1. Northwest Region CSI S508 Joy Davis, CSI, CCPR May 9, 2014
Trusted Advisors: The Role of Product Representatives In Construction
Joy Davis, CSI, CCPR
May 9, 2014
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2. Credit(s) earned on completion of this course will be reported to AIA CES for AIA members. Certificates of Completion for both AIA members and non-AIA members are available upon request.
This course is registered with AIA CES for continuing professional education. As such, it does not include content that may be deemed or construed to be an approval or endorsement by the AIA of any material of construction or any method or manner of handling, using, distributing, or dealing in any material or product.
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Questions related to specific materials, methods, and services will be addressed at the conclusion of this presentation.
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3. Course
Description
CSI has been teaching relationship-based marketing strategies to product representatives for decades. This presentation is drawn from some of the key points made in CSI's Construction Documents Technology Certificate (CDT) and Certified Construction Product Representative (CCPR) programs. Using sometimes deceptively simple questions, we'll discuss what specifiers and architects expect in a "trusted advisor" -- the golden rep they call every time.

4. 1. Understand relationship-based marketing
Learning
Objectives
At the end of the this course, participants will be able to:
1. Understand relationship-based marketing
2. Discuss what information the design team needs, and when they need it
3. Discuss defending against substitution requests
4. Discuss difficult clients, including specifiers who won't see you, and designers who use your time but don't specify your product

5. New Guide for Representatives!
This presentation is based in part on CSI’s Construction Document Technologist (CDT) program, and Certified Construction Product Representative (CCPR) program. The CDT program teaches construction professionals how construction unfolds from the perspective of the documents, and how product representatives and the architects they support should be working together. Learn more about the CDT at
The CCPR program is application-level training. Someone who completes the CCPR program, for example, should be able to write a guide specification. Learn more about the CCPR at
The Project Delivery Practice Guide focuses on product representatives as team members; Construction Product Representation Practice Guide goes in-depth on their activities.
The PDPG is the main source for the CDT exam; the CPRPG is now the source for the CCPR exam.
To purchase: Select “Practice”
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6. Do Architects Buy Products?
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7. No.
What Architects Do:
Evaluate
Select
Specify
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8. So What is Your Relationship to an Architect?
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9. Thought Leadership Share of Mind: Share of Cash: Share of Voice:
Gain their respect
Share of Voice:
Offer something useful
Share of Cash:
Become their go-to resource
Explanation of Thought Leadership. Think about a lunch-n-learn: You share something useful (an education program); they see you’re an expert (respect); they call you when they have a question. This is the heart of relationship marketing.
Now build all your activities around this strategy. For instance, how can your tradeshow booth express this?
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10. Relationship-Building
“A product representative who exhibits detailed knowledge, competence, a willingness to consult, and has a history of honest and ethical dealings is an important resource for the design community.”
This is what specifiers and architects want in a rep relationship. Why? Because they need people they can trust to know more than they know about complex aspects of their projects. They’re like general practitioners in some ways – they can diagnose the problem and know they need to consult a specialist.
Project Delivery Practice Guide page 209
Relationship = Long Term
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11. What Kind of Trust Are You Trying to Build?
You’re on the other side of that relationship. If they’re looking for someone to trust with the parts of the work they don’t understand, what are you looking for?
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12. Trust in Your Professional Opinion.
There are different kinds of trust. You want the kind of trust that causes someone to decide your right and to accept your solution to the problem.
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13. When Should You Contact the Architect?
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14. If the Project is in Process, You’re Probably Too Late.
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15. Download at www.csinet.org/trustedadvisor
Timing is Everything
“I wish that product reps knew the different phases of a project that an architect works through, and when was the appropriate time to contact them regarding the project and to propose their product for use on the project.” – Anonymous CCS
Download at
I did an informal survey with the dozens of Certified Construction Specifiers (CCSs) I know. I asked them to tell me three things they wish reps knew. You can download a flyer with a summary of their responses here.
Most of them talked about the right information at the right time.
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16. The Right Info at the Right Time
Project Conception
Design
Construction Docs
Bidding Negotiation Purchase
Construction
Facility Manage.
Code & Reg. Req’s
Product Character
Budget Pricing
Product Lit.
Product Availability
Code Approvals
Installed Cost
Warranty
Installation Details
Compatibly Req’s
Technical Data
Comparable Manufacturer
Price Info.
Product Compliance
Sub
Requests
Submittals
Installation Req’s
Qualified Installers
Delivery Schedule
Warranty Inspection
Operation & Maint. Instructions
Personnel Training
Demo’s
What I want you to understand about this table is simple: information that arrives in the architects hands too early may be perceived as spam. To maximize the usefulness of your information, learn where a designer is in the project and then give him exactly the information he needs.
Classic example of a problem: putting product literature in the submittal.
Page 149, CPRPG
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17. How Do I Defend Against a Substitution Request?
“How do I get architects and clients to enforce the specifications? So many times, our products or services are lost to competitors solely on price and they are not bidding ‘apples to apples’ or according to Spec.”
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18. You Don’t. The A/E Does.
“The A/E determines the acceptability of proposed substitutions…” (Page 422, PDPG)
You don’t. The architect does. So you had better make sure he knows exactly why he spec’d your product in the first place.
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19. What if the Competition is a Slime Ball?
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20. Never Say Anything Bad About the Competition… But You Might Suggest the Architect Make a Phone Call.
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21. What If It Really Is a Good Product, But It’s New?
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22. New = Unproven
“It is a good policy to use only those products that have been adequately field-tested…” (Page 204, PDPG)
Respond With:
Test Results
Reports from Others
Responses to AHJs
Specifiers are often in a hurry, and always suspicious.
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23. Can the Internet Do a Product Representative’s Job?
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24. Architects Have Relationships with People, Not Websites.
No, It Can’t.
Architects Have Relationships with People, Not Websites.
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25. The Definition of “Network”
“We know these reps through the process of researching the products we were specifying.” – Liz O’Sullivan, CSI, CCS Denver Specifier lizosullivanaia.wordpress.com/2011/06/ to hear Liz discuss “Inside the Mind of a Specifier”
It’s about what you know and how helpful you are, not playing golf.
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26. But The Architect Won’t Talk To You?
“I believe that the difficult architect-product representative relationship is greatly affected by surprise visits. I can’t tell you how infuriating it is to have people show up to my office and ask the receptionist, ‘Is Jori here?’” -- Jori Smith, CSI, CDT
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27. Where Social Media Fits In
Social Media Tools Support Your Relationship
Blogs
E-newsletters
Twitter
Facebook
LinkedIn
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28. What Should I Know About the Architect?
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29. Stalking As a Best Practice
Research the Targeted Firm
Type of Projects They Specialize in?
Who is the Decision Maker?
Types of Consultants?
Who is in Their Specifications Already?
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30. What If the Architect Uses My Time, But Doesn’t Put Me In the Spec?
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31. Why Are You Building a Relationship With This Person?
Only you can decide how much time and energy to spend on a contact, and if it’s worth the trade-off. So do you know what your time is worth? What are you giving up to be in a relationship with this person?
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32. Who has the most influence with product decisions for a project
Who has the most influence with product decisions for a project? Specifier, Architect, Associate Architect, Developer, General Contractor, Facility Manager?
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33. It Depends. Treat everyone fairly.
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34. What Do You Need to Know About Construction?
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35. “Product Reps should understand the design process, including their role in the different stages and how that role changes, critical information about their product that must be included in specifications, what specifications are, and to some extent, the different risk/reward profiles of the designer and the contractor.”
John Guill, CSI, CCS, CCCA
Everything – from conception through construction and into the moment the building goes “live.”
Knowing how to speak this language is key to communicating with the design team. You must be able to pass for a native when you’re operating in their world.
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36. What Do You Need to Know About Your Product?
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37. You’d Better Know…
Country of origin, which can affect delivery time, availability of parts, maintenance, warranty service, etc.
Financial stability
Distribution network
Performance criteria and test results
Technical services and local representation
Warranty and service
What would you add?
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38. What Should I know to Help Write a Spec? (11-point Checklist)
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39. Project Delivery Practice Guide, page 210
You Had Better Know…
Generic descriptions of products and systems
Understand the work done “by others”
Applicable Reference Standards
Required work to install
Options and accessories
Highlight necessary modifications
Delivery, storage and handling
Installation instructions
Limits of the system
Required certifications
Field Quality Control requirements
Project Delivery Practice Guide, page 210
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40. Why Do You Need to Know All That?
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41. It Validates Your Professional Opinion to Them and to YOU.
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42. Drawings Vs. Specs?
What’s the Difference?
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43. Drawings vs. Specs
Quantity vs. Quality (Page 221, PDPG) “Drawings are graphic representations of the work upon which the contract is based… They show the quantitative extent and relationships of elements.” “Specifications define the requirements for products, materials, and workmanship… and requirements for administration and performance of the project.”
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44. Which Outranks the Other?
Drawings Vs. Specs?
Which Outranks the Other?
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45. Drawings vs. Specs
Neither – They Are Complementary Documents (Page 242, PDPG) “The drawings and the specifications are complementary, and both are needed to fully describe a construction project.”
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46. What’s My Role With Drawings?
Drawings Vs. Specs?
What’s My Role With Drawings?
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47. Drawings vs. Specs You need to know (Page 210, PDPG):
Dimensions & Locations
Code Requirements
How to Detail Connections
What Standard Drawings to Provide
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48. Where Do Specifications Come From?
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49. Specifications Which one counts in court?
Guide Specifications – Your Company’s
Office Masters – The Firm’s
Masterguide Specifications – The Software’s
Contract Documents – What the Contractor Will Build From
Which one counts in court?
Contract documents are the only ones that count in court, by the way.
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50. How Do I Get Into the Master Specification?
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51. Do not ask. Offer to help with an update.
And be honest in admitting who your best competition is.
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52. How Well Should You Know Your Competitor’s Product?
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53. Well Enough to Recommend It.
Well enough to recommend it. Being able to fairly and honestly speak about the competitor’s products – even directing architects to them when appropriate – is a huge “trust-builder” for the design team.
Is it really worth the lie for one job?
Wouldn’t you rather compete against a qualified product instead of a cheap, inferior one? Specifiers usually need three products to complete a spec on a public project. Know which products can meet the needs of the project, and educate the architect about it.
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54. Seen in the CSI Personals:
Wanted: Product Representative who is honest and trustworthy for long-term relationship. Turn-ons: Detailed information about your product; Patience with last-minute calls. Turn-offs: Sales-calls; Liars. Ready to meet? I’ll be the one in the black-framed glasses at the CSI meeting.
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55. This concludes The American Institute of Architects Continuing Education Systems Course
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56. CSI Trains Product Representatives
Sign up for the Trusted Advisor Monthly Bulletin at
Join CSI’s LinkedIn Group
Follow #TrustCSI on Twitter
Monthly FREE webinars posted at
New! CSI Trusted Advisor Workshop
May 16, Denver
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57. CONSTRUCT & The CSI Annual Convention Sept. 9-12 CDT/ CCPR
Baltimore
Look for new events and education for product representatives
CDT/ CCPR
Fall
CDT
CCPR
A few CDT-type questions, if you’re up for them.
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58. Contact Me!
Joy Davis, CSI, CCPR Communications/Community/Web Director ext
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