Sphere AV wins a $500K "traditional AV" bid by leading with proactive Day 2 support
Sphere Audio Video (Sphere AV) helped shift a formal RFP conversation away from “install & reactive support” and toward proactive operations and Day 2 ownership, with Xyte as the proof-point that made the MSP pitch real during the bid process. The project value is $500,000, the work has been awarded, and contracting is in progress, but implementation has not started, so the story avoids performance claims and focuses on how proactive monitoring and managed services influenced selection.
Industry
Audio Video
Audio&Video
Challenge
A $500,000 AV project went to a formal bid with multiple integrators competing. The scope looked like a traditional design and the evaluation was understandably focused on project execution. That left a common gap largely unspoken: who would monitor, maintain, and troubleshoot the environment once it went live, especially if the local team was lean and AV was not their full-time focus?
Approach
Late in the RFP process, Sphere used a small opening in the bid documents (a request to share “interesting ways to support the environment”) to reframe the conversation. Instead of selling only integration and reactive service, Sphere positioned itself as an AV managed service provider and walked the consultant through a proactive support approach, including a live screen share of the Xyte platform to explain how visibility and control would work day-to-day.
Solution
Sphere’s pitch hinged on credibility. Many providers can promise “monitoring,” but Sphere used Xyte to make proactive operations concrete. In Bryce’s words, the difference was moving from “if it breaks, call us” to “if it breaks, we’ll call you.” That one shift helped the consultant see the operational gap that a project-only mindset can miss.
At a product level, Xyte is designed to help integrators manage and monitor AV/UC devices through a cloud platform, supporting remote visibility and ongoing management workflows that fit an MSP-style offer.
Results
Sphere was awarded the project. In the end user’s email, they explicitly noted that “the Xyte platform was a large factor in the decision,” and immediately requested the performance contract for review and execution.
Implementation is set to begin soon, so the near-term impact is focused on what mattered at decision time: differentiation in a crowded bid, and buyer confidence in Day 2 support.
Near the end of the RFP, we were able to pivot from an AV integrator pitch to an AV managed service provider pitch. With Xyte, we could show what proactive support looks like and honestly tell them, ‘If it breaks, we’ll call you.’
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