I am certainly not attempting to be blasphemous with the title of this piece. If anything, I just want to add a little levity to the very serious task of getting a realistic budget when delving into a house of worship sound project. If you read my last piece (and I hope you have), I described my modus operandi for approaching worship sound. I'll give you the Reader's Digest version.
First, I talk with the musical director and the pastor, priest, rabbi, etc. Then I go to a service and listen. Next, I get into the sanctuary and crank up the existing system. After that, I simply offer my recommendations. Let me make a quick point here. I belong to a church and believe in a God. It is a fact that many churches believe that the money they collect from their members is God's money. Keep this in the back of your mind when you are making your pitch. It's also a good idea to visit some of your local houses of worship just to listen to the systems. Now that you are going to make a proposal, this is the point where all your diplomacy, salesmanship and communication skills really kick in. By now, you should know the needs and desires of the pastor, musical director and general staff with regards to the new system. Some churches only want to reach their congregation at the Sunday services. Others put on plays and musicals for the local community. And some of the houses of worship in my town (Los Angeles) have regular TV and radio broadcasts. If you don't know what the goals and needs are, you'd better find out. Very often, the senior pastor may have a different vision than the musical director. Just make sure you are in communication with all the decision makers and check writers at all times. Whatever the religious organization you are working with, there is always a hierarchy of command. You may only have to deal with one person, but don't count on it.
Unless otherwise instructed, I put together three bids for any church system or upgrade that I intend to install. The first bid represents the dream system for the particular house of worship. This bid encompasses my recommendations for the best possible sound and equipment I can put into the room. There are times when this is the proposal that is immediately accepted. An example of this would be a system going into the "money is no object" or "anything for God" church. If you are lucky enough to land that type of gig, amen to ya. However, it has been my personal experience that my dream system proposal usually carries a pretty big sticker shock with it. It's not that I am some kind of insane sound madman. It's just that great gear costs money, and installing that great gear can be expensive.
And that is the reason I present bid number two. In this proposal I will usually offer a less expensive mixer or cabinets, and maybe fewer mics and less outboard gear. If I could ballpark it for you, I try to present the second system at 25% to 30% less than the first. The labor is the same; I am just cutting costs with the gear. I prepare bid three at another 15% to 20% discount, but generally that bid only serves as a closer for bid number two. It is simply human nature to not want to be at the bottom, even if they can't afford to be at the top. Oh, by the way, I bid out some of my live sound shows in much the same way. When I am putting together a proposal for a show, I will offer my services for one particular price. If the client is knocked out by cost or wishes to haggle, I will offer system B and C for the event. I don't mean to digress away from my church writings, but clients of this sort usually buy the B (middle) system for the same abovementioned reason.
There is one other tool I use for closing an install deal, and that is inviting the client (pastor or staff member) to a nearby church that I have already worked on. I am mentioning this technique last because not all of you have a roster of clients that you can show off. Although, as soon as you get one install under your belt, you can use that as leverage for your next one.
At the same time you are perfecting your methods for proposing and closing a house of worship deal, you need to work on developing your relationships with various speaker and audio equipment manufacturers. I realize that this subject is very deep, and could be the subject of months of articles, but you've got to start somewhere. If you can get wholesale dealer prices, then you can add those retail mark-ups to your labor and technical fees. It's obvious that, if you are going to recommend and sell a certain manufacturer's goods, you want some cash as their sales person. Any one of us can become a dealer if we are willing to put out the cash and jump through enough hoops.
I personally work with three companies. I chose these companies because they make great sound gear, and I get a great price on their gear. You will inevitably recommend the same gear over and over again, so this is a great time to contact the companies that you already prefer. If you have difficulty becoming a dealer or getting those rock bottom dealer prices, go online. This would be the second-best way to get exceptional prices on the gear you want. I know I am just touching on this subject, but the fact of the matter is that you can make more money on the gear than on your fee for installing it. Another aspect of becoming a dealer for a particular company is that you can ultimately learn to maintain the gear that you install. This ability opens up the possibility for a maintenance relationship with the houses of worship you have put the system in, not to mention maintenance contracts and keeping the door open for any future upgrades. This is obviously another subject for another day.
The first thing is getting that install contract. So, go get it!
