Commercial Integrator January 2023 - 10

AV BRAINS & BRAWN
The Need for Research
Some key insights regarding the importance of research and how to embrace the concepts of
target customers, target marketing and target sales. By Alan C. Brawn
WITH HAVING A MONTHLY column in
a respected and widely read publication
such as Commercial Integrator there
comes a responsibility. It is not enough
simply to report, or to make comments,
or, at the extreme, to bloviate. All too
often, these things tend to dissipate into
thin air once they're said or read. To use a
football or soccer metaphor, the writer's
responsibility lies in moving the ball down
the field. For those of us fortunate enough
to have a platform, our responsibility is
to provide thought leadership, educate,
report on trends and, when we're at our
best, inspire readers to act. It is this latter
ideal that I strive for. This month, my objective
is to motivate and, yes, to inspire
you to conduct research. Before you
immediately move on to the next article,
thinking this is an academic rant, it is not!
So, please permit me to explain.
I get it. I know you're all busy. In most
cases, you are running at full steam, operating
a company day to day. Or maybe
you have your sales hat on, selling your
AV heart out. When I mention taking time
to do research, the reply I often get is that
a cursory Google search is fine, but there
is not enough time for a deep dive into
much of anything. It is difficult to find time
to step off " business hamster wheel, " even
for a moment. But I would suggest that we
must find the time. As an old adage from
Benjamin Franklin advises us, " If you fail to
plan, you are planning to fail. "
More Than a To-Do List
The concept of planning in the AV industry
must encompass more than a daily
list of things to do, whose items you can
check off one by one. The kind of planning
to which I am referring has substantive
research - research beyond Google
and your favorite manufacturers' websites
- as a precursor. Of course, this invites
the question of why research, followed by
10
It is not just about understanding buyers and their behavior generally, but, more
narrowly, researching the market and focusing our efforts on the buyers who are
most likely to buy specifically from us.
planning, followed by implementation is
more important today than ever before.
The answer is existential in nature. The
industry has changed, and it continues to
change. We simply must change with it.
(I do realize that it's not actually " simple, "
by the way.)
Not long ago, those of us in the AV
integration community were relied upon
to deliver information to prospects and
buyers. We usually worked with two to
four people at a company, and we spent
most of our time first informing them and
then selling to them. The catalyst that
Commercial Integrator JANUARY 2023
changed all that was the internet and, as
a result, the sheer amount of information
at the buyer's disposal. Buyers are more
self-informed - note that I didn't say
" better informed " - than ever before,
and more people inside a company are
involved in buying decisions than used to
be. Research tells us the average number
of people involved in a buying decision is
now 12, and it sometimes can be as many
as 20 (or more!).
Buyers are confronted with information
overload. They're armed to the hilt with
readily available - but not necessarily
commercialintegrator.com
NICHOLAS FELIX/PEOPLEIMAGES.COM/STOCK.ADOBE.COM
http://www.commercialintegrator.com
Commercial Integrator January 2023

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Commercial Integrator January 2023
