The Monday Morning Building Product AdvisorIssue #133 3 weeks into design development for a medical office building, we ran into a problem with the curtain wall at the northeast corner. The sill & jamb details werenāt clear. What weād drawn so far was more hopeful than practical. That morning, I emailed two product reps to ask for cut sheets. The first rep got back to me in 30 minutes. He sent the PDF and wrote a friendly note: āLet me know if you need anything else.ā It was quick, clear, and...
7 days agoĀ ā¢Ā 5 min read
The Monday Morning Building Product AdvisorIssue #132 Today's issue is a shorter one. But I thought you'd appreciate a little "insider baseball" about some architectural project stuff you probably don't always get to see or hear about. Last week, a rep called and said, āWhatever happened to that project we helped you out with? Iāve been watching for it so I can submit a quote, but I havenāt seen anything yetā¦ā No it hasn't... but it feelz that way The project isnāt dead, and it hasnāt been...
14 days agoĀ ā¢Ā 3 min read
The Monday Tuesday Morning Building Product AdvisorIssue #131 In the last few issues, Iāve given you tools to highlight the size of a problem. Today, we should probably talk about when to stop. And, come to think of it, I probably should have brought this up sooner. If youāve taken sales or copywriting training, youāve probably heard of the PAS (Problem-Agitate-Solve) framework. If not, this should helpā¦ A quick breakdown of the PAS framework: Problem: Identify a problem or pain point your...
20 days agoĀ ā¢Ā 6 min read
The Monday Morning Building Product AdvisorIssue #130 Our old pal Frazzled Frank, the product rep, had another tough week. Iām sharing his story not to embarrass the fictional fella. But to show how he blamed the wrong thing. Last week, he met with two different firms and gave the same product presentation. He did a fine job both times. Mondayās meeting went swimmingly. The architects got interested, pulled up a project on their screen, and started asking about lead times and warranty...
28 days agoĀ ā¢Ā 6 min read
The Monday Morning Building Product AdvisorIssue #129 A few weeks back, I pointed out that your productās best fact is probably already in your technical documents, just waiting for someone to spot it. Today, I have even tougher news for your marketing team: The best sentence for your presentations is already out there. And your team didnāt write it. An architect did. OK, OK... easy now... Let me explain by sharing the most useful headline test I know. Joanna Wiebe, founder of Copyhackers,...
about 1 month agoĀ ā¢Ā 5 min read
The Monday Morning Building Product AdvisorIssue #128 Letās walk through a conversation. Itās based on over 100 meetings Iāve had over 29 years as an architect. I use this example to coach reps because the first few minutes show everything important about consultative selling. Our old friend āFrazzled Frank,ā the product rep, meets with a project manager at a firm specializing in multi-family projects. Letās call the PM āMarcus.ā Frank has prepared for the meeting and believes balcony...
about 1 month agoĀ ā¢Ā 4 min read
The Monday Morning Building Product AdvisorIssue #127 Last Friday, I said Iād share a story that begins in a jobsite trailer. Itās about a rep whose product was more expensive, but he still ended up winning (ā¦kindaā). The project was an 8-story research building. The elevator and its shaft had glass on one side so people could enjoy the view and the building would look more dynamic. Our firm hadnāt detailed this before, and the elevator code required laminated glass for the shaft wall. We...
about 2 months agoĀ ā¢Ā 3 min read
The Monday Morning Building Product AdvisorIssue #126 In 1958, David Ogilvyās small agency landed the Rolls-Royce account. He knew this was his big chance. He didnāt brainstorm or gather his team around a whiteboard. Instead, he spent 3 weeks on a task that few in advertising did back then, and even fewer in sales do now. He read. Reading is hard... He read engineering documents, technical reports, and reviews in the motoring press. He did 3 weeks of homework before writing a single word. In...
about 2 months agoĀ ā¢Ā 4 min read
The Monday Morning Building Product AdvisorIssue #125 Let me tell you about two architectural product reps and how each handled the same complaint. An architect who works as a PM at a mid-size firm shared that she had to repeatedly reject submittals in a specific product category. Sometimes, it took 3 or even 4 rounds. Both of the reps in our story sold products in that category. Product Rep #1 did everything by the book. He walked her through his companyās submittal checklist, promised...
2 months agoĀ ā¢Ā 4 min read