Don’t Spend Too Much Time in the Boardroom

04 Nov 2011 Leave a comment

by John Amardeil in Strategies

Dirty Hands

It pays to get ‘em dirty.

Driving back to the office from a client’s construction site a few days ago, an employee whom I’d taken along for the ride said he was surprised I’d get out of the car to straighten a crooked sign.

“I’m sure most other company presidents would just get somebody else to fix it later,” added the employee.

I don’t know that most other presidents would do that, but I’m pretty sure a majority would. And that’s unfortunate.

I’m not even talking about the sheer pleasure we should all derive from rolling our sleeves up — the pleasure we should all experience to see homes being built, little by little, or the pleasure of knowing these homes are a family’s dream becoming reality, one that will soon see the whole family spend quality time in the kitchen after a long day.

Rather, I’m talking about common sense. I’m talking about good business practice.

See, it pays to drive to the construction site. It pays to roll your sleeves up and get your hands dirty. It pays to know what things look like and smell like to the consumer, and not just from the vantage point of your faraway office. It pays to fix that crooked sign yourself.

Consider another example. On our way to this construction site, we drove past a competitor’s sign announcing a new home community.

At least, that’s what I think it was, for the sign was much too cramped, and its font size much too small, for anyone to really know what it was about.

A sign like that can only be the product of a boardroom meeting — one whose members didn’t bother to set foot where the sign would be located.

The price? A sign that no one can read. A wasted opportunity. Money thrown into the wind.

Get your hands dirty. It pays to do so — in more than one way.

What do Technologists Have in Common With Marketers?

28 Oct 2011 Leave a comment

by John Amardeil in Trends

This week I read about a new way to save water — while you shower.

The Reveeco EcoVéa recycling shower analyses whether water is dirty (which it then discards) or clean (which it filters, treats, and reuses). For a 10-minute shower, the EcoVéa can save up to 80% on both water and energy.

(Typically, you produce dirty water when you soap and clean water when you just relax in the shower. Clean water is also produced when you turn the shower on and let water run for a few minutes before you jump in.)

I also read about a new smart meter, designed by Tony Fadell, a former Apple employee who once worked in the iPod development team.

Name's Nest, not HAL.

In typical Apple fashion, this new smart meter, dubbed Nest, is supposedly simple to use. It also “learns” from your behaviour to help you save money, increasing or decreasing temperatures when your home is empty or when you return home from work, among other features.

(As a side note, I was most interested about this device as some of our clients already use an innovative meter called the Cent-A-Meter that displays the real-time usage of electricity on a portable LCD monitor.)

Why do I mention these innovations?

Because they prove two important points.

First, technology isn’t just going to introduce improvements on big, expensive things like solar roof panels and cars. It’s going to affect smaller, cheaper things, too.

In fact, when you think about it, don’t you find it surprising that no one had improved upon shower technology—or home energy monitors—for such a long time?

Second, technology will always reinvent things—even those we take for granted. And in doing so, it will always find ways to save energy and create products that are more efficient. Today’s latest product is already dated.

In a way, technologists are just like marketers—they’re always trying to find solutions.

Have you come across a new piece of equipment that caught your eye?

The Concept of Casual Spreads to New Homes

21 Oct 2011 Leave a comment

by John Amardeil in Strategies, You Need to Know

A traditional home vs. a casual home.

Have you seen those Apple vs. PC ads on TV?

As this article that a friend sent me remarks, part of these ads’ success lay in pitting casual (Mac) vs. traditional (PC).

Here’s the kicker: far from being limited to clothes or computers, the appeal of casual has also extended to homes.

This can be seen in today’s prevalence of open-concept spaces and the frequency with which builders use the term “casual living.”

Once the realm of condos, open-concept rooms now abound in detached homes. Gone are stuffy, formal living rooms and rarely used dining rooms. They’ve been replaced with large, family-friendly rooms that you can use for pretty much anything, whether it involves watching TV or eating or playing.

The reasons are twofold. First, 9/11, which reduced travel frequency for most people. Second, the recession, which made people entertain at home more often rather than go out. As a result of these two factors, homeowners now prefer homes better suited for spending quality time inside.

This doesn’t just mean open-concept rooms but also more covered areas in the back and decks for them to host BBQs, blurring the separation between outdoor and indoor living.

(Among our clients alone, Highmark Homes’ The Orchard and Brookfield Homes’ Rosebank by the Lake offer such areas.)

Of course, this isn’t set in stone. Whether you choose to build homes that are traditionally designed or homes with open-concept designs depends to a large degree on location and target demographic.

But you should at least be asking yourself this important question: are you 100% certain that this community’s homebuyers want traditional, separate rooms?

Summary of Changes Introduced in the 2012 Ontario Building Code

14 Oct 2011 20 Comments

by John Amardeil in You Need to Know

Last week, I attended an EnerQuality/BILD course on the new Ontario Building Code (OBC) that will come into effect on January 1, 2012. This blog post is a summary of what I learned.

Please note that this summary refers to low-rise builders operating in southern Ontario.

First, the majority of the changes in the new OBC aim to improve energy efficiency and water management.

Second, builders will be given 10 practical choices of packages on how to comply with the 2012 OBC. Four of these choices appear most practical, meaning they are the simplest as well as the most economical. All four require increased insulation.

So, depending on the package chosen, builders will have to ensure that:

  • the attic’s insulation increases to R50 (from R40),
  • exterior walls’ insulation goes up from R19 to either R22 or R24 (depending on the package chosen),
  • the furnace’s annual fuel utilization efficiency (AFUE) increases from 90% to 92% or 94%, again depending on the package. The heat recovery ventilator (HRV) may or may not be required, depending on the package, and…
  • the insulation of basement walls either stays at R12 or goes up to R20 (depending on the package).

Also, windows will have to be more energy efficient regardless of which package is chosen.

Builders can choose to ignore these compliance paths, provided they build to Energuide 80 (which is what the current  Energy Star stipulates. See my previous blog post).

What are your thoughts on the new OBC and the compliance paths given to builders?

Welcome To My Google+ Profile

07 Oct 2011 Leave a comment

by John Amardeil in Activities

Having blogged here and here about Google+, it was only fitting I create my own Google+ profile. This is in addition to my Twitter account and this blog.

Despite a promising start, there’s no guarantee that Google+ will take off. (Read this thoughtful article by someone who thinks it will, and read the comments below the article by people who think it won’t.)

One way or the other, it’s my duty as a marketer to explore all possible venues that may help our clients spread their message. Especially when so many potential homeowners start their search online.

With that in mind, my intentions are:

• to explore the new platform,

• to spread BAM’s message further,

• to share links and comments, and lastly,

• to see whether it will be practical to create Google+ accounts for our clients (whenever Google allows business pages to be created).

As a side note, I found no GTA-based builders on Google+. Neither could I find many GTA-based marketers or advertisers. Younger realtors are the one group of people in the industry who seem to have embraced the new platform.

So if you’re on Google+ and read this blog, add me to your stream!

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