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 Building Trust as You Build the Home
By Carol Smith
Corporate greed, sneaky bank fees, political scandals, uncertain home appreciation, ridiculous mortgage requirements, and social insanity are a few of many factors that have converged to create suspicious, fidgety buyers. How can builders create customer peace of mind in this environment? Be an oasis of reliability, control, and forthright communication.
Product Clarity What comes standard in your homes? Confusion about included versus selected features is a near fatal error where goodwill is concerned. Provide a written list, room by room of the features that come in the base price. In a second column, list the selected items displayed for buyers' consideration. Link to Model Home Features Form
Model Tour Before signing the purchase agreement, walk around the exterior of the model, then the basement and garage. The customer is buying all of this and should look closely at the quality and details. Point out which walls of the garage have drywall, the fit of the overhead doors, the control joints in the basement floor, and the gravel in the window wells. Review included and selected items one more time.
Read more...
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 The Ten Commandments of Tough Market MarketingBy Tom Richey, MIRM, CAASH
The seventies were construction driven. The eighties market driven. The nineties marketing driven. And the 2000s and beyond will be technology driven! With the interplay of so many factors that influence the housing industry, a whole new set of rules has emerged for success from this year and beyond. The builder who thinks it's "business as usual" is deluding himself. The issues of money, construction, and sales, which lead to programmed profits, will be elusive for the best managed firms. As we look at thirty areas to address the housing management revolution, we should first index the Ten Commandments for Tough Market Marketing. They are: 1. Research regimen
The builder must understand that there are three legs to the research stool: 1) Feasibility studies, 2) competition comparables, and 3) product preferencing. Without understanding what the buyer of today wants, the builder may be delivering to the marketplace a product which is unacceptable. Other research regimens are post sale research or knowing exactly why prospects buy your homes - or why they do not. And finally, exit studies, focus groups, or old fashioned prospect card analysis to have a continuing fix on your buyer profile. As we've heard so many times, research doesn't cost money, it pays.
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 Product NewsWood Protection Systems Safeguard a Builder's Largest Material Investment
By Bora-Care
Wood and wood products are still the material of choice in new construction of residential buildings. So what is the single most expensive item when you build a house? The cost of the wood! This is why builders are offering treatments in their new home sale package to protect that investment from termites, carpenter ants, wood boring beetles, wood destroying fungi and other pests.
Three main options exist for termite protection in new construction: soil termiticides, termite baiting systems and borate pretreatments.
Soil termiticide treatments drench the ground around the home with chemicals to kill invading subterranean termites. But they break down quickly and can leave gaps, and their barriers can easily be broken during excavation and landscaping. A study conducted in Mississippi showed that soil termiticides can break down by 50% or more in just one year (Mulrooney et al, 2006). Many soil termiticides can even cause damage to cPVC piping systems, resulting in expensive post-construction repairs. Soil termiticides also do not address other serious pest issues, such as decay fungi or drywood termites, plus builders are becoming much more interested in green alternatives to pest control and have become reluctant to pump chemicals into the soil.
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 Product NewsMaking Connections With Viega Makes Repiping Easy
Renovation is becoming more and more common in the plumbing industry and Viega makes repiping easy with flexible PEX systems and efficient water distribution manifolds like the Viega MANABLOC. The difficulty with repiping applications is the tight spaces and close quarters installers must work in.
David Sexton, owner of Tender Plumbing Care in Casselbury, FL, has been in the industry since 1975 and has been installing Viega products for 22 years. Sexton believes attics and island sinks are the most difficult parts of a home to repipe.
"Some of them can be real tight and hard to get to, just to get lines to them," he said.
He prefers the Viega MANABLOC because of its ease of installation.
"I just like that I've got fewer fittings," Sexton said. "I've got a direct feed. If there's a problem, you can isolate it."
Sexton believes in quality and has spent time educating contractors and building officials on different methods of repiping.
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News and Notes
Emma Shinn Book Now Available on Kindle
Accounting and Financial Management for Residential Construction, 5th Edition by Emma Shinn
 Take control of your finances with Accounting and Financial Management. This solid resource for builders, remodelers, developers, and contractors provides detailed information on how an accounting system operates and the basic principles for processing financial data. This fifth edition includes the updated NAHB Chart of Accounts and explains: - How technology facilitates procedures for such items as accounts payable, change orders, and payroll and how it impacts processing systems
- The impact of additional management reports and how they can enhance and facilitate a manager's job
- The key measurements that residential construction professionals should track
- The integration of job cost accounting with estimating, purchasing, and scheduling
- And the profit center concept for multiple-project companies and its reporting requirements.
To order the book for $9.99, click here.
Progress Lighting Ap for Catalog
The Progress Lighting Catalog Goes mobile!
Progress Lighting is pleased to announce that it has its Catalog available for the iPhone, iPad and Android phones free. This mobile catalog features the following:
* You can search by Product number, Category, Family, Finish and Brand
* You can add an item to your "Shopping" list
* Once all the items have been added to the cart and you hit the "checkout" button you are taken to the Progress web site to purchase. Below is a link to the apps from our web site.
To get instructions for downloading the ap, click here.
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Upcoming Events
Webinars The Shinn Group's 19th Annual Financial and Operations Study Results
Friday, June 29, 2012 at 11am EDT
By Charles C. Shinn, Jr. Phd and Emma S. Shinn
How did you fare in 2011? Surprisingly, many of the participants in the 2011 Financial and Operations study made money. How did they do it?
In this webinar, Charles C. Shinn, Jr., PhD and Emma S. Shinn review the 19th annual financial and operations study results and discuss changes these builders made to their organizations to show positive growth for 2011.
To register, click here.
To order the full report, please contact Emma Shinn at eshinn@builderpartnerships.com
For Manufacturers: Learn which Manufacturers Are Highest Rated by Builders and Why
Thursday, Sept. 13, 2012 at 11am EDT
Using proprietary research from Builder Partnerships, we report on the manufacturers who serve builders best and how they achieve that success. In the tough market, finding the methods to differentiation are essential.
Hold the date.
Check Out our Partners at PCBC 2012!
PBCB 2012 will be held at the Moscone Center, San Francisco June 27 - 28. Many of our manufacturers are exhibiting. Please visit their booths and speak with the representatives.
In addition, service provider, Stephen Moore will be joining other experts in a seminar:
Multifamily Low Density: For Rent or For Sale and Value Engineered
Thursday, June 28 1:15pm-2:15pm
Between 2010 and 2015, an estimated 9.1 million new renters will enter the housing market, fueling a surge in multifamily demand. In "urban light" markets, garden apartments, condos and townhouses can offer contemporary design and an atmosphere of urban edge while also incorporating desirable green spaces. And smart, sophisticated designs are now pushing the envelope in densities for on-grade walk-up and low-rise (3-4 stories) multifamily housing. A panel of experts will share how they're rethinking the way multifamily communities are developed-and how to maximize your share of this burgeoning market.
Moderator: Stephen Moore, Senior Partner, BSB Design
Check Out our Partners at SEBC!
The Southeast Building Conference is scheduled for July 26 - 28 at Orange County Convention Center, Orlando.
Check out these great seminars:
Leaders Advantage Program
Thursday, July 26 8:00am-6:00pm
Customer Service, Profitability and Sustainable Vision Planning Panel
Panel Speakers: Charles C. Shinn, Jr., PhD, President, The Shinn Group of Companies; Charlie Scott, Woodland, O'Brien & Scott and Kenneth J. Hirsch AIA, LEED AP, Hirsch Architects, In
Sales Academy Hall
Friday, July 27 9:30-11:00 AM
"The Year 2012 Sales and Marketing Solutions"
Speaker: Thomas W. Richey, MIRM, CAASH - '2006 Legend of Residential Marketing' by NAHB
"How Sales Management Drives Success"
Friday, July 27 3:10-4:00
What do you do when buyers are not coming through your doors, when the buyers you do get are asking for impossible deals, or when your competitor is slashing and burning his way through inventory? How do you cope with all the negativity in the media? This present selling climate is the toughest it's been in a very long time. Who are you going to turn to for help? You look to the people who are succeeding and find out their secrets. This selling and sales management workshop will give you those secrets.
Speaker: Thomas W. Richey, MIRM, CAASH - '2006 Legend of Residential Marketing' by NAHB
Been There, Done That - Best Practices from a Builder who has Learned to Maximize Internet Leads
Friday, July 27, 2:10-3:00
Travel along the journey as this builder, Southern Homes, teaches you the best practices and common mistakes they made while learning to master the art of internet sales. Learn how this builder went from 9% internet sales to over 50% internet sales in less than 2 years with simple, practical, and any-one-can-do-it techniques, and unlock your online sales profit potential. If you want to make more money working "smarter" rather than "harder" this is a can't miss learning experience. (Plus the presenter is a complete weirdo and is just amusing to watch).
Speaker: Jared Weggeland, Southern Homes, Lakeland, FL
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Builder Partnerships manages highly competitive rebate and incentive programs and works to strengthen relationships between builders, manufacturers and other service providers in the home building industry. Currently, we have more than 500 builders, more than 75 manufacturers and several service providers associated with our program.
For more information, visit www.builderpartnerships.com
The Shinn Group has more than 500 builder clients located across the U.S. and Canada, including top performers among regional homebuilders. We offer sound management and financial principles and practices to home builders across the U.S. and Canada.
For more information, visit www.theshinngroup.com
Shinn Consulting is a widely recognized and well-respected leader providing consulting to homebuilders. It is dedicated to improving the professionalism of the home building industry.
For more information, visit www.shinnconsulting.com
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