Why does it make sense to pay for an AV project when everyone offers it for free?

What is the difference between a free design and a paid AV project?

In practice, the term “AV project” is used for two very different things. Under the same name, it can refer either to a two-page technical proposal with a price quote prepared by a supplier in about an hour, or to a 40-page technical document with CAD drawings, electrical schematics, and a complete bill of quantities.

When a supplier offers a design for free, it is a standard sales practice. The cost of pre-sales work is included in the company’s overall margin. There is nothing wrong with that, but it is important to understand that the output created in this way serves a different purpose than independent project documentation.

Why is a “free design” actually a pre-sales tool for the supplier?

No company can operate long-term without being paid for its work. When a supplier prepares a design without charging a fee, that time and effort still has to be covered somewhere. In practice, this happens in two ways.

The first is that it is included in the margin of the final project. A customer who signs the contract does not only pay for their own project, but also indirectly covers part of the work done for other clients who eventually chose a different supplier. In the AV industry, the success rate of pre-sales proposals is typically around 20-30%. This means that the price paid by the winning customer also includes the effort spent on three to four unsuccessful offers.

The second is that the supplier reduces the effort invested in the design to limit risk. Instead of 30 hours of senior engineering work, they may spend 4 hours of junior-level work using a standard template. As a result, the output lacks the depth of a real technical design. It is essentially just a quotation with a high-level description.

What this means for the customer:

• The price of the solution includes work done for other (unsuccessful) proposals
• The depth of the design is limited by the supplier’s risk exposure
• The supplier has a natural incentive to propose solutions they prefer and are comfortable delivering
• The criteria in the proposal reflect the supplier’s strengths, not necessarily the customer’s needs

This is not a criticism of suppliers, but simply economic logic that applies in any industry where pre-sales work is done for free-from lawyers to construction companies.

A free design is a supplier’s pre-sales tool.

How many hours of work go into a high-quality AV project?

A high-quality AV project for a standard meeting room or conference space typically requires 20 to 40 hours of senior-level engineering work. For more complex environments (control rooms, training centers, multi-room systems), this can increase to 60 to 120 hours.

What this time consists of:

• Initial analysis – understanding use cases, future company plans, and technical constraints of the space
• Site survey and measurements – acoustics, lighting, existing cabling, and conflicts with other building systems
• Concept design – system architecture, control strategy, integration with IT infrastructure
• Technical selection – comparing products, verifying compatibility, checking market availability
• CAD drawings – floor plans in PDF/DWG and coordination drawings with architectural design
• Electrical schematics – exact placement of outlets, circuits, and cable routes
• Cabling specification – types, lengths, routing, and spatial requirements
• Bill of materials (BOM) – precise product list, including approved equivalents
• Client coordination – reviews, revisions, and final approval process

When the price of a project is, for example, €5,000, it typically corresponds to roughly 30-40 hours of senior engineering work. This is a natural cost for technical documentation of this scope and is comparable, for instance, to an architectural fee for a small building design.

For comparison:

When the same scope is delivered “for free” as part of a pre-sales process, it is typically done in 4 to 8 hours. The remainder is either not done or is completed only at a very superficial level.

Who owns the output and why does it matter?

In practice, ownership of the deliverable is one of the most underestimated aspects of the entire decision-making process – yet it has major consequences.

When a supplier prepares a design as part of the pre-sales phase, that design remains their intellectual property. The customer can use it to make a “yes/no” decision, but cannot simply forward it to another supplier with a request like “please quote this exact solution.” It is typically not sufficiently detailed for that purpose, and in many cases the original supplier does not permit such use.

A paid project works differently. It is technical documentation that becomes the property of the client, in the same way an architectural design of a house belongs to the investor, not the architect.

The client can:

• Send it out to any number of integrators for pricing
• Attach it to a formal tender as a technical specification
• Use it for future expansion, even in five years
• Hand it over to a new facility manager during staff changes
• Use it as a basis for service contracts or preventive maintenance
• Include it in the sale or lease documentation of the building

The difference in value is fundamental. A free design is a disposable tool for a single purchasing decision. A paid project is a long-term asset of the company.

How does a paid AV project change the tender process?

This is the strongest practical argument. When a client invites three suppliers and asks them to “come for a site visit and propose the best solution,” they receive three different designs that cannot be directly compared. Each supplier proposes a different scope, different products, and a different approach. The only thing that can be compared is the total price – and when the scope differs, that is not a fair comparison.

In such a tender process, the best salesperson wins, not necessarily the best implementer.

Without a project vs with a project

This is why in construction, no serious tender for building a house is launched without a project. In the AV industry, this is still less common, but the logic is the same. Without a unified specification, the entire tender process loses its meaning.

When does a paid AV project not pay off for the customer?

A paid AV project is not a universal solution. There are situations where a free supplier design is sufficient, and paying for a full project would unnecessarily increase the cost of a simple case.

When a paid project does not make sense:

• Small installations under €20,000 where the scope is straightforward (e.g. adding a single display and camera to an existing meeting room)
• Situations where the client has a long-term, trusted supplier and does not plan a competitive tender
• Projects with a completely standard scope where design variability is minimal
• Fast-track implementations that must be deployed within days, leaving no time for a design phase

When a paid project is most likely to pay off:

• Installations above €50,000, where even a 1% saving covers the cost of the project
• Complex multi-room systems with integration into IT infrastructure
• Spaces with non-standard acoustic or architectural conditions
• Companies aiming for a fair, competitive tender between multiple integrators
• Projects with planned future expansion or phased implementation
• Installations in new buildings requiring coordination with other disciplines

Simple rule of thumb:

If the potential savings from more accurate specification and fewer change orders exceed the cost of the project, then a paid project makes economic sense. In typical office and conference environments, that threshold is reached surprisingly early.

How does a paid AV project work at MediaTech?

MediaTech offers a paid design service that is deliberately separated from the implementation itself. This means that a client who orders a project is not obliged to award the installation to MediaTech. The project is the client’s property and can be sent for pricing to any AV integrator on the market.

For full transparency: MediaTech is also an AV integrator. Therefore, in cases where the project is intended for a competitive tender, we structure the specification so that it is not tailored to any specific company—including ourselves. From the outset, the project must be usable by any qualified supplier.

Of course, if the client decides to assign the implementation to MediaTech, it is a more efficient path. The design team already knows the requirements in detail, and the transition into the implementation phase is smooth. However, this decision remains entirely with the client and is not part of the project agreement.