“Why do so many vendors struggle to sell solutions that absolutely fit the need of churches?” That’s a question asked by Anthony Coppedge in a recent piece for rAVe Publications entitled “Create Agreement When Selling to Churches.”
Houses of worship have special AV needs and their own set of problems to overcome, especially when it comes to the use of projection technology. So instead of coming in to sell products using a features and benefits technique, it’s important to listen to what the potential clients are saying. And, when they aren’t sure what exactly they need, help them understand and find a solution.
Here are a few things to remember about selling projection screens and related technology to houses of worship:
Ambient light
Many worship spaces are full of light, either from large, unshaded windows or from uncontrolled artificial lighting. It’s important to determine the amount of ambient light hitting the screen and the direction it is coming from. Rear projection is often the best solution for dealing with such spaces, but several ambient light-rejecting front projection surfaces are available.
Viewing angles
Another consideration is how far off-axis from the screen worshippers will be sitting. You want people on the outer aisle to see as well as people in the center. There are viewing surfaces that have viewing angles out to almost 90 degrees. These are usually diffusive surfaces such as matt white or grey. Ambient light-rejecting surfaces typically have narrower viewing cones. Taking viewing angles into consideration may require a greater number of screens in the space.
Farthest viewer
How far away from the screen are worshippers? A screen needs to be large enough that those in the back can read and comprehend information as well as those in front. Depending on the size of the worship space, this may mean more than one screen is required.
Available space
Rear projection is ideal for worship spaces because the projector is hidden away in a dark room behind the screen. Advantages like ambient light performance, and viewing angles are offset by one main disadvantage: the space required behind the screen for the projection room. The facility needs to have that extra space, and those responsible must be willing to give up that space.
In his article, Coppedge asks if manufacturers and integrators might perhaps double their sales to churches by moving to a needs-and- solutions paradigm. While we have no idea about that, doing so would at least guarantee that the best solution for the application is used. That means a better AV experience, and a returning customer.
Click here to read Coppedge’s full article.
For more information on choosing the right projection screen surface for a worship facility, click here for our free white paper on the subject. (http://www.draperinc.com/DocumentDownload.aspx?path=images/Catalogs/WhitePapers&file=HoW_Screens_1114_wp.pdf)
