NCHI Membership Helped Culligan Business Flow
In the early 1990s, Culligan had developed a drinking water system specifically for the builder market but made little headway introducing it to builders until being a member of the National Council of the Housing Industry — the Supplier 100 of NAHB opened the tap.
At first, the company met with buyer resistance because the product was new. They needed some ammunition and found it in an NAHB survey that indicated that 45% of new home buyers wanted a drinking water system in their new homes. Culligan was able to see the report and use the data in its sales presentations because of its NCHI membership. That was half the battle.
The other half involved gaining access to builders who might be looking for an edge in the competition. That came during a production builders meeting during a NAHB Spring Board of Directors meeting.
A Culligan representative, David Swift, had been an active member of the committee for years and had developed a business relationship with the then-chair of the committee, a prominent California builder in a key market Culligan was targeting. During the committee meeting, the builder discussed his market, the limited land available, its intense competitiveness and his need to include many more features in his home as a way to differentiate his homes and gain a competitive advantage.