Turnkey AV for caterers means partnering with an audio visual company so you can quote lighting, sound and screens inside your own proposal, earning a coordination fee and a trade discount instead of handing the client off.

Caterers can add revenue per event by aligning with a trusted AV company, negotiating an equipment discount of roughly 15 to 30 percent, and charging clients a coordination fee of about 10 to 30 percent for managing the bundle. The client gets one less vendor to chase, and you get paid twice for work you are half doing already.

The Whole System in Two Tables

Where you earn

Typical range

When it applies

Equipment discount from your AV company

15 to 30 percent

You bundle AV into your proposal

Coordination fee charged to the client

10 to 30 percent

You manage the AV relationship

Finder’s fee on referrals

Agreed per deal

The client books the AV company direct

Step

What you do

What it earns you

1

Find and test an AV partner

Nothing yet, this is groundwork

2

Agree discount and payment terms

Sets up both revenue lines

3

Add AV to your proposal, openly

Coordination fee plus discount

4

Manage changes during planning

Protects the fee you charged

5

Give the AV company feedback

Easier, faster events next time

Plain English: What the Terms Mean

Term

What it actually means

Turnkey

The client buys one package from you, not five from five vendors

Equipment discount

Trade pricing on gear only, usually not on crew or delivery

Coordination fee

What you charge for handling the AV vendor on the client’s behalf

Finder’s fee

A cut you get for the introduction, even if you do nothing else

Net terms

You pay the balance days or weeks after the event, not on the day

Trucking

Delivery and pickup of the gear

Up-sale

Offering the client something extra alongside what they already booked

Lighting and AV create a beautiful event environment in San Francisco. Photo courtesy of Whittaker Portraits

Tens of millions of dollars are being spent on AV in the Bay Area each year. Are you leaving money on the table? Having a go-to AV & Lighting company can increase your revenue and client satisfaction.

Caterers, like it or not, are often seen by clients as a confidant and quasi event planner. Clients rely on the caterer’s expertise in the industry to help them shape their event. As a caterer, you probably have more opportunities than you realize to enhance a client’s event and boost your profits by including Audio, Video, and Lighting.

AVIXA, the pro AV trade body, forecasts the global market growing from $332 billion in 2025 to $402 billion by 2030, with live events among the strongest demand drivers in its mid-2026 index.

Here is a 5-step process to increase your revenues using Audio, Video, and Lighting:

  1. Align yourself with a great AV provider (or two!)
  2. Set up discount % and payment terms with your AV company
  3. Be forthcoming with your client about what you are doing and how you are helping them
  4. Follow up along the way
  5. Provide Post Event Feedback

Solution For Caterers

Step 1: Align yourself with a great AV provider (or two)

Just like in catering, not all work is equal. Find an AV company that aligns with your company’s values.

  • If your company is polished, high touch, customer focused, you will want your AV company to align with these values. They are representing you after all.
  • The client will look to you if the AV company succeeds or fails, so vet the company with a few test events before going all in.
  • At first, it’s important to not be tied too closely with the AV company in case they don’t align.

Look for an opportunity to loosely refer the company to a client.

Work through the vetting in this order:

  1. Let the client know that you’ve just met a contact for an AV company that might be able to help them with their event.
  2. Find out the client’s AV and Lighting budget ahead of time and let your contact at the AV company know so they have a better chance to win the bid.
  3. During the quoting process, ask the client how things have been going with your contact over at XYZ Audio Visual.
  4. If the client reports back a lack of responsiveness, or general shadiness in the quoting process, call the AV company and let them know the client’s feedback, especially during busy seasons when response times can be a bit slower than usual.
  5. If the company wins the bid, follow up with the client again during the planning process about how things have been going. Is the provider attentive, detail, and solutions oriented? Take notes.
  6. What is the company’s demeanor on-site and at the event? Does it align with your expectations for your client?

What to watch

Green flag

Red flag

Quoting speed

Responds inside a day

Silence, or vague pricing

Planning stage

Attentive, solutions oriented

You chase them for answers

On site

Demeanour matches your brand

Scruffy, loud, invisible

Consistency

Same standard every time

Good once, then an anomaly

Make sure to repeat the process a few times and make sure whatever happened good or bad wasn’t an anomaly. Once you know you like working with the provider and the bells are ringing on all levels it’s time to set up some terms.

A good test is whether their audio visual work holds up on the events you care most about, not the easy ones.

Step 2: Set up a discount % and payment terms

Let your AV company know that you’d like to add them to some of your agreements with clients and that in exchange, you would like a discount on their services.

  • We feel that a standard discount in AV is usually on equipment and wouldn’t include labor or trucking (delivery and pickup).
  • In my experience the discount amount usually falls somewhere between 15 and 30 percent.
  • Additionally, you will be able to mark up the services as a fee for vetting, facilitating, and making the client’s life easier.
  • Set up a discount percentage for bundling their services in with yours, and a finder’s fee amount for just referrals. There is an opportunity to profit from both!

Agree in advance

The usual answer

What the discount covers

Equipment yes, labor and trucking no

Deposit

Around 50% up front

Balance

Net terms after the event

Referral fee

Paid even when the client books direct

Finally, talk to the AV company in advance about payment terms. AV companies will likely want a deposit of 50% up front, but they are likely to set up net terms on final payments.

Step 3: Be forthcoming with your client

Once you are aligned with an AV company that you trust it’s time to start adding them into your proposals.

Approaching the up-sale is up to you. But when you find a client who doesn’t want to deal with the headache of finding another vendor. Pitch your ability to make their lives easier. You are one step closer to increasing revenue.

  • It is important to let the client know that you are happy to make their lives easier by adding the AV to your proposal.
  • Let them know you charge a small fee for coordinating the services (usually 10-30%).
  • At this point, the client is at a crossroads. Do they pay you to make their lives easier, or do the work themselves? Either way, at least they know.
  • If they choose not to have you bundle AV services, give them your contact’s info anyway. Assuming they book, remind your AV provider of your finder’s fee and make some money just for the referral.

The client chooses

You earn

Bundle the AV with you

Coordination fee plus the equipment discount

Book the AV company direct

Finder’s fee for the introduction

Find their own vendor

Nothing, but you kept the relationship clean

When a client decides to have you bundle, you will make your full coordination fee plus your AV company’s discount. (Cha-ching!) Remember, you are doing a lot of work to find a great solution for your client. This fee is totally justifiable!

The easiest bundles to sell are the visible ones, since a client who can picture event lighting in their room needs less convincing than one being sold at a speaker count.

Step 4: Follow Up Along The Way

There is always some work to make money and this scenario is no different. This is where you earn your fees.

What happens

What you do about it

Planning is underway

Set calendar reminders to check in with the client

Guest count changes

Warn the client the AV cost moves too

Client adds rehearsals

Get the new labor and equipment cost first

Any cost change at all

It routes through you, never direct to the client
  • Set up some calendar appointments to follow up with the clients about their AV experience during the planning process. Provide feedback to the AV provider.
  • Ask the AV provider to let you know if it looks like costs will increase due to client requests, or add-ons. Make sure to approach the client about these possible changes right away.
  • Make sure that the AV company is not providing the client with any direct costs, all changes should go through you.

Audio Visual, like catering is not static, if a client adds 20 guests, the food costs don’t stay the same. If a client is requesting a full day of rehearsals that were unplanned for, your AV company will have labor and equipment costs to add. You want your client to know the consequences of their requests early on.

Step 5: Provide Post Event Feedback

Now that you know the process, you can start to bring other types of vendors into the fold.

  • Nurturing your relationship with your outsourced vendors will be key to your long term success.
  • Let them know how they performed against the client’s expectations and don’t afraid to be honest.
  • As an owner of an AV company I would much rather know how we messed up than think everything went well. When the phone stops ringing, I won’t know why.
  • Once your relationship is a well oiled machine, you can count on an easier experience over time. Especially on repeat events or with repeat clients.

Increasing your revenues can take a bit of work up front, but can have a long lasting payback.

Where this pays off fastest is repeat formats, so start with the corporate events you already run several times a year.

The same logic extends beyond AV, and once the system works, staging and rentals can follow you into event planning territory on purpose rather than by accident.

AV Solution For Caterers

Frequently Asked Questions

How much can a caterer make from bundling AV?

Two revenue lines are consistent: an equipment discount of roughly 15 to 30 percent, plus a coordination fee of about 10 to 30 percent. On a bundled event you earn both. On a referral you still earn a finder’s fee.

Should caterers mark up AV services? 

Yes, provided you tell the client. Charge a stated fee for vetting the vendor, managing quotes and handling changes. Hidden margin damages trust; a disclosed fee for real work is easy to justify.

What should a caterer look for in an AV company? 

Values alignment first, because they represent you on site. Test them across a few events before committing, watching responsiveness during quoting, attentiveness through planning, and demeanour on show day.

Who handles changes and extra costs once AV is bundled? 

You do. All cost changes route through the caterer, never direct from the AV company to the client. If a client adds rehearsal time or guests, tell them the cost implication immediately, not at invoice.

Does this work for weddings as well as corporate events? 

It works anywhere the client wants fewer vendors to manage. Weddings often have the strongest appetite for bundling, since couples usually juggle more suppliers than a corporate planner would.

Key Takeaways

  • Vet before you commit, running a few loosely referred events before tying your name to an AV company.
  • Negotiate equipment discounts of 15 to 30 percent, and expect labor and trucking to sit outside the discount.
  • Disclose your coordination fee of roughly 10 to 30 percent rather than burying margin in the quote.
  • Route every cost change through you, so the client never receives numbers direct from the AV company.
  • Give honest post-event feedback, because a provider who knows what went wrong can fix it next time.

Are You a Caterer Who Needs AV?

If you are interested in teaming up with Verducci Event Productions to help you with your client’s events give us a call. We have a great set of online resources that explain our value to your clients. You can view them here. We would love to build a relationship that can help you and your clients achieve event success!

Are you a caterer who needs AV? Contact us.