Five Things A Builder Needs to Know About Home Technology
by Keith E. Davis

 

1. Home Technology should be embraced as the next big thing in the new home market. Granite is granite and cabinets are cabinets oak or otherwise, but home technology is a highly desired product and service in demand by tech-savvy homebuyers.
2. Home Technology should be a new profit center for the builder. BUT...not at artificially inflated price points that will effectively kill the sale and drive the home buyer to a retailer or ESC (Electronic Systems Contractor) after they move in, cutting you out of the profit picture entirely.
3. Home Technology requires a more professional sales and installation model than any other upgrade or product you currently sell. Do not take the cheap route and hire the lowest cost installer and think you received a good value. You may pay later in customer dissatisfaction and remorse.
4. Home Technology is not rocket science and should never be presented as such. It’s cool, unique, wonderful and fun, but it does not have to be difficult. Examine the way an ESC demonstrates the features and functions of home technologies to you. If it’s complicated, find a different ESC who can make it simple for you and your buyers.
5. Home Technology can get wrapped up in jargon and so called standards that make no sense to the majority of builders and homebuyers. Look for an ESC who can speak to you in language you can understand; they will most likely communicate with your customer in the same way. Any ESC who spouts off specifications and acronyms like bullets out of a machine gun is a geek pure and simple. Find another one…and fast…so that your clients will not be turned off by the total lack of understanding the benefits home technology provides.
6. About Keith E. Davis: With over 25+ years in the electrical, security and home technology industry, Keith Davis is president of Residential Technologies, Inc., a firm dedicated to lighting control, renewable energy, specialty electrical systems and energy management and control. He is a North Carolina licensed electrical contractor whose tenure includes AVAD D2B, a/v/a tech, Audio Video Design, a CE Pro Top 50 Dealer and C & M Electric. Keith participates in the Home Technology Alliance as an NAHB member and can be contacted at kdavis@rtinc.biz or (704) 944-3125. 

 

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