Earlier this month, NSCA executive director Chuck Wilson talked about “the blessing and the curse of educated clients” in his question of the week segment. While that has certainly become a major hurdle for some integrators recently with the proliferation of product information available before the piece has been released, could there be an even more troubling trend afoot?

What about when dealers come face-to-face with a potential customer who’s—hmm, what’s the best way to put this?—“uneducated,” at least when it comes to technology? Would you rather deal with a know-it-all who thinks he or she has the upper hand on you because he’s armed with reams of reviews and product information from the Internet? Or a potential client who knows so little about technology he has trouble changing the time on his car clock during Daylight Savings Time?

While it’s stereotypical to say so, most of the people who would fall into the “uneducated” category are the same people who remember when telephones were used to make calls and there was no way to skip through 20 minutes of commercials to watch your favorite one-hour TV show. There’s a major learning curve involved when dealing with them, to be sure.

The problem is, their lack of knowledge may also be inversely proportional to the amount of money they are willing to spend to update their company’s conference room A/V system, for example. Integrators surely want to tap into that well if at all possible, but need to understand it could take a while for the person receiving the message to totally understand what they’re saying.

Which type of client do you find it more satisfying to help? Which type is more confounding? I’m guessing the answer could be the same for both. What tips can you offer when it comes to dealing with more educated clients? What about with those whose knowledge is lacking? How do you break through to clients whose competitors embrace technology while they resist its allure? Share your thoughts in the comments section.

About the author

D. Craig MacCormack

Craig MacCormack is a veteran journalist with more than 15 years experience covering local and national news and sports as well as architecture and engineering. He joined Commercial Integrator in January 2011. Follow him on Twitter: @CraigMacCormack.

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