Blogs

You’ve met with the client. You’ve demonstrated the system for them. You’ve gone over the quote line by line, but they’re still on the...

Months ago, I wrote in this space about not judging a customer by how they dress or what they drive. Last week, I...

Doing the right thing might not always be easy. And it might not always be the most profitable. But a large part of being...

There was a time that I looked for talent in my new employees without worrying about them having a good attitude. I believed...

There is a lot of competition between integrators, but there needs to be cooperation as well. Everyone needs a way to quickly scale up...

Turn on NPR’s Marketplace report any weekday afternoon, and you’ll find out the latest stock market reports and Dow Jones Industrial Average—but other...

When I go to a client’s house to do an estimate, I ask where their phone is at that moment. Eight out of 10...

When business is slow, you have bills to pay, and payroll to meet, it’s hard to turn down a job that you know isn’t...

But after enough client encounters where the same incorrect terminology is used over and over, I thought I would make all of your lives...

On a custom integration project, it is too easy to skip the last 10 percent of the job. The client is still happy enough....

Like many custom AV integrators, I work really hard and spend long days doing estimates, programming systems, and keeping my company’s financial...

When I come across a quote that I find especially meaningful or poignant in magazines or books that I’m reading, I write it down—or...

It’s easy to get caught up in the frustration of “the price match” or online shopper who’s attempting to pick your knowledgeable brain. To...

It happens in every industry, to everyone. It’s what killed Border’s and Circuit City. Price-shopping online. We’ve all felt the pain of a client...

The key to success in our business is referrals. Doing great work and providing top-notch customer service are the cost of entry, so in...

When you think about it, we work in a strange industry… an industry unlike any other. Often we encounter people that not only aren’t...

Recently I was attending a nonprofit meeting, where the discussion turned to the non-profit group’s outdated website and our desire to get it updated....

We all have relationships in our lives that really matter, and then there are other relationships that we treat as more transactional, such as...

Last week I sent out a tweet asking my fellow AVTweeps (#avtweeps), “Where Do Installers’ Come From?” I currently have 498 followers (@tech_chi). The...

One of the best ways to improve profitability is by reducing truck rolls. Lately, we’ve accomplished this by using technology such as IP-based power...

Cable boxes freeze. Phones crash. Computers need to be rebooted. Technology is not a perfect science. Sometimes, it is downright aggravating. It got me...

When a new client decides they are interested in your services, they place a phone call to your office and speak to your administrative...

Before Facebook, before Twitter, before LinkedIn, and even before MySpace, there was social networking. It involved making connections and then connections through those connections....

What’s your goal today? Is it to make money or just to stay busy? One of my biggest fears is to work, just to...

We’ve all been there—you get a call from a new prospect for a small job, or to help them troubleshoot something someone else installed....