By Dan McLeister
Selling consumers on advanced home-construction technology can be difficult. Home owners often fear the costs or don't see the value of new technologies.
At the 2006 International Builders' Show, speakers at a seminar titled "Selling Consumers on Advanced Technology" outlined two systems that can help builders deal with this complicated process of explaining the benefits of different technologies.
One idea is to understand and learn how to positively affect the component parts of a buyer's decision process. Another concept is to create groups of features, or Tech Sets, to combine innovations into manageable systems-based packages.
To deal with decisions, builder/remodeler Bill Asdal of Asdal Builders in Chester, N.J., (www.asdalbuilders.com) said that it is important to understand the component parts of a decision and to identify and evaluate the importance of various decision criteria. The criteria a buyer uses in a decision might include the following:
- First cost
- Life cycle cost
- Social responsibility
- Contractor pressure
- Warranty
- Peer pressure
Bill then weights the importance of each of these criteria relative to a specific technology; factors in return on investment or years of payback for the technology; puts this all into a spread sheet; and arrives at a total score for that technology.
The next step is for the builder or remodeler to engage in what Bill called a "collaborative discovery" with the customer who may not have thought of all the aspects of choosing a product. The spread sheet allows customers to see the whole picture.
Prioritizing consumer criteria helps define the shades of gray between the black of no and the white of yes. Seeing the whole picture can create what Bill calls a "value proposition" for the choice of a product. The use of this system can "outscore" a competing builder or remodeler who does not have an organized system to help the customer make a choice, said Bill. Such a system can also help change a customer's fixation on only the first costs of a new or recent technology product.
Tech Sets
Such decision-making tools can also be applied to groups of technologies, which are called Tech Sets by the Partnership for Advancing Technology in Housing (PATH) (www.pathnet.org).
Maureen McNulty of D&R International, a representative of PATH, said Tech Sets take the guesswork out of choosing cost-effective technologies that can improve home quality and deliver a distinct market advantage.
Developed by the NAHB Research Center through PATH and released quarterly, these Tech Sets show how recommended technologies can be used together to receive benefits that are greater than the sum of the parts: the key to a system-based approach. The latest Tech Set, which focuses on storm-resistant roofing, was released at this year's Builders' Show. Previous Tech Sets from the federal government organization include:
- Resource efficient plumbing–systems integration of the water distribution and used water (gray water) recycling network to decrease the cost of construction and maintenance;
- Durable building envelope details–a system of thermal and air barriers separating conditioned and unconditioned space, such as walls, roofs, windows and foundations, that improve the durability of a structure;
- Forced air systems–proper design and installation procedures to improve the energy efficiency, durability and performance of a forced air system;
- Energy-efficient lighting–daylighting strategies and money-saving artificial lighting techniques that improve the comfort and energy-efficiency of a home.
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