|
Putting Sex Into Energy Efficiency Sells Green Homes
—Green home builders need to do a better job of marketing, find more direct ways to connect with their prospective customers and “make green sexy,” Sara Lamia, president of Home Building Coach in Fort Collins, Colo., told the NAHB Green Building Conference in Albuquerque, N.M. last month.
“You need to create demand at the mainstream level,” Lamia said. “The mainstream buyer — whether from a production, custom or semi-custom builder — is pretty much asleep in terms of how to buy a house, and buyers won’t fall in love with anything they don’t understand.”
In making a purchase, a key issue for consumers is how it makes them feel, she said. And making them feel stupid, or ashamed that they aren’t buying a product that is good for the environment, is not going to sell them on high-performance features that many in the industry even don’t entirely understand.
“Buyers don’t get excited about energy savings,” Lamia said. “We get excited about something we acquire, something we get.” So she advised translating the savings on utility costs into something tangible that the buyer can obtain with the money they save — a chandelier or hiking equipment, for example.
The green builder needs to be able to go down the list of special features in the home and translate them into the benefits they will provide, she said. “Improved indoor air quality means that the home owner will have a happy family. Our quiet home let’s us sleep and relax as never before. Low maintenance equals more time to play. Comfort means our baby’s room is warm in the winter and cool in the summer.”
Lamia said that the builder has about five seconds to provide their customers with a message they can understand. Builders also need to encourage prospects to ask questions about anything they don’t understand.
Consumers also need to be provided with specific information on the product and why it is the one to buy. Most of the time, she warned, that information is too technical and doesn’t tell the customer the right things.
“Tell the manufacturers, ‘I need to be able to sell this to my client,'” Lamia said. “You need them working with you on everything you are trying to sell.” Or “go to the product company and have them do the work — how am I going to sell this? Not with a brochure that puts me to sleep.”
Lamia also recommended working with Realtors® so that they appreciate the features in a green-built house that differentiate it from the competition.
And when it comes to green building, labels can be just as powerful as they are for a pair of Calvin Klein jeans. “Make green homes sexy with a label and stress the benefits of owning a designer home — popularity and self esteem, pride, durability, increased resale value — because it’s worth more, but needs a label to let people know how wonderful the house is,” she said.
A label showing green building program certification or an Energy Star® rating is a status symbol, she said, that should be visible for everyone who comes to visit the house.
“Make sure the label connects with the buyer,” she said. “Your houses are not only beautiful on the outside; they’re quality to the core. You are promising a dream, and delivering on it.”
For information on green building resources available from NAHB, e-mail Calli Schmidt, or call her at 800-368-5242 x8132.
 ‘Profit from Green Building’ Available at BuilderBooks.com
“Profit from Building Green — Award-Winning Tips to Build Energy Efficient Homes,” available through BuilderBooks.com, provides specific examples and tried-and-true techniques to create successful green building practices. To view or purchase this publication online, click here, or call 800-223-2665.
|
