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In House VS Outside AV Provider
What an terrible situation to be in – you are trying to organize a conference, a trade show or a concert and the venue pushes you to use their in-house audio visual supplier? Have you ever wondered why venues push in-house providers? Why they discredit outside suppliers? In some cases, sales reps say that their in-house company’s service is far superior. Others will claim that they know the venue inside and out. They’ll also say that they are better equipped to handle anything that might “pop up”. The reality is, that’s just fearmongering. These are not the “real” motives.
The main reason is financial kickbacks. To secure a contract with the venue, companies have to pay significant commissions. As a result, the audio visual rates are marked up. These costs are then passed on to the client. As a result, after paying the hotel or banquet hall for their space, you are paying them again, without really knowing it. Of course we understand the convenience of booking in house. It saves time and effort; however, here are some other facts that one should know before going for the easy option:
CONs OF IN-HOUSE VENDORS
Extra prices and hidden charges
In house vendors are obligated to provide commission payment to the venue, which can be as high as 60%. To preserve profit margins, these AV companies will pass the costs down to you. In most scenarios, the client will be stuck paying twice as much for the same equipment they would receive with an outside vendor. This drives prices way up and sometimes even makes events unaffordable.
However, having Pure AV as your audio, video, lighting & staging provider means you are charged fairly for the equipment and for our technical services.
Limited creative design ideas and basic technology
Sales reps often make arguments in favour of in house gear to guarantee “top quality” performance. The truth is, the installed equipment is rather simple and usually outdated. Also, in house providers often stick to the “simple” AV options that they have executed on multiple occasions. Going outside of the norm takes them out of their comfort zone, which is not something they like to do!
Alternatively, Pure AV has a range of creative ideas to set up all types of event spaces. We also have access to the latest and greatest technology, including: LED/LCD Video Walls, Projection Mapping, Lighting Designs and Audio Rentals. Thus our team, can cope with any event at any venue, big or small, inside or out, corporate or private. Turn to Pure AV and feel SECURE!
Minimal or no experience at different venues
The in house vendors may have decent knowledge of the space they regularly work in. Sales reps at the venue will be sure to remind you of this. But reality is that is not a significant pain point for Pure AV or our customers. As an audio visual production company with 500+ events a year, at different venues, we know how to conduct proper site checks and take everything into consideration.
A site visit can teach us just about everything we need to know about the venue we’re going into. Above all else, having worked at different venues has made Pure AV more flexible and experienced. With Pure AV you will receive the same great services, regardless of the space.
PRO’s OF BOOKING PURE AV
Provide Consistency
The relationship between your audio visual provider, a production company and the client/planner, is probably one of the more important ones at any event. As you move from venue to venue, a new project manager will be assigned to oversee your function. This means that every single time you would need to explain the nature of your event and how you want to see it run.
Having Pure AV as your provider will let us carry out every detail, at any venue, with consistency. You will be assigned a single Project Manager that you will work with on a regular basis.
Commitment and dedication to each event
If you book the preferred in house AV provider, these is a good chance they will not give 100% attention to your event. This is because larger venues often have multiple events taking place at a single time. So, as a client or event planner, if you’re not taking over the entire property, you may get lost in the shuffle. When you have an issue or a question, the techs may not be there to resolve them. You call them and they tell you they’ll get to you as soon as they’re done with the other issue they’re working on.
We hear all the time of customers that say that if they’ve ever used in-house, the conference audio visual company was nowhere to be found when they had a problem – so they had to go hunt them down. By bringing in Pure AV, you can be sure that everyone on our team is fully dedicated for your function and your function only!
Focus on building Long term relationship
With the in house AV provider there term of work is only limited to the particular event. If you are putting on an event that builds and grows year after year, and if you have an audience that you’re trying to attract year after year, you don’t want to have to reinvent the wheel for every function. Last thing you want to worry about is this: new event = new audio visual team. With in-house companies, you’re going to have a different team every time, even if the function is at the same venue, just one year later.
With Pure AV, there is intent on building a long term relationship. When you work with us, you get the advantage of a consistent team that will work and travel with you. There’s a lot of added value in that. It is not only about the event but about the client and their needs for many events to come.
Negotiating with Venue
If you’re in the negotiation phase, knowledge is power. Knowing that the in-house company is a third party provider, you realize where the revenue structure for the hotel comes from. So when an event organizer or planner wants to book a space, what the venue really cares about is the room rental as well as the food and beverage revenue. That is where they make their money. AV revenue for them is kind of an incidental. It’s an add-on.
At the end of the day, the venue wants to sell you on the AV, but if there is even a little push back, it’s something that often waive. And if they do fight you on it at all, we always suggest to “just push a little harder”. They are not going to hold to their guns and lose room bookings with food and beverage over a few dollars they might make on their AV commission. Even after the outside vendor buyout fee, Pure AV usually comes in cheaper than the in house company.
Booking Pure AV vs In House Company
If you can join up with a company and build that long term relationship with them, we believe you’re going to see an ROI that is virtually immeasurable. Every client will see massive growth in terms of the success and event execution quality. Above all, at Pure AV are big proponents of long term partnership value. We hope to start building it with YOU during the next upcoming event. For additional information, fill out the contact form below or email us at [email protected] or call 1-800-929-7089. Afterwards, slide over to Pure AV social handles to see some of our previous work – Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and YouTube. We look ahead to working with you and providing the perfect audio visual installation.