How To Sell: Home-Field Advantage
Take ACS Automation. The Colts Neck, N.J., integrator works exclusively with five custom-home builders and handles around 10 new-home integrations a year. ACS owner Andy Caraballo says that 99 percent of new-home owners in the area want some integration work. With the average job costing anywhere from a few hundred thousand to a million dollars, he would consider no other market.
Norcross, Ga.-based integrator Link Your House also is reaping rich rewards from the new-home construction market but does not limit its partnerships to working with builders, says President Nick McCullough. The company sells to general homeowners as well as builders of small and large projects, and is starting a new group to specifically target high-end homes.
> Show, don't tell. Builders may not have a deep understanding of new technology, so demonstrate how it works and what it does, either in your own showroom or by setting up a display in their spec house.
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counts. Make sure your work for the builder is both high quality and quick, because builders must stick to a tight schedule and cannot be held up by an integrator's work.
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> Remember that both the homeowner and builder are your customers, and treat them as such. Be attentive to the needs of each.
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> To work with builders, you need to know how their business works and what's important to them. Spend time learning the lingo, market and basics of home construction.
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> Builders are hungry for new solutions for their customers but need someone to explain the technology and options to them.
For McCullough, the biggest challenge is convincing builders of the need for technology to be integrated during the construction phase and explaining the specifics.
"The builder really needs to sit down with a company that can educate them on what consumers are looking for," he says. "You need to show them and present it in an easy-to-understand way. No one asks, 'Why do you need plumbing in your house?' In the same way, you need a wiring infrastructure so you can handle the technology that's present today."
In order to be successful, integrators need to show, not just tell.
Caraballo outfits builders' spec homes with the latest systems and gear for only the cost of labor. In exchange, ACS gets the contract to handle all the new homes being built in that development.
Integrators also need to evangelize the importance of their services to everyone involved. McCullough points to the rise of builder groups in Atlanta, in which a large builder will recruit several smaller builders to handle the daily demands of a new development. Integrators need to sell themselves to the main developer as well as other builders and contractors that work for it.
While most builders are not very tech-savvy, integrators will encounter some with strong tech know-how and should make sure they don't talk down to them.
George Knorps, president of Lake Forest, Ill.-based custom builder Nantucket Homes, has a deep understanding of the technology. Knorps went through several integrators whose experience didn't compare to that of his own staff. He finally found one last year he felt he could trust: Palatine, Ill.-based Digital Home. Knorps was impressed by its deep integration experience and its eagerness to work with Nantucket's device preferences without dictating its own suggestions.
Another concern many builders have is the fear that an integrator will slow down the building process. Homes are built on tight schedules, and several homes may be built back-to-back, so any delay could wreak havoc. "The biggest thing is, don't hold them back," Caraballo says. "Don't slow them down. They give you time to wire, you wire and get out."
In a sense, the need to respect the builder reminds integrators that they're not just working for the homeowner, but for the builder as well. "You need to make the builder know that he's completely taken care of, you work for him, you represent him in every way. You're there to make him look good," Caraballo says. "If you can make that builder or client part of your family, you succeed."