To the op I completely understand your frustration. There is nothing wrong with not doing low end systems, if it doesn’t fit your business plan that is fine. If you have not read the Bay Audio book consider it a must read. Other sales books may be good but this one is written for our industry. You need to define your core systems, media room, theater, lighting, shades, etc. For each system offer different price points and be able to state what features they gain/loose going up or down in price. The most important part is to define your minimum system for each category. Minimum system is something that you can confidently put in and know it will work well with a minimum amount of service.


Most people have no idea what a system costs or even what the want or what is possible. The ones that think they have an idea have generally just added up the cost of the display, speakers, AVR and Blu Ray. They haven’t added in the costs of everything that makes the system work and the labor so they grossly underestimate what the system costs. People at least have a ballpark for things like houses and cars; we need to give them a ballpark price. The thing I have found that works best is examples of past systems. Showing people what they can get at each price point gets them to focus on what they want without having to ask the budget question. People will move away from what they thought they were going to spend and buy what they want or what they actually can afford.
Never quote or propose anything. Give them the ballpark number and then get them to sign a design contract. How much you charge depends on your market and the level of design you offer but the main point is you establish that your time is valuable. We are service providers if someone is unwilling to pay for your services then move on to someone who will.