Will Anyone Pay to be “Green”?

July/Aug 2008 Issue

This may be just the boost in confidence we need to sell the environmental control side of the biz, people!
The current issue of California Builder sites an interesting National Survey of existing homeowners (not just Californians, despite the mag’s name).
We all know “green” is a popular (read over-played) buzzword, but are homeowners willing to put their money where their mouth is when it comes to forking out the dough?
According to the survey results, the answer is YES!
To make the most of this definitive information, try using open ended questions with your prospects.  What does “green” mean to them?  How important are financial savings in relation to protecting the environment? Saving energy? Enjoying the health benefits of going green?
Focus on these 3 primary reasons homeowners pay extra for “green features.”   To save energy, enjoy health benefits and take care of the environment.
1.  To Save Energy
75% are willing to pay more for energy saving products if the features pay them back through actual cost savings.
18% are willing to pay more for this reason, even if they never recover their investment.
2. Enjoy Health Benefits
50% will pay extra for the combination of health benefits AND return on investment.
41% will STILL pay extra for the health benefits of going green, even with no monetary ROI.
3. Take Care of the Environment
46%  will pay more to take care of the environment, provided they ALSO save enough over the long term to
cover the original investment.
24% say they’ll pay more simply for the sake of the environment alone.
One last fact from the article that you can use on the sales floor:
” …buildings (including their homes) contribute almost half of total U.S. energy use and atmospheric emissions, and approximately [20%] of its water effluent problems.”
My goodness!

Turn Copper into Gold!

Copper prices are so high now, why not save all wire remnants left over from each job and recycle the copper!  By the end of the year it could really add up…

ConnectHome Dealers Clean Up at IHTA 2008

Not one but TWO deserving ConnectHome dealers have been honored In the Integrator category of TecHome Builder’s Innovative Housing Technology Awards 2008

Congratulations to Video Audio Design & Stardot Inc!

ihta08 vad-frank

Video Audio Design

 

Jeremy Franks and Video Audio Design of Bakersfield, CA won TecHome Builder’s Innovative Housing Technology Award for Integrators in the Western region! 

ihta08 startdot-kotula

Stardot Project

 

Mike Lockett and Stardot Inc. were honored for Home Technology Integrator Excellence as a Finalist!

 

Keep up the great work; you deserve the national recognition!

Big Bucks in Apartments?

Searching high and low for the perfect (yet affordable) new home this weekend, I noticed a fascinating trend.  Each apartment complex was fighting for my rent dollars with amenities like I’ve never seen!  Amenities that need the expertise of an integrator.

Maybe I’m behind on the apartment scene, but goodness some of these places are like resorts now!  Pools, Jacuzzis, gyms with televisions built into the equipment, fully equipped business centers, rock climbing walls, dog parks…the works. 

So how do you fit in?   Offer to help apartment owners keep up with their competition, increase occupancy rates and increase rent!  

All this by selling them some of these juicy opportunities I saw first hand:

  • Club houses with full home theaters: 12-20 seats, surround sound, huge flat screen etc.
  • Jacuzzis & heated pools with dusk to dawn lights and remote heating from inside the pool house
  • Internet Cafes with networking, audio and lighting opportunities
  • Traditional game rooms & billiard rooms with multiple flat screens, designer lighting and distributed audio
  • Gaming rooms with the whole a/v set-up, video game equipment and theater seating
  • Fully equipped gyms, conference rooms, entertainment rooms etc. which include flat screens and distributed audio, remote blinds and more
  • Patio and community BBQ areas with outdoor audio
  • Apartments themselves often have energy saving thermostats, light dimmers & dusk to dawn porch lights

Although I didn’t see these particular items this weekend, you could also include the following in your Apartment Ammenities proposal:

  • WaterCop equipment in your proposal, to prevent resident floods & resulting damage
  • Inter-tel 3000 phone systems for leasing agents and fully equipped business centers

New prospects await!  Sell, sell, sell!

Tech Support Calls

Sooner or later you’re going to run into an issue when you need to call in for some help with getting your project or system installation up and running. So you pick up the telephone and who are you going to call? No, not the Ghost Busters, but Home Controls Technical Support, right?! Well, it really could be any manufacturer’s or distributor’s tech support, but regardless of who you do call, I’d like to offer a few tips on how to make that call more informative and productive for both you, the customer, and the tech head(s) on the other end of line. In no particular order, here they are.

1. Mobile phones have made reaching out to others so much more convenient, but please don’t call for tech support while your placing your order at your favorite drive-through. Being the tech head on the other end, I’ve heard my fair shares of “Welcome to MacBurgerJack, Senior. Can I take your order?” and “Hey, Tech Support, can you hold one second? Uhh, gimme the double beef double cheese with bacon, mega chili fries, and uh, a diet coke.” Yes, I know you have to eat lunch, too, but how about calling when your mind is really on the project? And please, I don’t want to hear the sounds of rushing water (unless you really are working on a fountain or water feature) and never do I want to hear the sound of a flushing toilet.

2. Tech support guys, and gals, are good at what they do. No, they’re really good at what they do, but they’re only as good in figuring things out as the information that is provided to them. The more information you provide, the quicker a solution can be achieved. At a minimum, try and identify the manufacturer and part numbers of the equipment that you are working with. You have to accurately convey the actions that you have performed and describe things in detail in order to make the tech head feel as if he’s there with you troubleshooting the problem.

3. Can’t get your message across on the phone? How about sketching a diagram or taking a picture and sending it to tech support? My wife emails me pictures taken with her cell phone all the time of our cats and their latest mischievous antics, and you, too, could easily do the same. Don’t send me pictures of your cat, but do email or fax a picture of that gnarly wired junction box or your wiring diagram sketched on the back of the cocktail napkin. A picture is worth a thousand words.

4. This one has some ties to the first tip. When you do have tech support on the line, try and make it quality time. Preferably call from where the troubleshooting needs to take place, just in case the tech head asks you to do something like flip a power switch on or have you test for 12 VDC by having you touch the leads of a power supply with the tip of your tongue because you don’t have a DVM. OK, ok, unless you have a calibrated tongue, you’ll simply test for the presence of voltage, how’s that?

Troubleshooting while you’re driving and talking on the cell phone? Not the most productive, not to mention the inconvenience of dropped calls. Some people I know have a difficult time just driving, but if you must call while behind the wheel, just be sure to use your hands-free device if your calling from California. If you are on site, try and eliminate background noise and distractions, not only for your sake but for the tech head that’s now also hearing the barking dog, the baby crying, and that two-stroke leaf blower being operated by your landscaper. Can you say B-R-O-O-M? And one last thing, the tech head is giving you 100% of his attention. Don’t put ‘em on hold for longer than 15 seconds when you get a call waiting tone. Better yet, ignore the call waiting. That’s what voice mail is for, right.

5. What else? RTFM. Read the furnished manual. Or at least have it with you as a reference. Be informed of the equipment that you are working with. Yes, I know that there are manuals out there that have lost some of their meaning when translated from their original foreign language to English, but still, they do provide useful information. I like the pictorial instructions, like the ones IKEA provides, myself. And you know what? I haven’t had to call their tech support yet!

I’ll let you in on a little secret…unless I’ve worked with a product so much that I dream about it night, in color, I rely heavily on the manuals that come with the products that we sell when it comes to troubleshooting (and I do periodically call our manufacturer’s tech support when I’m at a loss for what to do next). There’s been many a time when I’ve read the instructions out loud to a customer while he read along on his end of the phone when all of a sudden, the light came on and the customer realized what he missed or what needed to be done. There is a huge difference between reading and just seeing words on a page, and reading and understanding the content.

So those are five tips for you, and even I, to keep in mind the next time a call is required for a bit of help. But please! Keep those calls coming in to Home Controls Tech Support! I am in now way discouraging you from calling! For without your calls and questions, I might be the one asking you what you’d like to order for lunch through that nasally squawk box!

FREE GAS!

Enticing? Well, it’s true.

Free Gas from Home Controls

Home Controls is giving away Free Gas Cards to qualified orders! Simple enough. Just order your products as you normally would and add a card to your cart. Gas cards are available from Exxon/Mobil, Shell, and Texaco/Chevron.

Some restrictions apply. Click here for details!

220VAC 50 Hz UPB Devices

Powerline Control Systems (PCS) just announced licensing agreements with Smart Home Ltd (SHL) of Tefen, Israel to produce a full line of international (220VAC 50Hz) versions of UPB based lighting controls. SHL has chosen to implement its SHOVAV SYSTEM Home Automation products with UPB protocol.

Another company who’s developing a similar product line is Powerline Lighting Control Pty Ltd (PLLC) from Australia (www.powerline.com). They currently have an inline receiver, several multibutton transmitters and a UPB PIM that is compatible with 240VAC 50 Hz. PLLC products meets/exceeds Australian EMC regulatory requirements.

BTW, both companies are developing UPB Gen II compatible devices. This bodes well to the future of UPB for the rest of the world whose power grid is different from North America.

After all these years, I can’t wait to get my hands on these devices!