Treating Your Clients and Manufacturers as Partners

When a business prioritizes quarterly profits over everything else, the ability to build long-lasting partnerships suffers. Real success isn’t just about quick wins. A genuine partnership should run deeper than “What can you do for me today?”

Are You a Partner or a Transaction?

CTI provides design, integration, and service for a diverse range of clients. Corporate AV, mission-critical control rooms, houses of worship, higher education, broadcast media, and justice, to name a few. There isn't a single industry we work in where building long-lasting relationships isn’t our number one priority. All too often, you see clients and manufacturers treated poorly in the name of squeezing out more margin on a project. It’s short-sighted. And it’s bad for the industry.

“Churn and Burn”

It's all too common to find AV integrators that run on a ‘churn and burn’ mentality. Fast is better than good, cheap is better than smart, and -always- charge the highest price you can. You see it constantly in low bids that lead to rushed, poorly planned projects. Under budgeting labor on installation or programming. Manufacturers get burned, too. Integrators push clients towards products that offer better margins over ones with a better user experience. Leads turned over by one manufacturer are fulfilled by another, which again brings better margins on the project. That kind of short-term thinking can ruin your relationship with a manufacturer.

Partners For Decades, Not Days

If you’re goal is a relationship that last decades, you handle things differently.

At CTI, we believe in building long-term relationships. We want you to think of us as your best partner now and for future projects. From design and engineering to service and support, we’re thinking beyond today. And we’re not chasing higher margins at the expense of customer experience.

It starts with listening to the client. Unpacking the problems they’re trying to solve and coming up with the right solution for their needs and budget. It doesn’t end when the integration is finished, and the room is commissioned.

We bundle a year of CTI Complete with every integration, which includes CTI Scout remote monitoring, Service, access to our CTI Care Team, and Critical Meeting Support that works proactively to ensure your space is ready for your most important events.

We continue to answer the phone even after the project is completed. That might sound like a ridiculous statement, but our mission, “To provide a fantastic customer experience,” is measured by one of our cores KPIs: the Customer Experience Score (CES). This is built on the well-regarded Net Promoter Score system. If you’re not happy, we’re not happy.

Happy clients are in it for the long haul, even at the expense of profit, and they bring others along with them. It’s about trust, loyalty, and long-term value. At CTI, our goal is to build partnerships that last decades, not a single job.

Tim Kersting is the Chief Design Offer at CTI, overseeing design and engineering at the largest privately held AV integration and events company in the US.