Inside Eli Manning’s Automated Condo

This story originally ran in October 2008. We are reposting in anticipation of Super Bowl XLVI between the New England Patriots and New York Giants.

The opportunity to hang out with a reigning Super Bowl MVP in his own home is rare. Still, Paul Austi didn't feel good about his recent visit to quarterback Eli Manning's Hoboken, N.J. condo.

The problem wasn't team alliance. As a New York Giants fan, Austi, the owner of Long Island City-based Audio Video Crafts (AVC), roots for his quarterback client.

The problem was that the visit seemed to conflict with the philosophy he crafted for his company.

AVC's niche is celebrity clients. "Being discreet is the key," Austi says. There are lines that AVC is careful not to cross with famous clients. Knowing where those lines are has been critical to AVC's success.

Why Being Discreet Drives Business

Asking a client to allow six people into his home for a photo shoot and interview is crossing the line, according to Austi. "I wouldn't have asked Eli to do this in a million years," he says.

He didn't. Manning and his wife agreed to make their newly remodeled 3,000-square foot condo the subject of an Electronic House article (EH is CE Pro's sister magazine). AVC had nothing to do with it.

Since the company had everything to do with the Manning's installation, Austi had to be there -- however conflicted he felt.

"We never publish our work. We don't take photos of work. We respect privacy. We never give references without authorization," Austi says.

If he seems obsessive about this, it's because he is. AVC's business is deeply rooted in this unique client base. "We don't advertise, publish or even solicit work," Austi says. "Our business is stimulated solely through referrals."

There can't be a misstep because business is driven completely by word of mouth. Therefore, AVC must avoid giving its celebrity clients anything negative to discuss.

Incidentally, Austi prefers to call them "elite, high-profile clients," but many of them are, in fact, celebrities. AVC's client list reads like an US Weekly table of contents. Besides Manning, there's Jerry Seinfeld, Joan Rivers, Woody Allen, Bette Midler, Antonio Banderas and Melanie Griffith, Laurence Fishburn and Steve Wynn, to name a few.

Like most integrators that work within a niche, AVC stumbled upon it rather than strived for it.

Looking to establish a base of clients early on, Austi went after architects and designers. "We just started working with people like that," he says, and "word of mouth took care of the rest."

How Dealing With Handlers Affects the Installation

Dealing with these high-profile clients is a delicate dance. Austi, along with his staff of 22, knows the right steps. Predictably, it comes down to superior customer service. Still, it's not that simple.

AVC's clients often come with built-in challenges. They may be very guarded about their personal life and wary of contractors being inside their home. They are sometimes suspicious of being exploited. They are often protective of priceless possessions.

"We have worked in homes with Picassos on the wall," Austi says.

The most challenging facet, however, is that it's difficult to get actual face-time with many high-profile clients. Austi and his team often have to dig through layers of "handlers" to extract clients' system needs.

This is not a good thing, as any integrator knows, since only the person who will actually use the system can truly represent how he wants it to look and feel.

"A lot of times, we have to work with a rep," Austi says. "It means we have to spend more time on a project. You end up revisiting things multiple times because you're not getting things first-hand."

AVC spent three years working on an ambitious project for an extremely famous (and busy) comedian. "It would have taken a year and a half if he had gone to the meetings," Austi says.

Getting Face-Time Sells the System

On the flip side, Manning spent time speaking with Austi and vice president of operations Tiziano Iannitelli.

Manning knew he wanted a sophisticated automation system with easy-to-use control of multiroom audio and motorized shades for his New York City skyline view. He didn't know a lot about control system options.

"I was naïve about how control systems work and how simple -- or complicated -- it would be," Manning says.

So, Austi and Tiziano took him to a condo in the Time Warner Center with a Crestron system similar to what AVC proposed for Manning. He was sold.

Ease of use was Manning's biggest concern since he and his wife, Abby, wanted guests to be able to easily control the system. Among those guests is his 59-year-old father, former New Orleans Saints quarterback Archie Manning.

"My dad is as clueless as they get when it comes to technology," Manning laughs. "It took me one minute to explain it to him."

In the end, the Mannings are happy enough with the system to allow it to be profiled in Electronic House.

The face time with Manning was the critical factor, Austi says.

If You Don't Know the Problem, You Can't Offer a Solution

It's the other celebrity projects, the ones where AVC struggles to grasp the needs of the clients, that are risky. Austi says he has learned to say "no," since a job like that isn't likely to generate referrals anyway.

His biggest mistakes, he says, are jobs that he has taken even though they "didn't seem right."

Sometimes it's because he doesn't feel good about how the architect is handling the project. Other times it's because of the feeling Austi gets from the client.

"If it's clear that they're not going to be available, I walk away. It's not for me."

Sometimes after walking away, Austi says the jobs eventually come back to him and he takes it under AVC's terms.

"I'm not going to design something with somebody else's input. It becomes my fault [when they don't get the desired result], and I don't usually get any new work from them."

Many celebrities, Austi is quick to point out, aren't like that. Howard Stern, for instance, frequently makes himself available to speak with Austi about his system.

Harrison Ford, meanwhile, is AVC's most hands-on celebrity client. Austi laughs as he tells a story about getting a surprise call from Ford.

The actor wanted to swing by AVC's office because he wanted to check out the speakers we picked out for his system, Austi says. "The women in my office went crazy!"

Focus on Time Management, Availability and Being Prompt

Not all celebrity clients are as laid back as Ford or Manning. Just like clock management is essential to Manning's job, it's critical in Austi's line of work, too.

"Time is of the essence," he says. If AVC is supposed to be somewhere at a certain time or wrap up a project by a particular deadline, it had better happen. Otherwise, Austi might have an angry celebrity on his hands.

A celebrity client's time is certainly not more important than other clients' time, but they might think it is. AVC has a lot on the line with its deadlines.

A reputation for being late could lead to the drying up of the celebrity pipeline. So Austi places a major emphasis on scheduling and promptness.

"We don't give time ranges. We say '1:00 p.m.' exactly, not between '1 p.m. and 2 p.m.,' and in Manhattan it's very difficult," he says. "Keeping a job on schedule is really something we strive for."

The other time-related issue is availability. "Clients must always feel that they can reach somebody 24/7," Austi says. That includes him, Iannitelli and the project managers.

Austi freely gives clients his home and cell phone number. It's not uncommon for his ultra-famous customers to return home late at night, experience a problem with their system and call Austi. In some cases, he hops in the car and heads over the bridge into Manhattan in the middle of the night.

When he arrives at the luxury apartments he sometimes finds that there is no issue. Sometimes the system has been turned off manually, for instance. Austi, therefore, has become a master at not letting clients feel incompetent in these cases.

There are times, of course, that these urgent trips to Manhattan are for legitimate issues. Austi recalls that one client, a prominent financial figure, was having trouble with his system prior to hosting an Academy Awards party.

"He called me at 8 p.m., and he lives a half hour away from me," he recalls. "As I was working on it, people were showing up with black ties. I got it working, but I was dripping with sweat I was so nervous. When [the client] refers me, he tells that story."

It's not just the dramatic stuff that AVC does that generates referrals. Austi, who has been working on high-end homes for 22 years, says he mastered the minutiae of customer service.

"Even when we work on $30 million renovations, we are often told that we were the best contractors on the project," he says.

Be Neat, Act Respectful and Succeed

It's obvious, given AVC's purely-referral-based client stream, that most clients are happy with their system installations. What lifts AVC above the fray, however, are two simple things, according to Austi.

"Our guys are neat and respectful."

It sounds simple, but it's not that easy, Austi says. "Working in a $50 million home is an art form." He refers to working alongside clients' invaluable possessions, such as the Picassos.

"We work next to things most people never get to see in a lifetime. You have to be careful. Don't touch anything. We treat the home like it should be treated."

AVC's installers' shoes never touch a client's floors, always wearing surgical booties. They always use drop cloths. "We work like we're in an operating room," Austi says.

"The place is usually cleaner after we leave than before we arrive."

Often AVC is working with other trades. In those cases, Austi makes sure AVC installers walk around and mark any pre-existing scratches or issues of any kind. AVC also enforces a simple dress code: collared shirt and khakis.

Another essential customer service tool comes toward the end of the installation.

"The last 10 percent of the project is the most important because it's what the client sees. The wiring, the speakers … we never leave until we're satisfied."

That means working out any kinks in the system before the client discovers them. "You always have kinks, but we try to work that all out before the client touches it," Austi says.

There is a contrast between AVC employees and other trades working on a given project that Austi detects. He consciously plays off of it. "We try to outshine everybody and, in most cases, they make it easy for us."

It wasn't always easy. There were mistakes along the way as AVC developed its celebrity niche.

"In the early days, I learned not to bring up numbers at a meeting," Austi recalls.

"I told [a famous client] that a feature of a project wasn't cost-effective and he really put me in my place. It's not about price for many of these people. It's my instinct to try to be cost-effective with people's money, but that's really not my job. They want the best product and often aren't concerned with price."

There is a part of Austi that wishes he could submit some of those priceless projects to award programs. He can't, of course, because his need to protect clients' privacy trumps his desire to win awards.

So, Austi and AVC choose to let others have the spotlight. It's something that they're accustomed to doing.

"Still, I think we could win," Austi laughs.

How to Handle Long-Distance Installations

It's no surprise that a lot of AVC's high-profile clients have additional properties around the continent.

The company developed a unique system for providing its standard of service on the road, says Austi.

All design and engineering for long-distance jobs is done at AVC's Long Island City, N.Y. office. Assuming the project is a new-construction or a complete remodel, AVC enlists contractors working on the remote project to "do most of the grunt work," Austi says, including pulling wires.

"All terminations are still done by us."

AVC, therefore, sends a crew to the site and Austi says his men stay there as long as it takes to make the installation "bulletproof." In order to minimize travel and installation time, the design of remote projects is extremely important, he adds.

Providing post-installation service for long-distance projects is another challenge. In some cases, AVC finds a local CEDIA member to roll trucks if necessary.

"Of course, we have to make it worth their while."

Austi sees these relationships with local CEDIA members as a good way to stimulate the integration industry. He also suspects it "could work both ways."

If one of those companies finds work in the New York City area they may call upon AVC for similar service, perhaps providing a recurring revenue stream.