By Mike White, CTS, DSCE, DSDE
Seasoned by 40 years in the AV Industry, 25 years owning and running a AV Integration Company, 3 years as an AV Consultant to AV Integrators, the choices your engineering team makes or breaks your company.
Engineers with AV Integration companies embrace new projects daily, reviewing and often rewriting the scope of work, seeking out the best AV/IT components to provide an integrated solution that his or her company can confidently install and support long-term. Complexity and Risk increase every choice an engineer makes. A true integrator evaluates many options and chooses what he or she believes will be the best solution and then blends those choices with budgetary considerations.
So given the significance of the engineering team decisions, what are some of the learned lessons, that I as both an engineer and business owner can provide today’s AV/IT Integrator.
Here are 3 learned lessons that will determine success and profitability.
Ask Questions
Even the tough ones. Profitability depends on understanding fully what is being asked of the customer. The challenge has the right questions been asked. Has the customer provided insight to all of the potential challenges – like network and security considerations that may impact success. It is the responsibility of the engineer to ask all the questions, including the tough ones, that may bring stress into the exchange of information. The goal is a tight, well written scope of work that the customer signs and commits. Scope creep is the number one reason projects prove painful and non-profitable.
Engineering Choices
As an engineer, you must seek out components that somehow must all work together to provide the solution defined in the scope of work. That is why they call this business integration. Not a simple task. However, I will lend to you my number one insight. Minimize the number of Manufacturers in your solution. Stated in a more direct way, if you can find a Manufacturer that can provide you an end-to-end proven solution, you will minimize finger pointing and frustration throughout the installation and support of the end user. Recently, I was asked by a Taiwanese company, BXB, bxbsystem.com to help them enter the US Market. The first question I asked, what value proposition does BXB bring to the integrator. Response, we provide an end-to-end integrated solution for medium to large smart meeting rooms, proven by 30 years of experience to work smoothly together and engineering support from pre-sales to long term use. There are certainly many great providers in this vertical, but few provide every component under one Manufacturing Name.
Execution
You can provide the best design with all the drawings and a tight signed scope of work and if your installation team does not execute, it will become a nightmare. It is difficult to find AV techs, most are organically grown within the company, regardless of experience, their work has to be executed in a timely professional manner that aligns with the design. My strongest suggestion, make no assumptions. An experienced project manager must be hands on for every project, making sure that indeed the design is being followed. Great care must be taken on every project, big or small to ensure that customer will recommend you organization again or engage your company in future projects. Profitable integrators who deliver professionally have customers that return for future projects because they are trusted, not the cheapest.
I hope that your company will experience greater success and profitability by focusing on the 3 lessons learned. I welcome any feedback or questions.
- Mail To: mike@av-maven.com
- Toll Free: +888-608-0587 ext 1
BXB Electronics – Breaking Communication Barriers, Leading the Future with Innovative Technology
Committed to the mission of “Using Tech to Break Barriers.” BXB Electronics excels in providing cutting-edge Audio-Visual IoT integrated solutions for “Smart Offices” and “Smart Classrooms.” These solutions enhance communication and learning efficiency, and BXB’s innovation and design excellence have been recognized with prestigious industry awards, including the German iF Design Award and Japan’s Good Design Award. As an internationally renowned BXB brand, BXB Electronics markets its products in over 50 countries and leads the domestic market in conference systems, campus broadcasting systems, and public broadcasting systems. Trusted by a wide range of clients from publicly listed companies to government agencies and over 400 schools, BXB products are a top choice globally. Established in 1991, BXB Electronics strives to achieve its vision of “Harmonizing the World,” continually pursuing excellence and sustainable development. Our product line includes video conferencing systems, IP multimedia distribution systems, broadcasting systems, and IP live streaming solutions, extensively used in educational institutions, corporate sectors, and government agencies. We provide comprehensive solutions including Smart Meeting Rooms, conference room planning, Smart Classrooms, future classroom configurations, and optimized audiovisual classroom setups.
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