It often seems that the whole world is racing headlong toward digital-this and high definition-that. Yet, many builders find themselves at the back of that pack, reduced to the role of spectators who don't fully understand the rules of a fast-paced game unfolding before them.

That can make it pretty tough to be a successful home tech builder, especially when you're trying to convince homeowners to part with more of their money, but tech builders need to know a lot more than just what's happening in the consumer electronics market and what trends are taking place in the installation field. They need to know how to market and sell.

Don't kid yourself that as a builder that job is best left to the salespeople on your staff. Selling upgrades and options is everyone's business, starting with you. The surest way to convince a homebuyer to add more options to their new home is when they perceive that their builder is excited about those options as well.

To help you with the task, several builders and installers offer their advice on how to successfully market home technology to your customers. It is advice well worth paying attention to. After all, consider some recent statistics on how your customers view home technology:

• According to the Meyer's Group, technology is now one of the top 10 attributes of everyone's perfect home.
• A study by the Internet Home Alliance, "State of the Connected Home Market 2003," found that approximately 12 percent of single-family, owner-occupied American households with Internet connections also have a home network. The study projected that number will rise to 16 percent (or about 10 million households) by the end of July 2004.

Big name retailers are picking up on these facts and increasingly offer their own home installations on certain audio and video systems. This has the potential of cutting in on one of your most important profit areas—option upgrades.

If you haven't already outfitted your model homes with home theaters, multizone music, and controlled lighting effects, produced informational brochures and DVDs, picked your subcontractors, printed fliers, hired a skywriter, advertised in the paper, and put your nephew on the street corner in the company's mascot costume—don't panic. Even if you don't have a nationally recognized name, there are effective ways to get it closer to the top of your region's list of technology builders. A diverse and measured marketing plan is the key to making your firm the top choice in the growing home technology market.

Gain Their Trust

Customers need to feel comfortable with options.
The most essential ingredient to effective marketing is customer service. Without it, the promised experience of all your supportive efforts––sales, advertisements and promotions––fall flat.

As a new home manager with Brookfield Homes in southern California, Dean Barnes knows that fact well. He helps buyers decide what systems will work best with their new home and says strong customer relationships are at the heart of any successful builder's service: "As a homebuyer liaison, it's my job to make buyers comfortable looking at all of the technology options we offer," says Barnes. "I have experience in structured wire, and as a construction superintendent I can use clear terms to help customers understand the technical side of home systems. But getting to the personal side––talking about who they are, and how their family lives at home––is what energizes the exchange."

That energy pays off in motivation and inspiration, Barnes explains. "It helps me put together a technology package that adds real benefit to their lives, and it establishes trust, which helps down the road if they're teetering on upgrading a system, or if service issues arise," he says.

Builders also need to remember that even if your customers get exactly the technology they want in the end, if the process of getting it is a struggle, the items' value drastically falls.

Know Their Needs

Home tech sells when it truly fits the customer.
Builders who are serious about providing real home-tech solutions to their buyers need to understand who the customer really is in terms of lifestyle and work style needs within the house.

Marketing is a demographically sensitive art form. Consider the following examples: a lightning-speed broadband connection probably isn't topping the 65-plus-age-bracket's wish list, but you can bet a family of four has plenty of uses for it. And if your housing projects include homes or condos at only a few thousand square feet, a 72-inch plasma home theater package won't fill the bill. Take the time to talk with buyers beyond the technology you're selling; it will help you determine what your customers want to change about their lifestyles and ultimately will help you to sell better.

Keep It Simple

Impress homeowners with benefits, not buzzwords.
Communicating the benefits of technology should be about the benefits and not the technology.

Don't count on your customer knowing what Cat 5e is. First, they aren't a low-voltage technician, and secondly, they don't need to understand electronics to enjoy what they can offer. After all, how many car drivers know how an internal combustion engine works? Instead, highlight the changes in lifestyle they'll experience when they purchase one of your connected homes. "Some customers start off thinking their new outlets and light switches are going to work like the ones they grew up with," says Bill Bentz, president of Florida general contractor, WA Bentz Inc. "If I start involving them in the tiny details behind a wiring scheme, we'll never settle on a useful plan. I have to focus on how the technology is going to be used."

Bentz offers an example: "If I have a customer who travels a lot, the concern becomes making his family at home feel safer when that customer is away. In that case I'd recommend a security system and a lighting package that lets them get all the lights on from the bedrooms, or before they even walk in the house."

At the end of the day, despite how it may sometimes seem, your customers really don't care about gadgets, they don't want to see the gadgets, and they hardly ever want to touch the gadgets. They just want their lives to work more smoothly. Communicating that as the final product is essential to selling lifestyles.

Know Your Strengths

You offer something a retailer can't—a relationship.
Many builders have a fear of embracing home technology because of a perceived price battle with retailers, but builders have advantages for attracting buyers that go beyond winning the cost tug-of-war.

Your sales staff is closer to the final environment in which home technology will be used by homebuyers, and they can offer useful solutions to customers' individual lifestyles, as well as extend personalized benefits beyond the selling process. "A customer can go to a retailer and get the best price, but they won't get the depth of information, or the hands-on service and assistance, when it comes to installation and being able to confidently use their systems," says Dean Barnes of Brookfield Homes. "Through our service, buyers are put in touch with a local service rep, who they can count on to resolve their questions and service situations. They'll either handle the call themselves or contact vendors directly for details."

Your constant communication with buyers should focus on the total experience the customer will receive when dealing with your firm. Customers should know they'll be taken care of by someone who knows the equipment and knows their home, when they walk through the front door, when they purchase a home, when they purchase technology, and when they have questions later.

Involve Customers

Let homebuyers experience home tech first hand.
Builders have a major advantage in the model home or the home-tech showroom, which, with some investment, is on its way to becoming the next specialty retail center.

Your sales staff can offer customers a more personal and rewarding experience than that of a labyrinthine retail store ––allowing buyers to touch the panels, watch the lights dim, hear the music change from room to room, and quickly get used to the idea of having all that simplicity in their own home.

For those who still think technology is just a man's hobby, Her Home magazine reports that women make 80 percent of a home's purchasing decisions. Remember, we're not talking about selling gadgets here, it's about lifestyle: intercoms, central vacuum, controlled lighting and music everywhere—so make sure you appeal to everyone who walks through your door.

Hire An Ambassador

The best person to explain home tech may not be on staff.
Sometimes the best way to educate homebuyers on what is possible through integrated home technology is to outsource the whole marketing process.

If you believe your staff isn't sufficiently "up" on everything they need to be able to understand and explain home technology options and features, you may want to bring in outside expertise. This lets the buyer deal with a single contact from start to finish. It leaves the details to the experts and lets a builder team continue to do what it does best. "Often, a builder's staff is knowledgeable in flooring, counters, and cabinets, but not electrical systems," says George Arnold, a partner at Stereo and Video Integrators, a builder supplier in Middletown, N.J. He says his firm simplifies the entire process for builders who want to expand service.

"They pass the baton and let us cover every aspect of selling, installing and servicing integrated technology," Arnold says. "We have a showroom exclusively for builder customers, we install demo products for free in models, and we follow up with buyers after an installation if they have questions or want upgrades down the road. Builders love it because we add nothing to their budget, only their bottom line."

Whether you are still deciding which home-tech options to offer and how to package them, or you still haven't started the process, letting an outside expert put new technology in your homes can be a huge advantage. To choose the right installer and integrator, compare several in your area and consider the following: what size homes do they work in, what technology brands can they access, and what industry credentials do they have?

A good thing to ask for is certification by the Custom Electronic Design and Installation Association (CEDIA). It sets benchmarks for installers who work in low voltage, maintaining industry-wide performance standards through standardized testing and certification, and it's one good sign that an installer has the experience to design and service the systems you might offer.

Make It Flexible

Homebuyers want to know they can get options later.
A successful strategy is to future-proof the home by pre-wiring for needs the customer may have later on, for home tech options they can't justify now.

This approach is very appealing from a marketing stance. Customers can ease into purchasing technology––choosing only the equipment they really want and can afford now––but know they can still ask for upgrades when they're ready. If customers do want an upgrade soon after, you are likely to get the job, and it can be done very quickly. The wiring will be in place, so you won't have to tear up the drywall to run new cables.

An expandable wiring platform adds resale value to the house, and also helps establish you as the homebuyer's expert source for all future home tech needs.

Promote Yourself

Develop a reputation as a leading home-tech builder.
A good way to sell more tech options is to have already established a reputation locally as an expert in the field.

You can hire the most qualified installer, put together the most advanced user-friendly technology packages from the biggest names in the business, and offer the most comprehensive post-installation service program in the country, but few customers may ever call on you if you rely solely on a business card, brochure or Web site that looks amateurish.

These materials communicate more than your name and phone number; they're direct reflections of your brand, which is the most important asset you have. Consider having a professional marketing firm assess your brand presence in the marketplace and update the look and feel of your logo, promotional materials and Web site––an indispensable resource if you want to be taken seriously as a tech authority.

When producing your new printed materials, don't skimp on paper weight or treatment. It may be enticing to step down thickness or forego a glossy coat, trading for a reduced set-up charge and a greater quantity of cards, but all you end up getting is 5,000 dull, flimsy cards representing you to the world.

Coleen Sterns is president, and Adam Robbins is a writer and marketing coordinator at Marketing Matters, a Hollywood, Fla.-based strategic integrated marketing & communications agency, www.marketingmatters.net. Joe Piccirilli is managing director of AVAD, LLC, a nationwide integrated home technology distributor. www.avad.com