How to deliver the ultimate cure for your customers

OK y’all, this is my first time as an Almo Blogger.  Or is it Bloggist?  Filipino by birth, East Tennessean by the grace of God, this Filbilly sometimes doesn’t rightly know what term to use.

However, I do know the difference between these two terms: Pro AV Pharmacist vs. Pro AV Physician.

I was at Walgreens one evening to stock up on a few vitamins, and I overheard a man ask the pharmacist if he could give him something for hiccups. The pharmacist promptly reached out and slapped the man’s face!

The man exclaimed, “What’d you do that for?”

“Well, you don’t have the hiccups anymore, do you?” said the pharmacist.

The man said, “No, but my wife out in the car still does!”

Questions are the answers.

To me, a pharmacist is someone who fills a prescription … someone who dispenses a medication or a fix. A Pro AV pharmacist would be a reseller whom, for example, when asked by his/her end user for a quote on a 5000 lumen WUXGA projector, simply provides the prices of a few projectors fitting that description.

A physician is someone who asks diagnostic questions to uncover every symptom/point of pain/challenge and provides the necessary treatment to remove the issue, address other situations which may affect the patient, and avoid future reoccurrences. Compare that to a Pro AV physician, a reseller whom, when asked by his/her end user for a quote on that 5000 lumen WUXGA projector, would ask questions such as:

  • What’s the application? How many hours per day will the projector be in use?
  • What type of lighting is in the room?
  • What kind of content is being presented?
  • Is there a projector screen already installed? What’s the gain on that screen?
  • What size is the screen? What’s the aspect ratio?
  • At what distance will the projector be installed?
  • What are you connecting?
  • How far away is your source?
  • What’s the budget?
  • How are you mounting the unit?
  • Who’s doing the installation?

When you ask the questions necessary to present a solution, you might find that the product your customer originally asked for doesn’t fit the project requirements.

Here’s a situation to keep in mind when your end user tells you that he/she wants a quote on a solution he/she saw online. One day, a reseller asked me for a quote on a TV by specific part number. I started by asking him, “What’s the application?”

He quickly dismissed my questioning by saying that the end user has a small budget and that’s what he asked for. I asked him again, “What’s the TV being used for?” He said it’s being used for surveillance. I said, “Surveillance, as in 24 hours a day?” He quickly realized that the TV he asked for wasn’t designed for 24/7 operation and thanked me for saving his petooty.  Remember, don’t just fill the prescription!

You can also be a hero when a customer asks for a quote on a consumer TV to be installed in a commercial setting.

After asking questions about the project requirements and—if you determine that the consumer TV will fit the commercial application in terms of brightness, hours of operation, and budget—educate him/her by saying, “The 1-year manufacturer’s warranty reduces to 90 days when the TV is for commercial use. Do you want to upgrade your service coverage to a 2-, 3-, 4- or 5-year extended warranty?” Asking the right questions and educating your customer on consumer warranties could avoid a costly situation if the displays were to go funky after 90 days.

Almo Services: your partner to deliver the full package.

It’s absolutely critical to ask a lot of questions so you can provide a total solution. Always add the mounts and extended warranties (when it applies) onto the quote.  Ask what other essentials are needed—cables, signal flow, control systems, audio. Ask who’s installing the job. (If you’re not able to provide that service, let Almo Install be an arm to your team!) Ask who’s creating the content on the digital signage project. (Not your area of expertise? Almo Content will do it for you!)  Ask who’s programming the control systems. (You don’t have a programmer to do it? Almo Control is your resource!) Ask about their current phone, internet and TV service. (You can earn a monthly revenue stream as a provider through Almo Connect!) If you’re not familiar with these accompanying products and services to complete the project, your Almo account manager can help you!

Learn the latest for FREE!

Whether you’re already calling yourself Doctor AV, or if you’re still developing your expertise in the Pro AV space and want to become a better Pro AV physician, attend one of our FREE 2018 E4 Pro AV Tour stops to learn about the hottest technology and trends:

  • Washington, DC – March 6
  • Dallas – April 24
  • Boston – September 21
  • Nashville – October 26

Stethoscope and lab coat not required.

This Guy’s Top Five Products from the Almo E4 Fall Shows

Each Spring and Fall Almo’s E4 Tour swings through two major cities and brings along with it an entire day’s worth of CTS accredited educational courses and gets roughly 40 of the top manufacturers in the professional audio video industry all in one room showcasing their newest product offerings.

As a technology professional and a self-proclaimed “AV Geek” these events are always exciting to me as I am often one of the first people to see new and emerging technology.  Sometimes it’s electronics, or perhaps software, or even bent metal making the installation of said technology easier and more efficient.   There were a handful of stand-out products that were featured at our Fall shows this year that are worth checking out.


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 ATEN VM3909H – 9×9 HDMI HDBaseT-Lite Matrix Switch: Remember way back when where the number of hot dogs in a package did not always match the number of buns in a package?  I realize it is a silly reference, but try doing a 3×3 video wall with an 8×8 matrix switch.   The folks at ATEN were mindful of this when they introduced this 9×9 HDMI matrix switch earlier this year.  An addition to the 9 HDMI outputs it has 9 HDBaseT Lite outputs allowing the switch to be located up to 70m away from the video wall using the appropriate HDBaseT receivers.   A simple front panel control and GUI interface to create simple video wall layouts round out the feature set of this Red Dot Award winning product.

_MG_00202.) Chief SYS Projector Mount System Series: The engineers at Chief really did their homework on this one keeping the installer in mind with features not found in other mounting systems.   This system not only saves time on the install but is aesthetically pleasing.  Installers will love the fact that the mount and column come pre-assembled and even the box is designed so that the parts needed first are packaged on top.   Micro adjustments for perfect alignment can be made without any tools and the 0”-12” adjustable column has separate cable management channels for both high and low voltage cabling.

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3.) tvONE ONErack – Universal Rack Mounting System for Small Devices: While small devices such as HDBaseT transmitters, format converters, small audio products and more are convenient because of their size they can quickly make a mess of your equipment rack since in many cases they are not specifically designed to be mounted or secured into a traditional 19” rack space.   Not only that, but they also generally have large wall-wart type power supplies which can clutter power distribution units within the rack.   Available in 4RU, 5RU, and 6RU chassis models, this system converts randomly sized small AV devices into slide-in modules while consolidating power for all devices within the system.   An optional active cooling system is available for situations where you are populating a large number of devices.

_MG_00434.) Atlona AT-UHD-HDVS-300-KIT – Soft Codec Conferencing System: As more and more companies adopt PC-based conferencing codecs like Skype, WebEx, & GoToMeeting in place of traditional hardware based codecs for smaller conference rooms and huddle spaces the need for external USB microphones and cameras has increased with the desire for quality meetings.   In order to accomplish this typical systems require AV extenders, USB extenders, USB hubs, multiple remotes, plus all of the required cables.   Atlona’s system accomplishes this with just two devices and a single category cable.   This unit also is a 4 input auto sensing AV switcher and provides automatic display control via CEC, IP, and RS-232 allowing users to start meetings quickly and easily.

_MG_00345.) Almo CONTROL – Control System & DSP Programming Services: Almo got into offering services two years ago with the introduction of digital signage content creation and since then have added services for installation as well as telecom services.   Almo CONTROL is the most recent introduction and was launched at the E4 Fall tour this year.   With Almo CONTROL integrators can potentially take on more projects with access to additional programming resources, or where they have expertise in one system but need resources for another.   Our programmers have been providing outstanding control system programming and system commissioning support services since the year 2000.

With all of the changes in our industry and constantly evolving technology I look forward to see what lies ahead in 2017.

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