A Sneak Peek into an Architect’s Head to Sell More Building Materials – Part 1

by jasonyana | Nov 17, 2016

The key to getting in front of the architect’s product decisions is to understand his process

Inside the architect’s mind… that’s a place you’d like to be to help fine-tune your building product marketing efforts. Am I right?

It’s like the copywriting legend, Robert Collier, once wrote, “a good ad begins with entering the conversation already taking place in your prospect’s mind.” That goes for all your marketing efforts and strategies.

So, that’s where I’m taking you today — inside the architect’s mind to see his decision-making process first hand.

Getting inside…

I recently heard they can study living animals through something called “intravital microscopy.” They attach a glass “window” to the animal and use a microscope to see how different internal systems work.

After I threw up in my mouth a little, I got to thinking, “Man, that would be nice if it could help see what some people are thinking…”

What’s that? You see where I’m going with this? Yes, that’s right. For you – my faithful reader – I tried my little heart out…

…But try as I might – with all my persuasiveness – I failed. I couldn’t find any architects who’d sit still long enough for me to attach this little looking glass I created to the top of their head.

Go figure.

So I found you the next best thing: An architect willing to share his thinking process as he searches for a new product. That’s what today’s post is about…

If you pay close attention, I think you’ll see a lot of great opportunities here. To get in front of some of these decision points and help you fine-tune your marketing to architects. I’ll be highlighting some of those key points along the way…

Discovering the need…

Alright, to set the stage for you a little, our architect friend here has a project that’s an addition to an existing building.

The existing building was built in the 1970s and has an exterior material – a fascia panel – that’s made of asbestos. So he needs to replace the material on the existing building and match it in the design of the new addition.

Let’s hear it straight from him on how he starts his search for the perfect product:

Thanks, Jason.

So, whenever I find myself at the beginning of my search for a new building product, I take stock of what factors are most important. In some cases, it’s part of a bigger picture and I need to consider all the adjacent materials around the product.

In this case, for simplicity, I’m able to focus on just this fascia panel material and walk you through my architectural decision tree. And then see how it progresses at each phase of the building project’s phases.

So the big question I need to start with is a common first question in most B2B buyers’ decision trees:

What’s important for my decision?

Here’s a list of the handful of points I was considering for this example product:

Weight – The existing panels are about 4 feet wide and 3 feet tall. That means I look at materials that are lightweight, so the existing supporting structure can hold it.
Durability – The building is out in the middle of a rural area, so it’ll see a lot of weather and wind. That means the panels need to be thick enough and perhaps a solid color (not painted), so they’ll stand up to the environment over time.
Maintenance – The existing product requires little maintenance, so the replacement needs to have the same (or better) performance. In other words… no caulk joints to maintain… minimal painting required… easy replacement of a single panel…
Cost – What costs are assumed in the preliminary estimates and the project budget? The proposed products need to be within the range, or close to what’s been assumed for the project.
Design Options – Does the manufacturer provide a sufficient variety of standard colors, textures and standard sizes to choose from? Or will there be added costs to meet this project’s requirements?

Once I have my list of things I need to consider in my search, I start looking…

Jason’s Key Takeaway:

Always be looking for ways capture your prospect’s main concerns & criteria for selecting your product. Be sure to ask the question when you have the opportunity to talk with them about their project.

Make sure you write it down during, or right after your conversation and look at covering these items on your product website and in your marketing materials.

[convertkit]

Researching my options (Phase I) …

It wasn’t that long ago that my research would begin with opening a few volumes of Sweets catalogues. Or searching the shelves for a manufacturer’s product guide that might lead me to the right product.

But, as I’m sure you know, those days are pretty well gone. Our office still has a few product guides on the shelves. But those are mostly the ones that have other important information that we use during design. (…like a drywall manufacturer who provide guides to fire-rated wall assemblies…)

In today’s world, my search starts in one of three places:

• 4specs.com – or – Sweets.com

• Local suppliers’ and installers’ websites

• Google

On a product directory website like Sweets.com or 4specs.com, I go right to the division I think I’ll find the product I’m looking for. In this case, it’s Division 7 – Thermal and Moisture Protection. I drill down to the different siding panels and rain screen options to see what manufacturers are listed there.

Then I start poking around each of these manufacturer’s websites to see if there’s anything that fits the bill. If I see something promising, I’ll bookmark the page, or download some of the brochures or other readily available PDFs I come across.

Then I jump to the other options…

After this search, I’ll go to my trusted local suppliers’ websites to see if they carry any of these products. If they do, that product will start moving toward the top of my list. I’ll also search their website for any other products my initial search didn’t turn up.

Finally, I’ll hit a Google search. I’ll try a series of keywords that I think will turn up what I’m looking for. I’ll usually have some key phrase ideas in mind from the sites I’ve looked at so far. For this example, I’ve come up with “metal wall panels” and “fiber cement wall panels.” There might be a few others I use, depending on what these basic searches bring up.

Whatever terms I do use, I rarely go past the first page of search results to look for options.

Once I’ve got that initial short-list of options pared down, I’ll move on to the next step…

Jason’s Key Takeaways:

There was a key point about the types of product guides an architect still keeps on his shelves. Did you catch it? It’s the ones with additional helpful information inside.
- If there’s anything helpful you can provide in your literature – calculators, rated assembly guides… anything – be sure to fold it into your product books. Then you’ll have a better chance of securing one of those coveted and increasingly rare places on the architect’s shelf.
Are you prominently listed in the different product directories out there? If not, you should be. And while you’re at it, make sure your company & product descriptions are well-written and make visitors want to click through to your site.
Does your website have helpful information that’s easily located and downloaded? It’s the next best thing besides a physical leave-behind. If you’re just hoping the architect will find his way back to your website once he’s closed the tab you could be waiting a long time.

Initiating contact with a sales rep…

I start this next step by calling a rep or filling out a form on the manufacturer’s or local supplier’s website. It depends on what looks like the easiest way to get ahold of someone. If I have a good relationship with a product rep, I’ll usually have their contact information in my Outlook files.

If I can’t easily find any contact information on their website, I’ll just skip them, and go to the next supplier or product rep.

My goal here is to set up a call or a face-to-face meeting with the product rep to see the options. Or get supporting materials to help me in my continuing search and eventual next step of selling the idea to other project team members.

As we’re having our discussion, I’m looking at the following to decide if I continue down the path with this product rep:

Proper presentation of options – Are they able to show me all my viable options for my specific situation? If they just offer me the same generic information I can find on their website then I’m no better off.

I’m looking for photos of similar past projects. Illustrations or details of their product used in my specific application. And maybe a case study of a successful project that featured their product.

Open discussion about cost options – Do they discuss cost options and how their product might compare to other options? If not, I’m hesitant to take the chance that I’ll bust the budget with their product when the actual costs come in.

Do they install the product, or just supply? – This isn’t usually clear on a supplier’s website, but it’s important to be clear who installs the product. If it’s another sub-contractor, I want to know what kind of support the supplier or manufacturer provides during the installation.

Jason’s Key Takeaway:

When you get the chance for a face-to-face or phone call, this is where it’s critical to make sure you’ve got some great presentations or illustrations of your product

Brainstorm how you can meet the prospect’s questions with the answers he needs to make the right decision – your product. Keep your presentations fluid to incorporate new concerns or questions as you learn them from your discussions with architects.

Researching my options (Phase II) …

Once I’ve met with or spoken to the product reps, I move onto another level of research. This is digging in deeper with the more specific information I’ve received on their products.

What’s important here is that the supplier or product rep has left me with the following information:

Case Studies – It’s important to know that other architects have used this product and speak highly of its benefits.
Photos – I want to see images of the product in similar installations as the one I’m looking at.
Building types – If the product provides certain benefits to my specific building type, it’s a definite plus.
Detail conditions – Provide me with details that match my condition I’m looking at – a canopy fascia, an entrance portal, large wall surface… Whatever the case might be.
Availability – I need to know if they have the colors & textures I’m looking for readily available. It would be even better if they have a good selection of photos in the finishes I need.

This second phase of research is where I’m preparing to select and sell the product I will recommend we use…

Jason’s Key Takeaway:

This one should be pretty obvious… Make sure creating these key pieces of content and getting them into the hands of your sales reps and suppliers.

If your product has a large selection of colors and textures, look to technology to help you represent those options as efficiently and attractively as possible.When you get the chance for a face-to-face or phone call, this is where it’s critical to make sure you’ve got some great presentations or illustrations of your product

Whew – that’s a lot to take in. I hope you’re seeing the value of getting all of this valuable information straight from your prospect’s mouth.

I had to shut him down for now, or this post might have gone on forever. But don’t worry — I’m going to bring him back for another post. Part 2 of this series of posts, so stay tuned.

Coming up next in part two . . .

How the architect sells your product to his project team…
What you can do to make the architect’s job easier during the construction document phase…
How you can arm the architect to defend your product from substitutions…
What you need to be doing to follow-up and remind the architect of the benefits you provided…
…And finally, how your product can become part of the architect’s “best practices” for future projects.

About the Author :

Jason Yana has 2 decades of experience in architectural technology, 3d graphics and construction marketing. This unique combination provides highly-effective visual representations of building products that fuel marketing and support efforts.

His award-winning body of work informs, inspires and educates building product customers.

Final Note:

If you’d like to read a little more about this topic of getting inside an architect’s head, take a look at this post on Venveo’s blog.

It’s an article written for you by our architect friend who’s sharing this look behind the curtain…

Venveo, in case you didn’t know them, are experts in building websites for building material manufacturers.

How to Make Your Building Material Marketing Pieces Work Harder

by jasonyana | Aug 3, 2016

Achieving Synergy by Leveraging High-Quality Videos & 3d Renderings

Before we get started, let me just say…

It was hard NOT using the word “synergy” in the title of this post. It’s one of those corporate-sounding throwaway buzzwords that’s been done to death. Which sucks – because it does a good job summarizing what we’re talking about today.

Synergy in your marketing is two or more initiatives working together to create a response greater than the sum of the elements alone. That’s according to a definition I found at smallbusiness.chron.com.

With traditional marketing methods, you end up paying twice for a marketing piece – once for its design and production, and again for the placement in the media of your choice (magazine, radio, trade journal). But you only get a single return from each effort.

However, done right, your marketing today can be paid for just once, but continue to provide you with returns virtually forever. That’s especially useful if your company has a limited marketing budget…

“Big doors swing on little hinges.” – W. Clement Stone

So how does this all apply to high-quality visualizations?

When you invest a portion of your marketing dollars on a few well-considered visual pieces – details, animations and 3-D renderings of your product – you create synergies between your sales & marketing materials and your technical documents.

What that means is you’re…

Making your marketing materials more technical, but still aesthetically pleasing…
Creating engaging and attention-grabbing technical pieces that are marketing-oriented…
Adding “why statements” to your technical pieces to get in front of your prospects questions

To give you a better idea of what we’re talking about here, let’s take a look at how some of the larger building product companies have been successfully using videos and renderings in an expanding way.

Nichiha

Nichiha, the fiber cement product manufacturer, does a great job of re-purposing their visualization throughout their marketing, sales and technical documents.

Not only are they using animated installation videos on their website to demonstrate the installation of their product lines to architects and contractors…

…They’re also combining video screen shots with photographs and 2D details in their installation instructions to clearly demonstrate to installers every step needed to provide a great project…

…You’ll also find their pulling 3D renderings into their brochures and other sales documents and weaving them between their sales copy and beautiful project photos.

It’s through this synergy that they effectively & successfully demonstrate how their products can work as part of the architects next project… While also creating a consistency that runs through all of their forms of communication with their clients and installers.

Oldcastle – Echelon Insultech

Let’s look at another great example: Oldcastle’s Echelon masonry product – Insultech.

For their Insultech product line, since it is one of those “behind-the-scenes” products, project photos don’t do it justice. That’s why it’s critical that they use a variety of images to demonstrate the product’s features and benefits to their clients.

It all starts on the website’s product page, where they use a variety of 3D rendering and details to illustrate the product…

If you happen to check out their YouTube channel, you’ll find they use a combination of live product demonstrations with 3D renderings and CAD drawings to properly demonstrate their products value.

In their Masonry Performance Upgrade catalog, their also using similar version of these 3D rendering to explain each of their upgrade options. And, again, we see they’re weaving the images together with sales copy, project photos and technical drawings.

Throughout their marketing and technical documents, Echelon is doing a great job of utilizing the many small pieces they’ve collected and are using them effectively across their website, their leave-behinds, and the rest of their media sources.

National Gypsum

For today’s last example, I’m highlighting the work that National Gypsum is doing. They’ve spent a lot of time and effort developing a library of product drawing, details, and animations to clarify their product lines.

(…By the way, I just finished putting together a case study of the work we’ve done together, so if you’d like to learn more, send me a quick message and I’ll email you the PDF…)

National Gypsum’s most comprehensive incorporation of the many small pieces and parts that they’ve generated and collected are brought together in their newly-released (circa June 2016) “NGC Construction Guide.”

Throughout the almost 400-page guide, they’ve brought together all of the technical details, renderings and images to clarify their extensive product lines. I’m honored to have been part of the development of the visualization pieces. Here are a few pages from the guide…

As an architect or contractor goes through the National Gypsum website, or any of the other marketing channels NGC uses, they’ll see a consistent use of the many visual pieces they’ve developed over time.

It’s through this consistency, that National Gypsum has developed an effective strategy to communicate the value their products provide, and how their clients can use those products to create the best project possible.

Conclusion

As you can see, investing in a few high-quality product renderings or videos to weave throughout your marketing and customer service strategies can be scaled as much or as little as you want.

Your strategies can adjust as your marketing budgets fluctuate. But each of these pieces can be repurposed throughout all of your communications with your client. The options are unlimited.

So get started building your library today.

Why Building Material Companies Cannot Ignore Design-Build

by jasonyana | May 25, 2016

Did you know that — on average — design-build project account for almost 40% of non-residential design and construction that’s going up around the country? In some states, like Oregon & Hawaii, it’s up around 68%… for military work, it’s over 80%.

That’s what the most recent RS Means Design-Build Project Delivery Market Share and Market Size Report says.

I know I was surprised when I heard it.

That’s a pretty huge deal… and a huge opportunity for building product manufacturers. Assuming you can figure out how to get your products into that market.

In this post, I’d like to share a few ideas on how you can do just that.

Entering the Design-Build world

In his blog post about the growing design-build market, Mark Mitchell says:

“…In the world of design-build, the more knowledgeable the contractor is about your products’ quality, what your products can do, how fast you can supply them, what they cost, and how flexible you are to work with, the more likely you will be called on to be part of the team.”

As usual, Mark’s advice is right on the money. But there are also other possible entry points to consider. Such as through an architect who is part of the design-build team. Or through a developer. Or all the above.

There are several design-build contractual arrangements you’ll come across. So you’ll want to consider different approaches for your product. In the end, it’s up to you to determine and test the strategy or strategies that will be most effective for your specific products and services.

To get a general idea of the lay of the land, let’s take a look at some of the basic delivery methods you might come across as you look for a way to get started…

Understanding Design-Build delivery methods

The following list covers the most common design-build delivery methods you’ll run into as defined by the Design-Build Institute of America. I’m listing these so you’ll understand the possible “pecking-order” you might be dealing with. I won’t go into the pros and cons of each method.

Just know these variations exist, and different approaches may be required for each…

Joint Venture: A joint venture between a designer and a builder.
Fully Integrated: A design-build organization with in-house design and construction capabilities.
Contractor-Led: A construction contractor as the prime contracting entity with the architect/engineer as a consultant to the contractor.
Designer-Led: A design professional as the prime contracting entity with a construction contractor as subcontractor.
Developer-Led: The design-build entity is led by a developer with the construction contractor and design professionals both as sub-contractors.

So, now you have a general picture of who the players are. For any successful design-build team, the key to success is an environment that encourages collaboration and open communication within the team and with the owner.

This is where your marketing strategies come in…

Tweaking your website for the Design-Build world…

My first suggestion for you is more of an observation…

I’ve noticed a lot of building product websites have buttons on their home page for “architects” and “contractors.” Sometimes even for owners (like in the following example from DIRTT’s website).

dirtt

Those buttons help the manufacturer guide website visitors through the various pages and features. Helping to customize the user experience as best they can. Through the use of these buttons, they can highlight their products’ benefits that are specific to that user type.

If you feel this is a smart move for your product’s website — my question to you is, “Why don’t you add another button that says ‘Design-Build’?”

That way, you can speak directly to the design-build team and highlight the benefits that the whole team can appreciate and see as valuable. I haven’t seen anybody else doing this yet, so do it right now and you’ll beat your competitors to the punch.

Positioning your company as a resource for the Design-Build world…

One thing to consider with a growing market like this is there are new designers and builders entering the market all the time. Just like you, they saw the potential and decided to jump in.

What if you were the one bringing them up to speed on design-build best practices? What if you became the resource they came to for advice on getting ahead?

If you follow my advice, you’ll be doing some detective work to better understand the design-build business. Why not take all that research and make it available to your design-build prospects? Show them how to save time, save money and to be more efficient on their next (or first) design-build venture.

That would put you in a good position, don’t you think?

Become that thought leader for the industry, and selecting your product will become a no-brainer for the design-build team.

This is where you develop that content marketing you’ve heard so much talk about.

It’s not about writing how great your product is, or why they should buy from you. It’s about providing your insights about your shared industry. It’s about becoming that resource the designer or contractor comes to learn how to do things better.

Building your marketing arsenal for the Design-Build world…

As a building product manufacturer, you have various channels through which you can approach any market.

Each of them has different paths to follow. For design-build, one path is selling the architect on your product and arming him or her with the material to sell the contractor — who will then need to sell the owner.

That can be a challenge to figure out how to get all those marketing pieces into the mix and ensure they get in the right hands. What if there was a way to do all that with a single piece…

Enter 3D visualizations done right…

Should you have three different pieces of content developed to make sure you can sell your building product to each stakeholder?

Or… is there a way you can have a single piece developed that would be visually appealing and clarifying for all stakeholders?

One of my goals, as I work with different building material marketers, is to create 3D renderings, animations, and details that help minimize the company’s marketing “moving parts.”

By that, I mean that I try to make their marketing easier by creating product visualizations that can explain their product and its benefits in an appealing and simple manner. So it’s easily understood by a wide range of user types.

So they might be able to use a single content piece to market their building product to all of the stakeholders on a building project.

Why make things complicated? Or as Bruce Lee once said: “It’s not the daily increase but daily decrease. Hack away at the unessential.”

Here are some examples of visualizations I’ve created with my clients to simplify and enhance their marketing efforts… Notice the emphasis placed, not only on the technical benefits the products may have once they are installed, but the emphasis on how they are installed, how they save time and how they don’t require a contractor to stop and learn something new or do something out of his “comfort zone”.

Pli-Dek System for Concrete Decking on Wood Structures

Technical help for the Design-Build world…

The final recommendation I’d like to make today revolves around the technical materials you provide to your prospects. What are you making available to make the design-build team’s lives easier and making it easier to choose your products?

Technical details and BIM models

The design-build team’s goal of meeting tighter deadlines and keeping design costs down, makes quick, easy access to your product’s technical details and BIM components all the more important.

At the same time, it’s also just as important to make sure your technical details are easy to digest and understand. As I said, you need to make sure your details are understood by as many of the project’s stakeholders as you can. It’s not just a “nice-to-have” kind of thing… it’s a must-have in the design-build world, if you want to make an impact.

Installation instructions

I’ve said it many times and in many ways, but your product needs to have installation instructions that are clear and concise. Think about it this way…

If you were a design-build firm, you’d want to look at the install instructions before picking a new product — you don’t want any surprises. For that reason, installation instructions are a valuable sales tool (or potential sales killer) in the design-build world.

Conclusion

As you can see, the design-build market has a huge potential and is definitely worthy of your consideration. If you aren’t already looking for ways to get into that market, drop everything and start today. All indicators point to its increase in the coming years.

Consider focusing at least some of your marketing efforts toward design-build projects. And if I can be of any help in developing your images and details using 3D visualization – let me know. I’d love to chat about it.

About the Author :

His award-winning body of work informs, inspires and educates building product customers.

Speak to the Crocodile Brain to Market & Sell Building Materials Effectively

by jasonyana | Apr 26, 2016

Marketing products effectively and consistently require understanding the buyer’s mind; this involves a depth of knowledge about how the brain operates. Many marketers may think of the brain in terms of psychological definitions, but there is a large difference between the mind and the brain.

The mind evolves from environmental shaping and experiences, whereas the brain is pure chemical and physiological matter. Oren Klaff, the author of Pitch Anything, explains that it is imperative to speak to the crocodile brain to market building products and building materials more effectively.

What exactly is the crocodile brain?

There are three parts of the brain: Neo-cortex (frontal), mid-brain, and the crocodile (reptilian) brain. The crocodile part of your brain, although beneath and behind the neo-cortex and mid-brain (both of which take up more space) is the first to receive information from outside sources.

It must decide what to do when confronted with a person, situation, visual stimuli, and so on. In other words, this part of the brain is the first to receive marketing visuals and information, and it will either pass it on to the main part of your brain or ignore it.

No new information ever gets to the rest of the brain (the place where someone will decide that they want your product) without passing through the reptilian brain.

How can I get my marketing materials past the crocodile brain and on to the neo-cortex?

This is the ultimate question and the most important; if the crocodile brain of the buyer decides to ignore your message, visual, or pitch, then your product will not sell. It’s important to understand how the crocodile brain thinks or works in order to get through on its level.

Here are characteristics of the crocodile brain, which, when analyzed give a perfect guide to marketers on how to present their material:

Driven by survival.

Filters out all extraneous data.

Selects only information received fast and summarized.

Looks for strong contrast cues (this can be in words or visual images).

Seeks visuals and narratives.

Ignores the ordinary/desires the unique (the survival mode says if something is ordinary or familiar, it is to be ignored because it’s not essential to survival. Only something perceived as unique, different, or dangerous will be passed on to the neo-cortex brain).

By understanding the workings of the brain, marketers can tap into greater selling power. When developing visuals, digital marketing material, or other advertising items, speaking to the crocodile brain means getting your message all the way through.

Bottom Line – don’t let the crocodile brain hijack your building material marketing message

Your message must be :

Simple, Clear and Big Picture – distill the conversation down to the core and filter out all the other details, those can come later . . .
Unique and Positive – The information you are giving the crocodile brain has to be new in some way, or it won’t even be noticed. Giving a hint that something great is coming if they keep paying attention.

Some things to think bout when you are considering how to approach explaining your products to your target audience.

How can you use this information to hone your message today? right now?

Regards and I hope you find beauty today, even in your crocodile brain.

-Jason Yana

About the Author :

His award-winning body of work informs, inspires and educates building product customers.

Don’t Make This Common Communication Mistake When Marketing Building Materials

by jasonyana | Apr 25, 2016

The Myth of Learning Styles

Since everyone reading this would like to sell more building products and materials, what is the most effective way to communicate the value of our products in the eyes of our customers? For that matter, what is the most effective way to communicate with any human being? It may help if we take a look at how people learn best. Do different people learn differently?

For years, there has been this concept we have all heard about “learning styles” visual learners, auditory learners and kinesthetic learners.

visual learners learn by absorbing information through visuals
auditory learners retain best by speech and sound
and kinesthetic learners prefer to learn by moving and touching things.

What type of learner are you? what type of learner is your customer?

This idea of visual, auditory and kinesthetic learning is a very popular theory, but there is no evidence to support it. The latest research shows that we are all visual learners. Neuroscientists call this erroneous way of understanding learning a “neuromyth”.

The latest research actually shows that we are all visual learners.

Here is the reason, more than 50 percent of the brain is dedicated to processing images. Yes, 50 percent of the brain. not hearing, not touching. There are six different parts of the brain that handle visuals. Engaging our audiences on a visual level should not be underestimated.

visual-learners

Since images have the power to influence our emotions & our sense of well-being, they have to have a huge effect on how our customers feel about our products.

badger

I hope this gives you some motivation to take a new look at how you are presenting your products to customers.

Regards,

About the Author :

His award-winning body of work informs, inspires and educates building product customers.

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