Why Event Planners Are Switching AV Providers

The Shift to Outside AV Providers

Recently, many event planners have become dissatisfied with their AV providers, shifting toward alternative solutions that offer greater flexibility and value to the planner. Some AV providers burden planners with inflated pricing, outdated technology, and/or a lack of personalization, leading to frustration over a focus on profit rather than delivering high-quality experiences. As planners seek AV partners committed to consistency, reliability, and creativity, the demand for meaningful and engaging events has intensified. This blog will explore the reasons behind this shift, the challenges of traditional AV models, and how forming a symbiotic relationship with the right AV partner can elevate events and create unforgettable experiences for attendees.

The AV Trap: A Bottom-Line-Driven Approach

It’s a familiar story: many companies prioritize profit above all else, pursuing financial goals at the expense of customer experience. Unfortunately, this profit-driven mindset is prevalent across industries, including live events. Some AV providers often exemplify this approach, focusing more on maximizing revenue than delivering the unique, high-quality service that event planners and attendees deserve.

1. Inflated AV service prices that don’t align with the actual needs of planners’ events.
2. Providing older and low-quality technology.
3. Churning through the cheapest available, nearby labor and technicians that often don’t know your company or have much invested to ensure your event goes well.
4. Pushy upselling tactics for unnecessary services to boost margins.
5. Lack of flexibility or personalization due to standardization.

It should be noted that profit is the most important thing to a company trying to stay afloat and grow. The problem is, it’s starting to become obvious. Planners are getting frustrated because they are seeing a focus on maximizing revenue per event, often at the expense of delivering high-quality, tailored experiences. This profit-maximizing growth doesn’t have to come from cutting costs, using cheap labor, technology, etc. Businesses are now shifting their focus away from the shareholder and towards the customer to focus on long-term growth. 

“In order to increase customer profitability, organizations need to create a customer-culture that is incentivized to service the customer” (Koppy, Grant Thornton, 2022).

There are great AV production companies following this newer model and giving event planners what they deserve. But it’s important to realize why this is beneficial for event planners and AV companies to exist in this symbiotic relationship. At the end of the day, we are all serving the great and powerful “attendee”. Their desire for more tailored and experiential meetings and conferences is more palpable than ever. This is causing planners to turn to a more creative and attendee-focused live event production. AV production companies that copy/paste their bottom-line-driven template for events are causing planners to look elsewhere.

Why Event Planners Need Partners, Not Vendors

A vendor sells a service or product, but a partner collaborates for mutual success.

Planners are no longer just looking for a production company to execute, they want people invested in their event’s success. AV companies like Clarity are focused on symbiotic relationships where planners and AV production partners work together to create the best event possible; where trust and shared goals excel over profit. 

At this point, one might think a lot of this information is obvious, but not all planners are aware of their options when looking for an AV provider. After all, most event production companies can be incredibly convenient and can get the job done. But event planners don’t just “want the job to get done”. They are looking to create meaningful experiences for organizations and attendees. The AV production provider needs to step up to the plate and deliver on the experience, as well as provide any necessary equipment. This matters more now than ever. As we head into the future of live events, consistency, reliability, and creativity is going to be key.

Consistency:

Your events need to be a hit, no matter if it’s a one-day meeting or a multi-day/multi-city conference. This is where consistency from your AV provider needs to be shown. Consistency doesn’t just mean using the same equipment over and over. Consistency from an AV provider should be the level of quality brought to your events, time and time again.

Reliability:

Going hand-in-hand with consistency, AV production companies should be there for you, no matter what your events require. Each event should go off without a hitch and create less stress for event planners. If there are hiccups, planners should be able to rely on their AV partners to assess and adapt without skipping a beat.

Creativity:

Both engaging and impactful. Some businesses may experience less profitable years that require them to lower the budget for their events. Event planners should be able to lean on their AV partners to help scale their events, bringing great ideas to increase engagement without sacrificing budget. Meetings can be fun and educational while also being a center for B2B networking opportunities. AV providers like Clarity do this through constant innovation and ideation with the ultimate goal in mind: Making each event better than the previous.

Clarity Experiences: Your Trusted AV Partner

Now that we’ve discussed the importance of moving beyond a sole focus on profits, how can AV companies effectively implement a customer-centric model? A blog by Salesforce highlights that, “...customer-centricity is about making life as easy as possible for your customers. It’s important to remember it’s the customers’ perception of customer centricity that matters, not how you think you’re doing” (Salesforce, 2022). 

While we may seem partial as an independent AV production company, our goal is to educate planners so they can make informed decisions. When evaluating AV providers for your next event, we hope you feel confident using Clarity’s model as a reference to assess what provider is right for you. Great AV is more than cool equipment. It’s about having a team of experienced professionals who understand your message and believe in your vision. Great AV is going beyond what's expected, partnering with you to create unforgettable experiences. At the end of the day, you can go with whatever provider you want, but remember, great AV helps.

Work With Clarity Experiences

At Clarity Experiences, we're experts in designing and crafting exceptional live events that leave a lasting impact on both our clients and their attendees. As a full-service AV partner, we provide more than just technical support, we help event planners through every step of the planning process, from contract negotiations and agenda coordination to full-scale AV production. Our team of highly skilled technicians brings a wealth of expertise from various AV disciplines, seamlessly blending creativity with technical proficiency to elevate each event. If you’re ready to take your event to the next level, contact us to explore how we can help make your event unforgettable.

If the ideas presented here have sparked your interest in collaborating with us, feel free to reach out for a complimentary quote!

References:

Koppy, David. “How Customer Centricity Unlocks Profitable Growth.” Grant Thornton, 13 May 2022, www.grantthornton.com/insights/articles/advisory/2022/how-customer-centricity-unlocks-profitable-growth.

Salesforce. “Customer Centricity: What Is It and How to Achieve It?” Salesforce, 2 Nov. 2023, www.salesforce.com/eu/blog/customer-centricity-how-to-achieve/.