NBN Online for the week of September 24, 2007

Market Your CAPS Designation With Hands-On Opportunities

One of the most frequent questions I’m asked by Certified Aging-in-Place Specialist (CAPS) students and graduates alike is, “How can I use my CAPS designation in my business?”

I answer by telling them about a marketing concept I initiated that is working wonders for my small remodeling business — especially regarding CAPS and accessible construction.

The concept was born out of a goal I set for myself some time ago — to move my office out of my house.

Last year, after 28 years in business, I finally did it. As part of the move, I built a remodeling center in a house that serves as my new office and installed accessible products so clients could see them “up close,” use them and gain a better understanding of how they would work in their homes. I call it the Legal Eagle Idea Center.

The idea center displays our craftsmanship and the creative ideas that make our company unique from our competitors — and here’s another key — without the burden and overhead expense of a traditional showroom.

	The shower in the Legal Eagle Idea Center gives clients a hands-on opportunity to see how it works.

We don't have every tile color, paint chip and remodeling product on display in the idea center. Nor would we want them. The idea center is not a showroom. We have terrific vendor partners for that. Instead, the ideas center is what I call an interactive, sensory playground — a place where clients can explore new concepts and get hands-on experience with products that they might otherwise only read or hear about.

I encourage you to give this marketing concept a try. Even a small-scale version of it can be a great way to demonstrate ideas to clients.

I have found that my clients buy features in my idea center at a higher rate when they “see them in the flesh.”

To get started, if you have office space where you regularly hold client meetings, even if it’s in your house, try adding some of these features:

• 	An offset, swing-clear hinge shows clients how they can widen their doorway passages inexpensively.

  Install swing-clear hinges on your office door to show clients how they can widen their doorway passages inexpensively.
  
  
• Install nice looking lever handles on all the doors and sink faucets.
  
  
• Install a brilliant “sun tunnel.” Let clients see first-hand how it lights up an entire room with full-spectrum light without adding any heat.
  
  
• Create a no-threshold door opening by cutting a groove in the bottom of your front door, toss out your threshold and replace it with a more-accessible spring-loaded door bottom. Have clients open and close the door slowly and see how the seal operates.
  
  
• Install a handy package shelf on the wall by the entry door. I used a recycled granite sink cut-out, and clients love that I found a new use for such a thing.
  
  

	An easy-to-use lever faucet in the bathroom.

Don’t forget your bathroom.

• Add a handsome grab bar in the bath, even if it’s just near the commode. It’s the easiest, most economical way to dispel the stereotype that all grab bars look institutional.
  
  
• Install a “comfort height” toilet with a non-slam seat and lid. Clients will try it.
  

  	A modified door for a no-threshold opening.

  
  
• Install a gear-shift, lever-type waterfall faucet and watch clients try it out, as well.
  
  
• Install a large field of mirrors in the bath with light fixtures “floating” on the glass. This configuration will increase light dispersal and makes the bath feel twice as big — something many clients seeking CAPS-type upgrades will appreciate.
  
  
• Install a quiet bath vent fan on an electronic push-button timer so clients can experience for themselves how quiet and useful a bath fan can be.

You can even install and demonstrate some more expensive ideas, such as:

• For kitchen convenience, install a partial-system central vacuum in the garage with a toe-kick vacuum port in the kitchen. Then show clients how effortlessly — and conveniently — the system vacuums up Cheerios.
  
  

• Install designer windows that have pleated internal shades and let your clients operate them.

	The handy package shelf.

• Likewise, install insulated skylight windows that have remote control pleated shades and let clients operate them. I don’t know why clients love to operate this particular feature in my idea center, but they doThe Idea Center has been fun, exciting and rewarding for everyone working here. We are constantly amazed at how much clients use and appreciate the products in our center.
  

I encourage you to “ramp up” your marketing efforts by trying some of these ideas at your workplace, even if your workplace is your own home.

Dan Bawden, CAPS, CGR, GMB , is president of Legal Eagle Contractors in Houston, and the winner of the  Texas Remodeler of the Year three times, the Houston Remodeler of the Year twice, Big 50 winner and National Remodeler of the Month, among others. Bawden teaches other builders and remodelers Certified Graduate Remodeler/Graduate Builder Institute classes at the "CGR College" he began in Houston while he was the Remodelors™ Council president.  For more information, e-mail Bawden, call him at 713-723-8850, or visit his company’s Web site at http://legaleaglecontractors.com.

Updated CAPS Courses Debut in Las Vegas

Two updated Certified Aging-in-Place (CAPS) courses will debut prior to the 2007 Remodeling Show, Oct. 10-12, at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center in Las Vegas.

The courses — “Marketing and Communication Strategies for Aging and Accessibility (CAPS I)” and “Design/Build Solutions for Aging and Accessibility (CAPS II)” — have been upgraded to include recent statistics and trends about the older adult community, as well as improved graphics and activities to make the courses even more comprehensive.

A third course offered at the Remodeling Show, “Project Management,” has also been revised and teaches remodelers how to improve their project management processes.

Register for the courses when registering for The Remodeling Show.