Bids?

John Chiara

John Chiara

Senior
Jan 11, 2011
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Troy, NY
Been having some interesting discussions recently with a bunch of local 'event planners' who had complained about the quality of their current providers so want to put all shows out to bid. My comment to them has been this...
"if you have no one on staff that can evaluate the quality of the equipment and services being offered, the only thing the bid guarantees is the lowest price." since I have given up on getting ANY of this work I am attempting to sell my services as a consultant to at least stop the bleeding and properly word the bid applications so some accountability can be built in. Any advise on approaching this position?
Thanks
 
Re: Bids?

I'm not sure there is anything you can do as an outsider to the situation. From what I have seen the powers that be in most municipalities do not put a priority on the same things we do as sound providers. Image is everything in most cases, reputation and perceptions can go a long way to cement your company in the minds of your clients and potential clients. You must make the process of hiring you simple for them. Having a billing system that is conducive to their way of doing things is a prerequisite as well. Make yourself attractive to them by researching their needs and wants and then fill that role. If all else fails it never hurts to be best friends with someone in local government.
 
Re: Bids?

I don't have much advice, but like the idea. I'm bidding against the following spec for a 4 day event this spring:

(4) EV 15” double folded horn subs - 2 per side
(2) EV Mid-bass
(2) EV HF horns
Soundcraft Delta 24x6 FOH console
FOH Rack 1
(3) Krell KSA250
(4) EV P3000

How do you compete with that? How do you tell a buyer without any audio knowledge that this is junk? That not using a crossover to your subs but instead putting all the filters above 100 on a graph to -15 is bad? This is the exact same system this company was using 20 years ago when I briefly worked for them.

I guess you should try to look at what it takes to do the gig and see if you can come up with a tight set of limitations. If you actually know what gear the companies in the area have, it shouldn't be too hard to come up with things weed out the stuff you don't want to see.

What is it that you don't want to see show up?
 
Re: Bids?

It is virtually impossible to tell someone what something is worth. There either has to be a lot of trust, or personal experience; usually derived from previous failures.

One of two things will happen:

1. They will go with the lowest bidder and the event will be a failure at least at some level, resulting in some education, and hopefully a change in the future
2. They will go with the lowest bidder with the 20 year old equipment, and it will be fine.

In the short run, everybody loses in scenario 1. The upside is that a few folks who are likely to go on to plan future events will have a data point about what is required to get the job done.

Scenario 2 is in a way more interesting. What if they're happy? Generally speaking, folks aren't good at appreciating good audio (or lighting, production, musical talent, etc.) If the event truly can be done with less, then at least we've established the proper, though low, level of production required. There's no winning against the free market - either find new clients, or find a way to do it for less.
 
Re: Bids?

When we are dealing with ticket sales and the expectations of the audience that come with it, it's easier to make a case for good production quality. For the civic events I am dealing with currently, there are no ticket sales, so no one really can complain except for the local bands that can't hear themselves in the monitors. If the same couple of companies have been doing the bulk of the local events for over 20 years, and the results (and gear) have been about the same for those 20 years, it's hard to fight. It's an uphill battle to tell someone that things have come a long way in 20 years. You have to show them.

The (hopefully) clever solution I have come up with is to use my wife's local business as part of my bidding process. These events need sponsors. I have said that instead of payment, I will do sound and her business will be a sponsor. That way I'm not giving anything away, but get the opportunity to show them how far we've come in 20 years. If they don't want to pay next time, then fine. My wife still got the exposure that was part of her marketing strategy anyway.
 
Re: Bids?

Jason Raboin said:
The (hopefully) clever solution I have come up with is to use my wife's local business as part of my bidding process. These events need sponsors. I have said that instead of payment, I will do sound and her business will be a sponsor. That way I'm not giving anything away, but get the opportunity to show them how far we've come in 20 years. If they don't want to pay next time, then fine. My wife still got the exposure that was part of her marketing strategy anyway.
Click to expand...

That can work well, just make sure that everything is clearly spelled out on paper. if not it can go one of two ways:
1: they expect you to do it for the same price next year, forgetting all about the sponsorship offset
2: they forget all about your deal and after you've done the event for free they hound your wife for her sponsorship $$

I've had #2 happen to me in an install situation where they wanted something added on so we did it in exchange for some marketing at the grand opening. every year for 3 years they would be doing their year-end and notice that we hadn't paid for that advertising and call us up for payment. and every year I had to explain it to them and forward them to the person who we made the deal with. Fortunately he was honest about it every year...

Jason
 
Re: Bids?

Ernest Graham said:
I'm not sure there is anything you can do as an outsider to the situation. From what I have seen the powers that be in most municipalities do not put a priority on the same things we do as sound providers. Image is everything in most cases, reputation and perceptions can go a long way to cement your company in the minds of your clients and potential clients. You must make the process of hiring you simple for them. Having a billing system that is conducive to their way of doing things is a prerequisite as well. Make yourself attractive to them by researching their needs and wants and then fill that role. If all else fails it never hurts to be best friends with someone in local government.
Click to expand...

Actually an old friend was just elected President of the City Counsel. That's my first stop.
 
Re: Bids?

John Chiara said:
Actually an old friend was just elected President of the City Counsel. That's my first stop.
Click to expand...

One thing my grandfather told me: If you want to lose a friend, go into business with them.

He also said: Nobody is completely worthless. They can at least serve as a bad example.
 
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