is the time when the planning for the big […]

Christmas Church Tech in the Summer

What Are You Giving Away to Churches?

Mobile-first is a term used to describe the 2017 statistic where people begin their internet searches, browsing and application usage on their mobile device more than on a desktop or laptop computer. They’re searching for social proof (what others say about a brand, service or product), helpful knowledge-building and early research to educate their decision-making […]

What Are You Giving Away to Churches?

The Three Times Churches Buy Audio, Video and Lighting

There are three main reasons churches upgrade or outright add new equipment: when entering a new building program, when renovating an existing building or when expanding into new technology areas such as multi-site or online services. Given the history most churches had with learning their technology lessons on audio systems (the first systems they use), […]

The Three Times Churches Buy Audio, Video and Lighting

Churches — The Art of the Sale

Almost all manufacturers and systems integrators have had at least some experience selling to churches, though those who have mastered the art of the sale to the house of worship market are surprisingly few. I’m going to share my two decades of sales experience in this oft-misunderstood vertical niche and help you know when a […]

Churches — The Art of the Sale

Throwing Good Money at Bad Advertising

The writer inside of me knows that people want helpful insight and good advice. It also knows that ticking off potential advertisers for rAVe isn’t a good idea. Sometimes, the two are at odds. I also believe that telling the truth, kindly, is possible. And it is with this good intention that I focus this […]

Throwing Good Money at Bad Advertising

The Age of the Me-Too Products

The perfect product has not yet been built, but that doesn’t stop today’s audio, video and lighting manufacturer’s engineers from trying to build it. If they did, they’d end up building the product they wanted to use, right down to the subtle minutiae of every killer feature and ergonomic design. And it would be a […]

The Age of the Me-Too Products

Sowing & Reaping

“We don’t have enough sales in the church market,” laments an audio/video/lighting (AVL) integration firm owner. “We need to find a way to do more of these church installs…” he says, letting his sentence trail off as an open invitation for me to answer with some huge epiphany or closely-guarded secret about having success in […]

Sowing & Reaping

The Untapped Market — Portable Churches

Stats vary, but the trend shows that portable churches make up over 20 percent of all new churches in the United States. A ‘portable church’ is a local congregation without a permanent facility, and often meet with the help of volunteers for setup and tear-down in venues such as schools, movie theaters and community centers. […]

The Untapped Market — Portable Churches

Church Video Production – Selling the Workflow

Near cinema-quality field video capture is available for well under $10K, a price point so low that the A/V/L industry feels threatened by low cost technology dazzling the focus and buying power of consumers. A visit to InfoComm or NAB quickly reveals a rush to service the exponential growth of the sub $10K market space, […]

Church Video Production – Selling the Workflow

House of Worship: A Billion Reasons to Enter This Market

Half of one billion dollars in audio, video and lighting technology sales over the next 12 months. And that’s just from one segment of the house of worship market, representing only about 2 percent of all churches here in the United States. It’s likely your business hasn’t seen the majority of your sales come from […]

House of Worship: A Billion Reasons to Enter This Market

Product Value and The Lowest Price?

Does the value of your product really come down to the lowest price? In an effort to sell more, dealers and systems integrators are often setting the price of their technology based on an aggregate price that they believe will help make the sale happen. Sales may happen, but the value of your brand, manufacturers […]

Product Value and The Lowest Price?

The Matrix of Church AVL Systems

There are many A/V/L systems in place at churches of every size, location and style. Many are there because they were the lowest bid price point; others are stitched together over time, mostly borne out of necessity — and yet others are in place because an integrator specified what worked in other churches. Finally, there […]

The Matrix of Church AVL Systems