The Cost of Quality

I’m going to pick on churches a bit here, but the principles in this article apply to any venue.

Having worked with churches on their tech systems for 3 decades now, including being on staff at a church, I am intimately familiar with church budgets and how they are affected by expectations, perceptions, and politics. All that is piled on top of the limited financial resources available to any church or venue.

I remember someone prominent making a point about church budgets a long time ago, and I wish I could remember who it was, so please forgive my plagiarism here. He asked a simple question: “How much does it cost to do $100 worth of ministry?” The answer: $100. Many churches try to do ministry well without being willing or able to spend the resources required to do so and then are disappointed with the results. Either they beat up vendors to the point of damaging relationships, or steal their intellectual property in the form of designs, or end up with a home-built system that doesn’t work as expected.

Think about audio systems for a moment. Many churches I know buy the least expensive speakers they can find, install them themselves (see my other articles on rigging and speaker placement), buy a Behringer console, and $50 microphones. Then they put a volunteer with very little experience behind that console and can’t figure out why the mix doesn’t sound like the studio version.

Don’t get me wrong: The X32 brought an impressive set of digital “tools” for the cost and it forced most of the other major console manufacturers to come out with more “budget friendly” consoles for the church market. They just don’t sound as good as the Midas version of the same console/stage box, which makes the audio operator have to work harder to make it sound good.

To get quality results ends up costing more money in the long run when you have to sell off the cheap equipment and purchase better equipment. Not to mention the time and headaches involved in trying to make the cheap stuff work, or dealing with repairs that take forever. 

Consider instead, if you buy quality speakers that are properly amplified, tuned, and oriented, use a mixing console with something better than cheap preamps, and buy industry standard microphones that are placed properly, you’re not handicapping your volunteer audio person from the start. In fact, you’ve greatly improved their chances of being successful, and it doesn’t have to be crazy expensive.

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: You get what you pay for. Some gear costs less money up front, but it always costs more in the long run.

Here are some tips that apply whether you’re a big church, small church, concert venue, or just do tech stuff on the side:

Tip #1: Seek professional help. Local vendors are eager to build a relationship with you and often will provide design and consultation services at no charge as long as you purchase equipment through them. Do not take their design and shop it around the Internet, thinking you can build it yourself. That’s stealing, unless you’re willing to pay for the design services they’re providing. Also, there’s tremendous value in having a local expert put your system together and then be available to troubleshoot it when something goes wrong. You’ll spend less money on guessing what gear you need and have fewer headaches because someone else is responsible for making it work. By the way, you don’t need to go out-of-state to find your expert. I can’t tell you how many times I have designed systems for churches only to find out that they went somewhere else and got the same or similar design. But at least it cost more...

Tip #2: Plan for the future. Rather than buying more, cheaper equipment, plan out your systems and spend the money to get quality pieces that fit the bigger picture. You’re better off not having to replace a lower-quality piece of equipment down the road, or having to sell off the lighting console that was too small and buy something bigger as you grow. Even if it means putting off some upgrades, buying the right equipment for the job is worth the wait.

Tip #3: Look for manufacturers with a good reputation. Sure, the Chauvet DJ ellipsoidal is less money than the ETC version, but not when you have to have it repaired 3 times. Every manufacturer has issues with their gear sometimes, but the better ones will do things like advanced replacement (they send you out a new one), quick turnaround on repairs, and employ knowledgeable technicians that answer the phone, and speak clear English.

Tip #4: Push back with leadership. Whether you’re a church or a wedding venue, your message and reputation are affected by poorly functioning systems. That makes for an easier sell to the person writing the checks, and it’s worth the time to educate them on the bigger plan and how it helps the whole organization. In new construction, the technical systems should be no less than 10% of the whole budget, yet it’s the first place leadership wants to cut. It’s frustrating to watch pieces get cut that very directly affect every single service held, and really set the image for the church's typical services. People usually attend and choose their church from these normal services; don't let that be a poor experience.

Buying cheap gear never pays in the long run. Don’t give in to the temptation!