Ever heard the myth that says, “if the proposal is higher than your budget, look elsewhere.” Not true! A proposal is a list of products and services that a firm has determined is required to fulfill the needs of the request set before them.
Friday, September 20, 2019
Church Sound Files: Sound System Contract & Proposal Myths
Ever heard the myth that says, “if the proposal is higher than your budget, look elsewhere.” Not true! A proposal is a list of products and services that a firm has determined is required to fulfill the needs of the request set before them.
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3 comments:
“A proposal is often a starting point” What an excellent sentence not just for sound systems, but for everything in life. This article feels so common sense. Of course you should be as specific as possible, of course you should go through a proposal to see if everything is actually needed. Of course! But when it comes down to it, we are all guilty of waving our hands and going “I want a system that does _____” and the reason we don’t already have that system is because we don’t have the knowledge to make that system happen on our own. Or we do, but we don’t have any of the resources. Making sure you can detail and ask for exactly what you want will help this, but so will giving yourself plenty of calendar time to make it happen. Perhaps narrowing down where you’re going to send your RFP to, and then selecting who to go with not only on price, but also on their availability, flexibility, and willingness to work with you to come up with the right system should be factored in.
This article does a great job at revealing what it can be like when you are specialized in an industry that not many people outside of it really understand. I often find that people who go to see performances, concerts, and other live events don't fully grasp what goes into the final product. I don't blame them, of course, we shouldn't need an advanced medical degree before going to the doctor (that kinda defeats the purpose). When it comes to this type of consulting work, though, I think we can do a better job at preparing our customers to understand their needs. Again, in a same way a doctor asks you to fill out forms and asks leading questions that they then apply their expertise, we can do the same to those asking us for our services. This is beneficial for everyone, since it can help us accurately asses clients' needs and the client doesn't run into the problem of not knowing what to ask.
Having been through this process quite recently, this made for an interesting read. The church I grew up in has been plagued with acoustical problems since its construction 200 years ago. 150 years ago a false ceiling was constructed under the original as and attempt to fix the poor audio. Our sound system was in need of a makeover and the goal was to get a turnkey system that gets turned on and works. No level adjustments, so EQ. The idea of “turnkey” turned out to be a double edged sword and has caused a lot of headaches. Different headaches than if everyone had access to all the settings. Either way the balance between complete control and limited control is a difficult one to traverse. More setting means more people need to have knowledge of sound and the ability to troubleshoot any time it is used, however, if the operator only knows enough to turn the unit on and off and adjust levels, then throwing more at them is unfair (especially because they’re probably a volunteer.) More control means more can go wrong, but less control means that if something does go wrong it’s harder to fix.
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