Commercial Integrator March 2021 - 33

Looking Inward
" Historically we are word of mouth only, "
says Grace. " We didn't market or advertise.
We didn't reach out. We did our own website
and didn't touch it very often. Ninety
percent of our work comes from a handful
of Fortune 500 companies we've been
working with forever.
" We're in a pretty good spot that way,
and it's great to have a company this long
that is referral based only. But the pandemic
was a pinch point. It stressed everything
financially and in the future we weren't sure
what to do, " he says.
" What we did almost immediately was
start a process of introspection, " says Grace.
AVH decided to pick out seven key clients
that spanned architects, Fortune 500,
and project management firms. They came
up with a twenty-question primer and had
an independent third-party interview each
of these clients based on the questions AVH
wanted answers to.
In addition, they sent a survey to anyone
they had ever done business with asking
how they could be better. They received
150 responses. After taking all of the information
they refined their model based on
that feedback.
" One of the key takeaways was that the
Helpdesk nomenclature was a problem, "
says Grace. " When people would refer us
to clients, they'd ask why they need a help
desk. They're in the initial phases of building
the space so they don't need a help
desk at that point. It was confusing.
" We felt our relationships with our clients
was more of a partnership long-term, so
we changed our name to AVH Technology
Partners, " he says.
Another important result coming out
of the survey was the company's lack of
touchpoints with long term clients. When a
project was finished, AVH wasn't reaching
out to clients throughout the year to learn
what other pain points they might have.
Clients wanted to hear from them.
" That came from several of the interviews
and a number of the surveys. It was
enlightening, " says Grace. " You have to
be proactive. You have to have a customer
relationship management database.
" You have to search for new clients, and
you have to massage your old clients. That
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MARCH 2021 Commercial Integrator 33
was a big learning point for us, " he says.
The silver lining for AVH during the
pandemic was that time to be introspective,
and their clients' time to answer their
inquiries. " It was an opportunity to refine
our message, refresh our website, rebrand,
and do all of that when we normally don't
have the time. "
Weathering the Storm
Come July, AVH began to see projects free
up. " They wanted the designs done by the
end of the year, which is the bulk of our
work, " says Grace. " At that time there was
some reprieve. "
What AVH found was that smaller clients
believed that they might move to a majority
work from home model. Larger clients that
had been around for decades considered
the pandemic a short-term problem that
wouldn't vastly alter the way they operated.
Work began to free up with those larger
clients, and that work often included an
additional investment with in-office conferencing
and collaboration equipment.
" The bigger companies seemed to make
much more defined decisions, " says Grace.
" Smaller companies have been all over the
place. It was interesting to watch that. "
In addition, those bigger companies had a
vested interest in helping AVH stay afloat, as
they had a long working relationship. When
AVH came calling to inquire about how they
could improve as partners, those legacy
clients found ways to help where they could.
" They found money and found projects
to give to us to help us along, " says Grace.
" Toward the end of the year whole new
building projects were coming up for us,
where the clients were going all out.
" We're building huge conference rooms
and amphitheaters when we were worried
if that would even be in people's planning.
They've made the decision: they will be
back to normal at some point, " he says.
" There is a value to having people collaborating
in person, together, " says Grace.
" It was interesting to see that the plans
included big, divisible meeting spaces,
auditoriums, boardrooms and the traditional
spaces we've always done. "
November ended up being AVH Technology
Partner's largest closing month ever.
Thanks to a combination of government
assistance and introspection, they were
able to weather the storm of the pandemic.
With a newly developed website, a rebranded
name, and, most importantly, new
understanding of what their clients need
from them, AVH looks ahead with cautious
optimism to 2021.
AVH Technology Partners serve as a great
example of what can be accomplished
- and what can be overcome - when
integration firms look inwardly to improve
their processes and refine their business.
The pandemic gave this company the
time to do so, but certainly other firms
would benefit from carving out the time to
look at their own organizations. CI
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Commercial Integrator March 2021

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