|
Follow Home Technologies Path to Future Sales
 While many home builders and home automation professionals believe that staying current with the home technology that home buyers want will cultivate success in any home market, that may not be enough in today’s tough housing environment.
To set themselves apart from their competition, builders should not only provide prospective buyers with the technology they say they want, they also should offer their customers the home technologies that they dream about.
Consumers’ choices in home technology were much simpler 21 years ago when Mike Ruland, president of Atlanta-based home builder, Peachtree Residential, founded his company. At that time, most consumers wanted only basic technology — three cable TV connections, two phone jacks and, maybe, pre-wiring for security.
More recently, he said, buyers began expecting to have cable TV and phone jack connections in not only every bedroom, but almost every room in the house. In certain move-up and higher end markets, that list now includes home security systems, home theaters — with surround sound as a common upgrade — pre-wiring for satellite television, home computer networks and whole-house music systems.
In just two decades, Ruland said, home buyers ceased perceiving high-end home automation technologies as indulgent and now consider them convenient, relevant and needed.
Technologies That Save Home Owners Money
R.L Johnson, president and chief residential designer for the home technology integration company, Elite Systems Solutions, in Waynesfield, Ohio, sees a growing request for energy management systems as an important trend among home owners because the systems can reduce their energy usage and save them money.
Systems can be programmed on-site or remotely to shut down energy-using appliances during peak energy usage hours or, simply, when they’re not being used.
Eric Smith, chief technology officer for the home automation solutions company, Control4, said home area networks are so sophisticated, they can now work in conjunction with a utility company’s load management software to give home owners greater energy savings and more control over their energy consumption.
Johnson added that builders also should not overlook the technology’s “wow factor.” Home buyers, he said, get a kick out of using a “wireless energy monitor that shows them how much energy they’re saving.”
Ron Rimawi, president of Digital Interiors, Inc., said his favorite new technology is a media server — a computer appliance that stores, shares and plays movies, photos and music collections. With the server, home owners can browse their full library on any TV in their home and play or show their selections. Users in different rooms also can access and play their selections simultaneously.
Good News for Entry-Level Home Buyers
While many new home technologies may be a bit extravagant for entry-level buyers, there are many home technology tools that are available — and that can be expanded later — in price ranges appropriate for first-time home buyers.
Johnson, of Elite Systems Solutions, said home owners can affordably equip their homes with basic security, lighting control and four-zone multi-room audio using fully-expandable systems that eventually can be upgraded to include HVAC control, video surveillance, point-of-entry keycards, energy management, multi-room music, home theaters and more.
Designing With the Home Owner in Mind
When answering their customers’ technology needs, Atlanta builder Ruland said builders should also keep in mind their customers’ concerns about when their children go online and what they access.
He creates hallway computer niches and similar spaces in his homes that enable children to work on their computers in private while also enabling parents to monitor the content as they walk by. This, he said, demonstrates to parents that his company is aware of how kids use technology while also addressing the parents’ concerns and trepidations.
My prediction is that builders who pay attention to their home buyers’ technology “must have” and “nice-to-have” needs will be the ones who sell the most homes.
Mitch Levinson, MBA, MIRM, is managing partner with mRELEVANCE, an Internet marketing, public relations and social media agency focused on meeting builder and developer needs in a changing marketplace. For more information, visit www.mRELEVANCE.com.
This article originally appeared on the NAHB Sales and Marketing Channel.
 In Today’s Market, 'Think Sold!' With Help From BuilderBooks
“Think Sold! Creating Home Sales in Any Market,” available at BuilderBooks.com, is a practical, how-to guide for developing the self-awareness, knowledge and skills needed to succeed in the competitive field of new home sales.
The book covers everything from the home buying process and new home financing to strategies for making better sales presentations and sizing up the competition. It teaches readers how to overcome customers’ concerns and provides specific examples of how to explain the benefits of new home features in customer-friendly language.
“Think Sold” provides insights on how to approach sales and life from a position of optimism that will create successful outcomes; how to improve upon potential customer prospecting and follow-up skills; and how to communicate effectively with various types of buyers and learn how to adjust communication strategies to increase rapport and alignment with buyers’ motives.
To view or purchase this publication online, click here, or call 800-223-2665.
 ‘ValueMatch Selling for Home Builders’ Available at BuilderBooks.com
“ValueMatch Selling for Home Builders,” available through BuilderBooks.com, presents a selling process that focuses on selling feelings and appealing to prospective buyers’ emotional need to buy a new home in today’s market rather than product.
Learn how to build rapport with prospective home buyers, meet their needs, make powerful presentations that are focused on their values and go for the close.
To view or purchase this publication online, click here, or call 800-223-2665.
Subscribe to Sales + Marketing Ideas Magazine for Cutting-Edge Information
For additional cutting-edge sales and marketing information, subscribe to NAHB’s Sales + Marketing Ideas magazine (www.smimagazine.com).
Click here to learn about membership benefits of the National Sales and Marketing Council and the Institute of Residential Marketing.
|
