I want to share some of my ideas about bidding (and getting the contract) on a worship sound system. I realize that many of you don't do installs or bid on installations. However, at some point, every house of worship will need new gear and, possibly, an entire makeover. So it is very likely that you may be asked for your recommendations on what piece of gear or entire system will serve your house's needs best.
The obvious first thing you should be doing is reading about the latest and greatest gear that is available and what it cost and how well it performs. That would probably be one of the reasons you read FRONT of HOUSE magazine. Nothing like being armed with buckets of information when you are talking with your musical director, Pastor, Priest or Rabbi. As for me, most of my install work is by word of mouth – although some of my live sound mixing work turns into an installation gig. How you arrive at your installation assignment is up to you.
Does It Sound Good?
I always visit the worship house I am prospecting and listen to a service. Next, I like to get into the sanctuary and crank up the existing system and just listen again. After that, I simply offer my recommendations. Now, I have a small array of testing equipment, but in reality, my trained ears (and your trained ears) can identify whether a sound system is good or not. When you think or say "that sounds good," it usually does. I don't want to over simplify this aspect of evaluating a sound system, but I try to put myself in the place of the congregation. And I can confidently say that almost every person at any house of worship wants the worship music to sound good, at a reasonable volume, and they want to hear the message clearly. These simple realities put us all on the same page. All we have to figure out now is how much money can be spent to achieve our common goals.
God's Money
It is a fact that many worship houses consider the money they collect from their members as God's money, and it can be serious business spending His money. It is a good idea to keep this in mind when you are making your pitch.
Before you present a proposal to the powers that be, attempt to get a ballpark number of how much money the house wants to spend. The fact of the matter is that if you have used your diplomacy, salesmanship and communication skills properly, by the time you get to the numbers you will already have the deal. At this point, you will know the needs and desires of the Pastor, musical director and staff in general with regards to the new sound system. Some churches only want to reach their congregation at the Sunday and Wednesday services, while others put on events for the local community. And of course there are those houses of worship that have regular TV and radio broadcasts. If you don't know by now what the goals and needs of your potential client are, you better find out. It is not uncommon for the senior Pastor to have a different vision than the musical director. Just make sure you are communicating with all the decision makers and check writers all (or most) of the time. 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.
Three Bids
Unless my client has other plans, I will offer three bids for any church system or upgrade that I intend to install. My first bid incorporates everything and anything a particular house of worship wants. You know, their dream system. This bid includes my recommendations for the best possible sound and equipment I can put into the worship room. Many times this is the proposal that is immediately accepted. If you are lucky enough to land that type of gig, Amen to ya. That said, it has been my experience that the dream system usually carries a pretty big price with it. Remind your client that great gear costs money, and installing that great gear can be expensive.
And that is the reason I present my second bid. In this proposal, I will offer a new sound system or upgrade that is 25 to 30 percent less than the first bid. The labor is the same, I am just cutting costs with the gear. Lastly, I prepare a third bid that is 10 to 20 percent less than bid number two. This bid usually 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. Using that same mindset, I bid out some of my live sound shows in much the same way.
If I am having any difficulty closing a worship house on an install, I will invite the Pastor, music director or staff member to a nearby church that I have already worked on.
I realize you have to get your first install in order to show off your work to others. Once you have completed your install, don't forget the possibility for a maintenance relationship with the houses of worship you have worked on, 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. Good luck!
