Okay, it’s 2012 folks. Let us be the last to wish you a Happy New Year! Gone are the old ways of 2011. It’s time to start fresh.
The new year is always a good time to review old practices and adapt new philosophies. We often here horror stories from clients, designers, and architects about AV companies not living up to standards. We have walked into many AV nightmares ourselves . Usually, we are there to help a homeowner trouble shoot a problem. Although we benefit from these bad integrators, we believe it hurts the custom AV industry. It puts a stigma surrounding low voltage systems, especially Crestron control systems.
Below are 10 New Years resolutions we have came up with – any good AV company stands by these resolutions 365 days out of the year 24 hours a day. For those AV integrators who don’t already have these philosophies in place. It’s a New Year, and a time for change.Feel free to read these out loud as many times needed to obtain good industry practices.
- Thou shall not make promises that are impossible to keep
- Thou shall honestly know or have the proper programmers in place to program their clients system
- Thou shall provide continued support to their clients, long after the install and final check is collected
- Thou shall only sell equipment their clients need
- Thou shall educate themselves and their installers on the latest technologies
- Thou shall cooperate with designers and other craftsman to come up with the best solutions for their clients, and not the easiest solutions for themselves.
- Thou shall show the client how to use their control system after install is complete. If there are problems, thou shall fix and reprogram until all bugs are worked out.
- Thou shall keep all wires nice and clean. Not the “spaghetti method”
- Thou shall label all wires properly
- Thou shall live up to the highest standards in ethics and craftsmanship
Key Takeaway: From the best to the worst custom AV companies, we can all raise the level of standards in 2012 and propel the industry forward.