Commercial Integrator December 2022 - 10

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AV BRAINS & BRAWN
AV Integrators Should Be in 'Control'
In an era when 'good enough' is simply not, integrators should seize the opportunity
to deliver a superior experience through a systems-design approach. By Alan C. Brawn
MOST WHO GLANCE at this article's headline
will simply agree that AV integrators
should be in control of a sale and a project
and move on. But not so fast.... The fact is,
in far too many cases, the AV integrator is no
longer in the " catbird seat " of control. Put
your paradigms and self-interest aside for
a moment and consider why this should be
true, from a buyer's perspective, but might
not be in many cases.
As the AV integration industry has evolved
over the years, so, too, has the way that
customers purchase products. In the past,
customers would count on AV salespeople
to visit them and provide information. They
would work with a small group of internal
stakeholders, and, in the process, a project
would begin to take shape. However, if you
fast forward to current times, the project
process has radically changed.
Too Many Cooks?
Research shows that the number of
interested parties (e.g., stakeholders) has
increased from a few in the good old days to
12 or more today. (Some estimates get that
number of " involvees " into the 20s!) Think
of that old adage about " too many cooks in
the kitchen " - but I digress. Ultimately, this
adds confusion and conflicting information
to the process. But what is most alarming
is that 70% of a sale is conducted before a
salesperson ever gets involved. Here's the
reality check: Customers are doing online
research on their own - in some cases, a lot
of it - before ever engaging outside input.
Today, AV integrators are no longer in control
of the narrative (i.e., in control of the information,
explanation and exploration) like
they once were. But, apart from that, there's
actually an objective problem with customers
doing research on their own prior to AV
sales professionals' involvement - namely,
the challenge of finding an appropriate
quantity of quality, accurate information. Yes,
we know that there's no way to stop custom10
As
the AV integration industry has evolved over the years, so, too, has the way that
customers purchase products. In the past, customers would count on AV salespeople
to visit them and provide information. That has now radically changed.
ers from doing their searches - especially
in the day of big data and omni-information
anytime, anywhere, on any device - but that
fact does not negate the problem.
To say the least, it is difficult to tell a
customer after the fact that they don't know
what they think they know. This is an existential
challenge that AV integrators must
work to address.
We live in a commodity world in which
many things " appear " to be alike. An
end user can look at a display, a mount or
myriad other items that they think, feel or
assume will fit; however, they often miss key
factors. This is not intentional or careless on
their part. In most cases, they simply don't
have the background and experience that
an AV integrator has.
Commercial Integrator DECEMBER 2022
The Price Factor
I want to begin what some might call my
sermon with a simple - perhaps even
an obvious - concept. It bears mention,
though. There is a tendency for buyers to
purchase primarily based on price. They do
some degree of research, and they find that
things appear the same. The caveat is that
appearances are deceiving. Suffice it to say
that there's a lot of junk out there that looks
just like the well-made products. Separating
the wheat from the chaff is the purview of the
AV integrator. Caveat emptor.
Let's start with displays. They do mostly
look alike. A 55-inch 4K display is a 55inch
4K display, right? Wrong! Quality is
generally not the issue, actually, as all the
well-known brands (and even some of the
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Commercial Integrator December 2022

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