After looking at a couple new buildings for office space this morning, I had lunch with an architect who does lots of design and project planning for churches. As we talked, I realized that what his firm does and what we do are very similar; we mix up materials, ideas, products, concepts and out comes a plan, a system, or a solution of some type. That's the value we offer.
Many pro audio, video, and lighting (AVL) dealers in the country offer approximately the same products. None of us sell everything, but we probably all share some subset of at least similar products within the AVL universe. And with the Internet as close as your phone or computer, your sources for equipment are just about endless.
As we talked over lunch, I shared that as much as we need to sell equipment at a price, the more compelling conversations start with a statement or a question from the client that says, "We're trying to get this type of end result and we need some ideas on how to get there." Everyday, we're challenged to build a better AVL mousetrap. This is what we do.
On our site, we publish stories about what we've done for others, so that you might discover an idea that will work for you, too. In person or on the phone, we hope to talk about how you do what you do and to develop a custom solution. To us, it's way more important that you get the right equipment for the long run than simply selling something today.
Dan asked me today, "So who do you work with and where do you work?" The business that we seek out intentionally is houses of worship or churches. We do an occasional restaurant or corporate meeting space, but we're lots more passionate about churches. Our reach is national with respect to solution design and regional for installations, so we don't always get to build our designs. Sometimes, we provide the ideas, but more often, we provide the ideas, the instructions and the equipment to make it happen. And we've been very successful at serving churches all over the country for over 20 years with great solutions and service - most of them at arm's length.
As you approach the selection of an AVL firm, realize that there are three factors that are common to all of us, and that you can pick any two that you want. As hard as we try, we can't be all three in every situation.
1. Expert, responsive service.
2. Lowest prices.
3. All products always in stock.
If you've shopped around, I think that you'll agree that the places with the lowest prices (below what the industry calls MAP - Minimum Advertised Price) often can't answer your questions, let alone recommend an integrated solution. And you can mix the other factors around in your head to understand my point.
Of course, we think that responsive, expert service trumps all, but when you consider how to select an AVL firm, you probably can't have it all, at least by these three factors. And if you think that you have all three, you're probably at the right place for you. We hope to be that place.