AV Runs on Relationships
“I’d rather buy from you than ______.”
How many times have you seen that? I hope you’ve seen it a lot. The question is, why are they buying from you and not someone else?
It is because you have established a relationship over time that was built upon trust, open communication and reliability. They trust you to provide what they need and that what you propose is in their best interests.
I have often joked that AV doesn’t run on electricity – it runs on food and coffee (or energy drinks for the installers). Truthfully, it runs on relationships. Some new but most old. Something came up and they took care of you. What was supposed to happen, happened or they helped ease a difficult situation. It was something that went beyond the swag – it was that personal touch. A quick call or email after hours. Listening. Solving the problem and making it right.
Many years ago, I spec’d fourteen new model DSP boxes from a manufacturer that I already had a relationship with. I knew they typically ran late on new products like this and this was no exception. All fourteen boxes ended up being installed and wired in the racks on-site. A day later, I received a call at my desk from the programmer. “These boxes don’t do push-to-talk.” I had made an assumption on what I thought would be a normal feature for this application. I called my contact that I had known for a long time and he said, “Oh, those do push-to-mute. We never considered push-to-talk.” We had updated firmware two days later that included push-to-talk. You don’t forget that.
When your contact went to another firm, did your business follow them there? Probably, if they were still within the industry. The company that they work for is many times immaterial as compared to the person and you know there had to be a reason they moved on from that last company.
AV is a relationship business whether it be with manufacturers, distributors, rep firms or clients. The equipment itself is often secondary.
If somebody treated you like just another customer or took a job out from under you that you had been working on for months or a particular product let you down, you remember it. Forever. We have some very long memories in AV.
You can easily recount the bad but you also remember the good.
For example, I had to leave my car at the shop overnight when a fellow designer and I took a road trip to perform a site visit to a job in progress. We returned back to the shop late the next night in the rain to discover that my car had been broken into. The passenger side glass was broken and radio stolen but worse, they also took my kids’ Christmas presents that I had stashed in the trunk. The company that I worked for didn’t have to cover the presents that were stolen but they did. That was 20 years ago and I have never forgotten the kindness that the owner of that business showed me.
Further, how did you get your last job? Someone knew you and your reputation. We have all been through that.
InfoComm is right around the corner and there will be plenty of talk about products. Sure, take time to talk about the products but more importantly, spend some face-to-face time with the people behind those products. The gear is fun but it’s the relationships that matter.
I will be there this year and doing a one-hour Basic Acoustics for Meeting Rooms at 4:00pm Tuesday and a two-hour Basics of Power and Grounding at 10:00am Wednesday. My time there will be short but I will be endeavoring to catch up with as many of you as I am able. [See class details here.]
From there we were greeted with a personalized surprise – the huge Samsung video wall in the lobby had been customized to welcome the Exertis Almo team to the Experience Center!
Soundcraft mixer so that you could easily switch between the different models – a very enlightening experience for a mic nerd like myself!
But all of this was just an introduction to the main hall, where JBL loudspeakers, Crown amplifiers, BSS and dbx signal processors, AMX control and video products, and Martin lighting were on full display. Harman has put a lot of effort into this room, and they make it easy to demo, see, and A/B their installed product lineups. Tewks led us though the experience, explaining the differences between the various Crown amplifier series, discussing and demoing the multitude of JBL ceiling and wall-mounted loudspeakers and explaining fun stuff like speaker waveguides.
On the other wall, at a relatively safe distance, were JBL’s line array speakers flown from the ceiling. The SRX, VRX, and VTX-series line array speakers are JBL’s flagship offerings for large venues, and its not everyday you get to hear this level of performance in a private setting. The folks at Harman very cleverly configured the line array demo to start at the push of a big red button – our own Brent Dowler got to do the honors. After the button was pushed, the lights went down and the show started.
Here is a list of things that I don’t want to see or hear including my nicknames for each:
Fast forward, I joined the world of Pro AV distribution. My role as a Category Manager for 
While I had read AVIXA’s and Pearson’s (the testing center) details on what to expect, I was a bit verklempt when I first arrived at the testing facility. You may not wear a jacket inside nor a cap nor jewelry. In fact, I had to leave my wedding ring in a locker, along with my keys, phone etc. No hair ties or clips. Empty your pockets. Expect to roll up your sleeves and do your own pat down. Don’t get frazzled. This is standard practice. Do not take a calculator. One will be provided for you along with a dry erase marker and sheet. You need two forms of identification. ie, passport and driver’s license.
BDMs strengthen relationships with manufacturer partners on various levels. We provide regular reports and valuable information to manufacturers, ensuring they are well-informed about market trends, sales performance, and customer feedback. This collaboration helps in:
As BDMs, we bring immense value to resellers by serving as a bridge between manufacturers and Exertis Almo. This partnership helps resellers by:
“Work, Life, Presence” a saying that will always be close to my heart and a reminder to myself every day. I was sitting at the 
1. Creating a Flexible Schedule
