At the second annual TecHome Builder Conference & Expo (TBX), presented by TecHome Builder magazine and sponsored by the Builder Industry Association of Southern California (BIA/SC), attendees will have the opportunity to choose from 30 sessions in four separate tracks, as well as three free classes designed to help builders learn and profit from technology.
TBX, which will be held at the Ontario Convention Center in Ontario, Calif., from May 10 - 12, will focus on how builders can "Turn Technology into Profits." Whether builders use design centers or designers, sell four or 400 homes per year, have a dedicated IT department or are a one-person shop, the TBX educational program is designed to help them get ahead.
"Consumers want to personalize their homes with home tech products and other options," says Nicole Derany, TBX's show director. "TBX shows builders how to merchandise, market and sell home tech products profitably and how to use technology in new home and options sales to improve the customer experience, increase revenues and bring more dollars to the bottom line."
To help builders prepare for the show, we break down the four tracks available, as well as some of the classes the tracks will offer. A complete overview of TBX sessions and event highlights can be found at www.tbxweb.com.
Home/Options Merchandising Technologies
This track will explore trends in merchandising technology, best practices and solutions that make home technology/options profits possible, as well as how to sell more homes. Included are focuses on Web-based merchandising plans and how design centers can increase options sales.
Ten class sessions will be offered in this track, including Maximizing Upgrades and Options Sales for Maximum Profit; Multi-Media Communication Tools for Design Centers and Customer Service; and NETtips A to Z: Internet Strategies for New Home Sales Excellence.
Josh Shron, Internet marketing manager for Edison, N.J.-based K. Hovnanian Homes, will lead a discussion on how builders and their salespeople can adapt to a constantly changing Internet environment. The Internet, Shron says, is the world's greatest sales tool, and he will offer tips on how builders can best provide online customer service and selling opportunities to new customers.
George Ruegg, director of creative service and marketing for Bridgeway Media Group, will present Multi-Media Communication Tools for Design Centers and Customer Service. The session will focus on the different video, Internet, kiosk and imaging systems that can be used by builders to communicate with, educate and manage their homebuyers.
In Maximizing Upgrades and Options Sales for Maximum Profit, Aareas Interactive president and CEO Frank Guido will discuss how builders can automate the options selection process and make it easier for homebuyers to choose upgrades, resulting in more profits for the builder. They will also learn from a panel of builders best and worst practices for design centers, as well as how to maximize the effectiveness of a small showroom.
Home Tech Design and Construction
This track, featuring five sessions, aims to inform builders of how to properly design and build a house that will feature home technologies. The classes will provide builders with the knowledge they need to handle technology integration on the jobsite, while informing architects and designbuild firms of the best ways to design for home technology inclusion.
Home Tech Options Marketing & Merchandising
With the ever-increasing demand for home technology, builders need to understand the best way to market and merchandise the options they provide. The 10 sessions available in this track include Increasing the Take Rate of Optional Technology Upgrades From Your Model Home; Leveraging Integrator Relationships to Maximize Tech Options Sales: Track, Spec and Custom Homes; and Multi-room Audio: How Maximized Lifestyle Options Maximize Profits for Builders.
Herman Cardenas, NetStreams president and CEO, along with a panel of homebuilders, will present Increasing the Take Rate of Optional Technology Upgrades From Your Model Home. Here builders can learn tips and tricks on informing homebuyers about the benefits of technology installations by maximizing the effectiveness of model homes. Milking the model home for all it is worth also means getting the sales staff excited about technology -- something that this session aims to teach builders.
Leslie Stevens, president of Eclipse Marketing, will explore the value-added benefits of the builder-integrator relationship in Leveraging Integrator Relationships to Maximize Tech Options Sales. This class will examine how builders and integrators are working together in options selling environments.
In Multi-room Audio: How Maximized Lifestyle Options Maximize Profits for Builders, Niles Audio executive vice president and COO Frank Sterns will lead the discussion of how builders can sell lifestyles -- not just homes. As more manufacturers are making multiroom audio solutions that are simple for builders to install, the profitability of installing such a system rises.
Cool Tech Topics
This track will feature sessions that may not fit under the other tracks, including information on creating connected communities, delivering HVAC solutions to homes and using Web-based collaboration software to improve effi- ciency and increase profits.
One class available under this track, Rebate Program Technologies: Managing the Supply Chain More Efficiently, takes a look at how builders can save money by effi- ciently implementing manufacturer rebate programs. James Waldrop, president and CEO of HomeSphere, will lead this presentation.
Tech Primer Classes
TBX will feature three free primer sessions: Design Center Home Tech Sales 101, Construction Superintendent's 20 Home-Tech Commandments and Designing Houses for Home Tech Products. Design Center Home Tech Sales 101 focuses on teaching design center representatives the basics in presenting and selling home tech, including proper terminology, conversation starters and the top reasons buyers should purchase home technologies when they are purchasing appliances.
Meanwhile, Construction Superintendent's 20 Home-Tech Commandments aims to help builders foster relationships with their custom installers, providing 20 rules to follow. The rules include how to properly choose an integration partner as well as how to ensure that they are providing what they have promised.
The final free class, Designing Houses for Home Tech Products, focuses on how builders need to adapt to changing demands from their homebuyers, concentrating on how to design homes that will include home technologies.