Construction reports often have squirrels of considerable size in them distracting us from the truth in the manufacturing sector. Right now, some are telling us that manufacturing is dying. But, how do you know they are squirrels? Don’t you have to look around them to see what’s behind them?

When you do that, manufacturing becomes a $1 trillion manufacturing pipeline for planning projects alone.

The Number That You Need to See

Here are squirrels preventing you from seeing that actual trillion dollar number from recent reports:

• New Manufacturing construction fell by 77.2% in Q2 as uncertainty around industrial policies and high interest rates impact investment.
• Manufacturing construction will decline sharply over the year, falling 43%. The reduction in planned capital expenditure that occurred following the announcement of the Trump Administration’s tariffs in spring 2025 are weighing on new construction this year.
• Investment that was supported by federal funding is waning. New manufacturing construction will experience low and stable growth through 2030.
• Nonresidential Building starts are expected to decline by 29.8% in 2026, driven by a sharp drop in Manufacturing buildings and additional weakness across several other subsectors

Those are squirrels that predict a 43% dip in manufacturing construction in 2026.

But, they are squirrels. When we dive into the data, current planning-stage manufacturing projects shows 2,497 manufacturing projects with a combined value of $1.095 trillion. That number is what you see when you bypass the squirrels. That number should generate excitement. But that number is not getting cited. If it was, it would launch sales teams into motion.

Let’s look even closer.

• One hundred and twenty-two projects — less than five percent of the count — account for 83% of that total value. The Terafab Chipmaking Facility in Grimes County, Texas: $119 billion. Project Crystal Land AI Hub in Phoenix: $100 billion. Intel’s Oregon expansion: $36 billion. Samsung’s nine separate fab phases in Taylor, Texas, approaching $160 billion collectively.
• These are semiconductor fabrication facilities and the mega projects we often discuss. The specification path is closed before most manufacturers even know such projects exist. The procurement is national or global. The mechanical systems are proprietary. Your rep cannot call his way into these buildings.

However, strip those projects out, and the manufacturing pipeline looks entirely different…almost has a glow about it.

What the Number Is Minus Squirrels.

There are 1,375 projects under $25 million in value. Combined, they represent $8.9 billion in construction activity. The $5M–$100M band alone contains 1,172 projects worth $32.8 billion. These are food production facilities, light industrial buildings, brick plants, logistics parks, agricultural processing expansions, manufacturing renovations.

Bridgetown Natural Foods in Lebanon, Tennessee — a production line expansion. Red Bird Farms in Denver. Brown Oak Brick in Bryan, Texas. Back of the Yards Industrial Facility in Chicago. Aspen Guard Manufacturing in Portland, Tennessee. Avon Landing in Brownsburg, Indiana.

Nobody is talking about these. No conference panel has been convened. No LinkedIn post has gone viral over the Red Bird Farms project.

Yet they are real. They are in planning. They require products, specifications, and the channel relationships your company has been building for years.

The State Picture

The accessible manufacturing market, however, is not evenly distributed. Texas alone has 407 projects under $100 million — nearly twice the next largest state. Florida and California each have 118. North Carolina has 96. Ohio has 90. Michigan, Wisconsin, Alabama, Indiana, Tennessee — all active.

If you have distribution strength in any of these states, you have a pipeline. Not a theoretical one. A real one, in planning stages, with architects and owners who have not yet made their product decisions.

The Distinction That Changes Your Sales Strategy

What most analysts read when they report that manufacturing construction is collapsing measures what is breaking ground. The planning database we’re talking about measures what is being designed. They are different. And that difference is important to your strategic planning.

Because both are true simultaneously. Manufacturing starts are declining sharply because the CHIPS Act and IRA-funded semiconductor fabs that dominated 2022-2024 are structurally complete. Those megaprojects broke ground. They got built. Their construction spending has been recorded and is now rolling off the numbers.

The 1,375 accessible projects in planning, however, have not broken ground yet. They are not in the starts data. They are not in the headlines. They are exactly where opportunity resides before it becomes obvious to everyone else.

The Part Nobody Is Doing

487 of the 2,497 manufacturing projects in this dataset are alterations — existing facilities being modified, upgraded, or expanded. Another 227 are additions. That’s nearly a third of the entire pipeline going into existing buildings, not new construction. And by the way, renovations is ALWAYS bigger than new construction, only renovations as a market isn’t tracked as well as “new.”

I want to share something from research we’ve been conducting with architects across the country — not specific findings, but a pattern that showed up consistently.

Manufacturer rep engagement is thinning. Across multiple interviews with practicing architects, in different regions, different firm sizes, different project types, the same observation surfaced repeatedly: reps come around less.

It’s not that the architect doesn’t have time for them; many said they continually reach out when the need arises. And it’s not that AI has replaced reps; though they use AI, all agree on one thing: human contact is irreplaceable.

So what’s the problem? As one architect put it: “it’s getting harder and harder to find companies that have knowledgeable in-house reps.”

In their effort to streamline things, it looks like manufacturers stream-lined themselves out of the one thing that helped them differentiate themselves from the competition: knowledge and service.

Ladies and gentlemen, that is what I call an opening.

Because architects haven’t stopped making product decisions. They haven’t stopped maintaining or deferring to specification lists. They haven’t stopped using their inhouse, home-grown specification software of things like MasterSpec and SpecLink to organize what they’ll consider on a project.

Products that make it onto that internal short list get specified. Products that don’t, don’t get considered at all — regardless of merit.

Two Questions Worth Asking Your Reps This Week

First: Are we on the short list at the architecture firms attached to these planning-stage manufacturing projects in your territory?

Second: When did someone from our company last visit their library?

The answer to both questions will tell you more about your real market position than any industry forecast.

Stop Feeding the Squirrels

The dip in manufacturing is not wrong. It is just not the entire picture.

Your truth is the 1,172 projects between $5 million and $100 million sitting in planning right now, in states where you have distribution, at a scale where your specification relationships actually matter.

The industry is staring at the $119 billion Terafab facility. That’s a mighty big squirrel.

The smart money is ignoring those mega-squirrels and going after the reality of the marketplace. Because right now, oddly, most of the firms that used to show up have stopped showing up at the very place they can do some good: at the specifier.

Time to show up. Let us know how we can help you!

The post The $1 Trillion Squirrel appeared first on Accountability Information Management.

Deloitte, who knows about these things, cautioned optimism around revenue growth. In their 2022 manufacturing industry outlook, they said that optimism should be “held in check by caution from ongoing risks.” Those risks included two main ones:

• Workforce shortages
• Supply chain instability

While they pointed out you need the now-famous word “agility” to operate in this age of turbulence, there was no single solution they focused on in order to help manufacturers sell more of their stuff.[1]

However, they did have five trends to watch for – trends which have been around for a while. They include:

1. Preparing for the future of work could be critical to resolving current talent scarcity
2. Manufacturers are remaking supply chains for advantages beyond the next disruption
3. Acceleration in digital technology adoption could bring operational efficiencies to scale
4. Rising threats are leading the industry to new levels of preparedness
5. Manufacturers are likely to bring more resources and rigor to advance sustainability

Each of these trends was expanded upon in the report which you can download for yourself.

In reviewing these trends, while there are a lot of nice suggestions in the discussions for each, nothing in the discussions point out exactly how to prevent the reduction of operational efficiency and margins.

In fact, these “trends” are really problems faced by ALL companies, not just manufacturers (i.e., take the first two…how do you prepare for the future of work when there are no workers or how ARE manufacturers remaking supply chains?)

The discussion on supply chains has some obvious observations, including:

• Root causes for extended US supply chain instability may include over reliance on low inventories, rationalization of suppliers, and hollowing out of domestic capability. (You’ll recall people used to rely on JIT (Just In Time) because they didn’t want to carry inventory, and when COVID hit, JIT became JIC (Just in Case) and they started carrying inventory again.
• Companies will further add or diversify suppliers in existing markets.
• Enhance data integration for supply-and-demand visibility and planning.
• The risks from not “connecting the dots” through available data can be significant.
• Reshoring of components or even final assemblies are likely to pick up steam.

We’ve been hearing such solutions for years. Indeed, this “dot” thing has been around a long time in business analysis. There is, however, a problem with dots: what if you can’t see them?

Economics 101

Many companies use The Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) which produces some of the most closely watched economic statistics that influence decisions of government officials, business people, and individuals. These statistics provide a comprehensive, up-to-date picture of the U.S. economy. Deloitte again put it nicely when they reviewed these stats in the latest report:

“If you’re looking toward economic data for clarity on the state of the US economy, rest assured you won’t find it there. Every day, observers change their stance, as one day’s news provides a different picture from the previous day’s news. And often, it seems like a never-ending stream of bad news – if it’s news about inflation (and the Fed’s reaction) one day, the next day’s headlines indicate a possible recession, followed by more bad news about inflation.[2]”

But in the next paragraph, they also stated with a touch of optimism: “And yet, for all the noise, the US economy doesn’t look that bad.”

Still, the number of manufacturing firms and manufacturing plants in the United States has fallen by roughly 25 percent since 1997, reflecting an increase in closures and a slowdown in start-ups.[3]

Manufacturers who utilize two-step distribution face obvious challenges, as do the retailers and stores they sell to and through.

Manufacturers, Retailers and Distributors

WSJ published, “Supermarket Discounts Are Harder to Find as Food Prices Rise” by Jaewon Kang on October 2, 2022. The subhead was interesting: “Promotions remain below pre-pandemic levels as grocers reduce circulars, take losses to put some items on sale.”

The piece explained that supermarket companies, already paying higher wholesale prices to keep their shelves stocked, “are left to spend more of their own money to advertise and support discount deals.”

Discounting has been around a very long time. Consumers – everyone in the path to purchase – gets used to “deals.” Therefore, when you stop deals, people look elsewhere for products.

One retailer mentioned in the WSJ piece, a general manager of food store in Chicago, said he hasn’t run discounts on specific items in nearly five months. He “recently turned down a 10% discount offered by a broth manufacturer, which he said came with a requirement that his store buy 1,200 units per flavor. Mr. Drosos said a 25-cent discount on the retail price wasn’t worth the shelf space commitment.”

But shelf space isn’t part of the current economic equation. Sales are. You have to redefine what “shelf space” means if you are going to succeed.

Shelf space was before COVID, and before the recession perhaps, the way stores measured what they did with manufacturers. But with supply chain and inflation and other variables, shelf space calculations don’t mean what they meant.

It’s not an “if you have it, they will come” world. It’s an “if they need, it they will come” world.

That’s why you are seeing retailers like Target, Macy’s and Walmart jammed up. They are struggling with extra inventory that people just don’t want. They blame miscalculating demand from customers, but truth be told, customers weren’t really demanding anything for a long time.

Want or Need?

At the HighPoint Market one year, I was working with one of the greatest salesmen I ever met: Don Tickle. At that particular time, Don was in his mid 70s, and I was about 15 years younger and couldn’t keep up with him. Full of energy, I remember walking into the multi-floor showrooms with him for the first time. Room after room of furniture, fabric, lighting, paintings, and all other manner of items. I was following Don into the hall, when he turned suddenly with a gleam in his eye and said, “See anything you need?” He smiled, nodded knowingly, and turned around and kept walking. Instantly, I knew what he was talking about. Instantly I knew HighPoint wasn’t about anything you need: it was all about want.

In Florida, right before Hurricane IAN struck, Costco opened its doors and had prepared pallet after stacked pallet of water right in the aisles where people walked in from the outside. Instead of a path three carts wide paths for people to walk through as they usually did, the six-foot high water stacks allowed only one cart going one way, and one cart going the other. In this case, the incoming people split into two paths all going the same way as the doors hadn’t opened yet. A Costco employee kept saying, “Keep walking, keep walking” while people grabbed water into their carts and “kept walking.”

They wanted and needed the water because a hurricane was coming. Even if they didn’t want or need it, they took water. Instead of stacking the water way in back of the store, Costco brought the water to them.

After 9.11, standing in line at the airport waiting to be cleared (remember the lines were enormous), I saw a vendor bemoaning his fate. He was selling coffee, but no one would take the risk of leaving the line to buy his coffee. He sat there, head in his hands, sad, probably cursing silently.

Yet, all he had to do was bring the coffee to the line. Change the pattern.

All the food retailer in Chicago had to do was buy the broth and put it on a truck in the parking lot, letting the truck become “shelf space.”

When disruption strikes, you have to think strategically and that means as Jim Mattis said in his book, “Until your head hurts.” And knowing the difference between wanting something and needing something is important to doing that. Sometimes wanting and needing the thing are the same. More often, they are not the same. But the one thing that EVERYONE needs is cash.

Enter the Spiff

MarketNet Associates Division of Interline Creative Group, Inc. has been running spiffs for manufacturers for at least 20 years. According to Bernedette Hewlett, the Director of Spiffs for the company, MarketNet got into the business when a manufacturer was struggling to “get the checks out by Christmas to the representatives.”

“It was an odd request, and we were just beginning our business, but my boss said we could write checks,” Hewlett explained. “The manufacturer had run a promotion with his sales representatives and couldn’t navigate his own accounting department who needs the paperwork (i.e., ss numbers, etc.) to report to the government. We took on that job, got the checks out, reported the 1099s to the government and built that exercise into the spiff business we run today.”

MarketNet now runs some of the most successful spiff/loyalty programs in the manufacturing business – spiffs which ran before, during and after COVID. AIM wanted to know more about this tactic, so in an exclusive interview with Hewlett, AIM learned why these manufacturers continue to utilize this “secret weapon” to penetrate in the disruptive environment we all face to sell more of their stuff.

AIM: So, from our conversations, you’ve said that some of your clients run these programs year after year after year. Do you know why they do that?

MARKETNET: That’s a good question. I remember when COVID hit and everything locked down. Nothing was moving. One of our largest spiff/loyalty clients called us and asked us to cancel the program. My boss asked me to arrange a conference call with them. During the call he explained that the basis of a spiff was to pay a reward only when a product is sold, and that if nothing is sold, nothing will be paid out. It’s the same thing with a coupon. You don’t get the discount until you redeem the coupon. He told them, “Look, your distributor customers are in a bad spot. Like you, they are going to be looking for ways to continue business. If you keep the program open, you give them an incentive as their partner. If you pull the program, where’s the incentive?” I’ll never forget that conversation, because the client kept the program open and our client had one of their best quarters in terms of products sold and spiffed. It was amazing! It was a true win-win with their customers.

AIM: That’s interesting for sure. So you’re saying despite the COVID lockdowns, your client was selling products?

MARKETNET: Yes. You know, one of the mistakes people made during COVID was stopping. I’m not saying you shouldn’t stay safe. I’m saying that you have to adapt, change or disappear. That’s evolution, isn’t it? You have to adjust. The spiff/loyalty programs we run were and are based on the distributor customers of our clients selling stuff, reporting back to us what they sold, and then receiving a spiff, a reward. It’s a loyalty program underneath it all, but it is data driven. It’s extremely flexible.

AIM: Can you tell me a little more about these programs that you run? They aren’t coupons, are they?

MARKETNET: Hardly. Besides, manufacturers would truly go broke if people redeemed all the coupons that they offer. Even in this digital age where people print their coupons to redeem them, if people did that for what the manufacturer is offering through the retailer, that would be death for the manufacturer. Spiff/loyalty programs are different. While you can run such programs aimed at the end user, rewarding the seller of the item – not the end user – is just as effective, if not more so, if the programs are run the right way.

AIM: Before I ask you to explain what you mean by the right way, can you tell me what is the participation rate of their people? I’m assuming these are sales people at distributors and other retailers that you reward in such programs.

MARKETNET: That’s proprietary information and it varies with the manufacturer. However, I can tell you that participation rate doesn’t matter much: it’s engagement that matters.

AIM: What do you mean by engagement?

MARKETNET: Well, loyalty. Take coupons once again. Do you know how big digital couponing has become? I’ve seen statistics saying that 90% of consumers used digital coupons. But if everyone really used all the available coupons, the manufacturers would go broke like I said. Loyalty is different. Loyalty is kind of a love affair with a brand. And while there is a reward involved, that reward generates loyalty – and can you name something better for a manufacturer than customer loyalty? This affinity that people develop for a brand has to be, of course, based on a sound product, a quality product. But who do you know that doesn’t talk about their product’s quality? So, if quality is equal, where is the differentiation? It’s in building that bond between the seller and manufacturer. Like I said, a kind of love affair.

AIM: Can you give us an idea of participation at all?

MARKETNET: We’ve had over 5,000 individuals participate in our programs in the past couple of years — many more thousands over the years. But compared to all the AVAILABLE people who CAN participate, it’s only a small fraction. And that is OK, because those that participate are the engaged ones – the ones we want.

AIM: Do you know why that is?

MARKETNET: Lots of reasons. But like I said, participation isn’t important. Engagement is. The people who participate are engaged. These people earn rewards between $5 to $10,000 or more depending on the products and manufacturers they represent and sell. The value of those products sold into the marketplace is hundreds of millions of dollars compared to what is paid out as the reward. I assure you, the manufacturers would not be rewarding salespeople with that kind of money unless the ROI was proving itself out.

AIM: So, like I asked, can you tell me a little bit more about the programs you run and how they are different from others?

MARKETNET: Programs are based completely on what clients want to reward. Our client determines the products they want to reward, how much they want to pay out, and MarketNet does the rest. We administrate the program from start to finish. We provide complete transparency – where the money goes, who gets it, how much, and most importantly, the products that earn the reward.

AIM: Why do you say that the products that earn the reward is the most important? I would think that how much the distributor earns is more important.

MARKETNET: That’s where our programs are different than a typical loyalty/spiff program. Most programs just dish out money and the manufacturer basically gives up control of how much is being paid out. We were different from the beginning, we aren’t about just handing out rewards. We had one client that was handing out money like candy when he found us. No accountability, just paying money, which is horrible for the manufacturer but great for the person collecting the reward. It took us one quarter to straighten that out and they have been with us ever since. No, the way we run the program, accountability is front and center. That’s because the money paid out is secondary to the main objective of the program.

AIM: And what’s that?

MARKETNET: Data.

AIM: You alluded to that before. What kind of data are you talking about?

MARKETNET: Well, the useful kind. We not only know who gets a reward, we know what it was for, where that product was installed, the price it was sold for. It’s about that kind of data. It’s always been about the data.

AIM: Can you give me an example of what you mean?

MARKETNET: One of our clients was trying to do research on their product. They wanted to find out what consumers thought about it. At a client meeting they were discussing where they could purchase a list of consumers to find out the opinions. I said, “Why don’t you tap your database of consumers?” They looked questioningly at me. They totally overlooked the fact that since they had been running their program for over seven years, they had over data on 25,000 consumers who had installed their product in their homes: their names, addresses, emails, everything you need for such research. We gathered that “data” from the way we run our spiff/loyalty programs. With a typical spiff program, you know nothing like this. Data has always been the mainstay of the way we handle these programs.

AIM: Did you ever have a program that failed?

MARKETNET: Of course. Who doesn’t have failures?

AIM: Can you comment on that?

MARKETNET: Programs fail for a lot of reasons. A manufacturer’s reps not supporting it is probably the main reason. In the early years, one of our clients wanted the reps to deliver the rewards to their customers. My boss refused. The client didn’t understand how a vendor could refuse to provide a service, but my boss explained. “You can’t beat me,” he said. “Your rep has 200 places to be in his state where he has to show up with the check. I have UPS.” The client insisted on having the rep deliver the reward, so we agreed. That lasted two weeks and the client called us to revert to delivering rewards UPS. Our client’s customers depend on these rewards. We have evidence that during tough times, spiff cash rewards have brought them through troubled times, helping to build loyalty.

AIM: How do you know that?

MARKETNET: We do ongoing research. We talk to their customers. We become an extension of our clients and honor our obligation to do the right thing. We have a database of over 10,000 verbatim comments about our programs from our client’s customers that prove it. It’s one of the reasons these programs, the way we run them, work. I remember one writing that without this check, they wouldn’t be able to meet their mortgage that month. The check was for $200. We hear from our client’s customers because we pay attention to what they tell us. Anyone with a complaint is called immediately and the problem worked out.

AIM: I would imagine you have a lot of fraud in your programs, or attempted fraud?

MARKETNET: Hardly. In the beginning of any program, you might get some people trying to cash a check and then say they never got it, or not cash it and say it was lost, and then cash both. But we eliminate that when it happens and that stops future efforts. Word gets around. It’s not an accident that the comments we receive in our feedback mechanism is that we run the best spiff loyalty programs in the business. Honesty pays off. People are basically honest is the premise we start with. It works.

AIM: Don’t people try to skirt around the system by reporting products that they don’t really sell?

MARKETNET: Well, not really.

AIM: How’s that?

MARKETNET: It’s hard to do that if you provide the invoice that documents what you sold.

AIM: What? You actually get the invoice of the sale?

MARKETNET: Of course. That’s part of our differentiation from other companies that do spiffs and reward programs. It’s not like we’re sophisticated retailers with electronic transactions. This is a different ballgame. These are what they call “considered purchases.” Often the product can cost hundreds or even thousands of dollars, not $19.95. But that’s what makes our programs so valuable to our clients. The data.

AIM: So, if a manufacturer was interested in such programs, does he have to be in a particular market?

MARKETNET: Not really. Electrical, plumbing, HVAC, any of the professions work as long as manufacturers are using distributors. Two step distribution is the underlying process for all the programs we administrate.

AIM: How does a manufacturer get in touch with you?

MARKETNET: Our website has all the details: www.marketnetdiv.com. Our phone number is 847.358.6884 or I can be emailed directly: bernie@marketnetdiv.com

____________________________________________________________________________________________

[1] From something called The Hamilton Project, a paper called “Tracking the Robust Recovery in the Business Sector Since 2020,” by Mitchell Barnes and Wendy Edelberg noted that newly released Business Employment Dynamics (BED) data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), nearly 450,000 more business establishments were open for operation at the end of 2021 than at the end of 2019 – double the number of businesses created on net from the end of 2017 through 2019. On the other hand, WSJ and other sources have cited that as of April 2021, studies suggest that around 200,000 US establishments have had to permanently close their doors because of the pandemic. If all this is true, who are those two risks still in play? It actually gets more confusing. Did you know there is something now called “long Covid?” People who have been infected with COVID now are grouped into long-Covid segments. For some reason, analysts love adjectives. But the fact is, there aren’t as many people working these days for a myriad of reasons. What is the root cause of “not working?” That’s a subject for another day.

[2] United States Economic Forecast, The Q3 2022 forecast examines the state of the US economy amid high inflation and concerns about a probable recession. Daniel Bachman

[3]  Delivering the US manufacturing renaissance, August 29, 2022, from McKinsey.

The post Spiffs: Shaping a Selling Strategy for Manufacturers and their Distributors to Overcome Disruption appeared first on Accountability Information Management.

There’s a lot of talk about a company and its “brand” these days, and lots of money being spent trying to do what people call “branding.” One recent article pointed out that all marketing, especially advertising, works to enhance or modify brand image.

But, what is “brand” in the case of a manufacturer? Is the manufacturer’s brand what drives sales and specifications, or do other factors like the power of the specification itself drive the image?

While quality manufacturer brands are the basis of every architect’s portfolio, some have attained a higher preference over others. How does this preference happen? What causes one brand to be preferred over another in the mind of an architect?

A Brand is Intangible

A brand is intangible, just like your essence (who you are) is intangible. Sure, you have a body that does things. But you, your essence, where is that?

Who are you? Are you your work? Are you what you eat? Are you what you do? Are you the love you feel for your family?

Just as the definition of “you” includes all of these things, brand is everything around a company.

The American West is as good as any place to explain the concept of brand.

A rancher branded his cattle with his mark (brand image). Along with being a means of finding cattle that strayed from the herd, that mark was assurance to people who bought his cattle of a specific degree of quality. Some buyers paid more money for specific brands of cattle.

So while all cattle ranchers sold cattle, some ranchers obtained a premium for their beef, and it was the brand that identified one head of cattle from another. The “Lazy Y” might bring a better price per head than the “Circle W.”

In other words, “cattle” was a commodity product. A “brand” differentiated one group of cattle from another.

All the buyer knew is that it wasn’t just beef anymore if he bought the Lazy Y — it was “the Lazy Y cattle” — confidence in the quality of the beef, assured delivery, and the commitment of the rancher himself of that quality.

The cattle became more than cattle: they became an extension of the rancher.

While you could argue about how “complex” the issue of brand is, what the buyer was really buying was the brand — not the beef. And that, essentially, is what the architect is specifying: the brand, not the faucet, or the window, or the furnace.

Steve Bryant writes a nice piece on brand called, “You don’t get it. You aren’t the point,” that argues that a brand does not begin with the audience in mind. Rather, it begins as an idea about itself (the product) and then tries to sell that idea to an audience (the market). This is why it’s called “product-market fit.” And this usually works when there is an audience that knows it needs that product. But when the market is flooded with commodity products (and what market isn’t), then such a strategy simply doesn’t work. Bryant points out: “A brand wants people to aspire to its product. To a brand, their product is the customer’s goal. But people don’t aspire to products. People aspire to feelings that products give them. This is true for everything from candy bars to sports cars to cloud-based document storage solutions.”

And it’s true of what the architect specifies: the brand, not the product.

Brand is Everything

Architects are like ranchers when it comes to managing  brands that they specify. While the architect may specify a variety of different manufacturers’ brands (beef), it’s the firm’s name on the door that owner hires — not the manufacturer(s). The architectural firm itself becomes the “brand” and the assurance that the products in that specification offer quality and reliability.

You can see how complex the specification process is.

As much as a manufacturer does to support his brand in a marketplace, the bulk of brand building lies in the specifications of the architect — something the major brands have realized for many years (and why they aim at influencing the architect).

Any of the well-known brands have always begun their path to specification by building brand strength through the  architects, the engineers, the contractors and the building owners. Those were the audiences. And what drove those specifications was the brand image of the manufacturer’s products — something that was intangible.

Fortunately or unfortunately, no matter what a manufacturer does to enhance or harm his brand, it’s the architect who determines to a large extent its eventual success (or one of those other audiences). Ignoring the installed base for a moment, one might argue that there is no product that can enter the construction marketplace without first entering the specification.

A Brand Generates Energy

A brand is the emotional source of an organization — its very soul. People are guided and inspired by it, and that makes defining it extremely difficult if not impossible. The only rule in figuring out brand is this: Beware of concise definitions. There are none because brands, like people, are complex.

In your company, it’s all of your company’s actions — answering the phones, fulfilling orders, communications, customer service calls, operations practices and employee interactions. Your brand is all that you do and do not do. You help define your brand by “opting out” of specific behaviors.

When you decide to do or not do something a specific way, you send a message. That message contributes to the formulation of your brand in a person’s minds.

Energy is the strength and vitality required for sustained physical or mental activity. Merriam Webster says energy is “a fundamental entity of nature that is transferred between parts of a system in the production of physical change within the system and usually regarded as the capacity for doing work.”

Energy excites. And so do certain brands.

Who are You?

Think for a moment about who you are, and how people perceive you as a person. You have a certain image (a wild, crazy guy, perhaps, or a no-nonsense workaholic). Your personality is your brand; people who know you count on you to act in a certain way and to do certain things.

Some people call certain people because they get a “lift” from talking to them. Other people avoid calling certain people because their energy is, well, negative. In all these cases you’re talking about feelings, the intangible.

But those feelings are always about the person experiencing the brand, what the brand brings out of that person, and not the brand itself.

The brand — any brand — is simply a catalyst for a feeling.

Just as you either know a person or you don’t, either you know a brand, or you don’t. And just as you can never know another person, you can never really know a brand.

A brand isn’t about the brand…it’s about your “feelings” for that brand.

One of the consistent findings in our research is how much of a gap exists between what manufacturers think about their products and what the marketplace thinks about those same products. There is rarely a one-to-one match in these perceptions, because it’s not about the products: it’s about the brand ultimately, and for some reason, manufacturers can’t get beyond the product.

But when they do come close to matching, the manufacturer has poured millions of dollars into shaping those perceptions into a single “brand image” by weaving stories about the brand. Think of any of the brands in any category. Those brands are in the specification as brands of products, not just products. When there are no brands in the specification for a product that’s needed, it’s called a generic specification. Anyone’s cattle will do.

Perception is the Key

Everything we think we know about a brand was created through our five senses. In fact, everything we think we know about anything comes through these senses.

Therefore, perceptions of things and people are also formed through these channels.

Perceptions drive actions, and people define themselves through their actions.

Therefore, by studying  actions, you can define the person, the company, the brand.

Brand image and reputation are created through the action of specification.

Specifications come from perceptions of the brand, which came through the five senses.

What does that mean?

It means representatives calling on those audiences you want to influence. It means pouring out content (advertising or other tactics) into those audiences. It means telling stories about how products perform. It means everything about a company and how it projects itself through its actions into those audiences.

The dirty little secret about a brand is that the audience creates the brand, not the manufacturer. It’s always been about the audience, not the brand. Just as people gave the “Lazy Y” more meaning as a preferred brand by buying it, audiences like architects give meaning to brands by specifying them. Or not.

Behavior is Brand

Customers who know you expect certain behaviors from you, and that becomes your “brand.” Others you don’t do business with are unfamiliar with your behavior and, therefore, your “brand.” They must learn about you.

Learning about you used to be easier. Companies would run advertising and communicate to their audiences to build their brand.

Today, there are websites. Social Media. Word of Mouth. Networking. Rumor and truth often get mixed up.

But, within this complexity lies the power of a brand: The more people understand what to expect from your business or product, the easier it is to do business or specify a product.

Expectation of a behavior is really what branding is all about.

When you deliver what is expected, you contribute to building a “good” brand. When you do not, you contribute to building a “bad” brand.

Brands can be good or bad, and they change all the time.

A brand isn’t a logo or a letterhead; those are representations of something more than themselves.

Take the word “Marlboro.” It used to conjure up a vision of a cowboy instead of a cigarette — it’s a representation of something other than the product. Today, it fades alongside the shiny new things. There was a time when the word “Marlboro” meant “Cowboy.” “Rugged.”

That’s not true anymore.

Because the real secret about your brand is this: it’s not what you think it is. It’s what your customer thinks it is. You can believe anything you want about you and your company, but unless your customers believe it, it’s simply not true.

Perception becomes reality.

That’s why “basis of design” becomes so important, something that shapes such perceptions and, therefore, reality.

For a manufacturer, remember your markets are changing almost daily. To compete successfully, you must create a brand that is recognized, trusted and means quality to your architectural specifiers. Your architects remain loyal to you and your products because you behave the way they want, expect and count on.

For the architect who operates in those changing markets, his or her perceptions are shaped by the products they specify, by the owners they serve, by everything around them. As “managers” of brands, your own brand goes “on the line” with every specification you write.

To compete successfully, remember that it’s not about you: it’s about them, and what they think about you. And that’s why there is a whole industry that emerged around “crisis management.” When something happens to a brand, there’s a crisis. The crisis is about the faith in the brand, and any incident can harms the brand’s image.

Our sister company’s blog — Brands in Crisis — is a discussion about how a brand gains its power from people who embrace it – and from its brand proposition. It supplements this discussion and might interest you.

Please let us know what you think! Thanks for reading our analysis.

The post What is a Brand? appeared first on Accountability Information Management.

The global COVID-19 pandemic has brought dramatic changes not only in everyday life, but also for business with lasting effects. So, what does that mean for business today? What will it mean in the immediate future? More specifically, how does the pandemic affect interior designers and the methods in which they find out about products and services they need to run their facilities in this new COVID-19 environment.

Interior designers are working from home using the internet and design programs during this crisis as is their clients. How can a manufacturers sales force reach them to promote their products or services? Accountability Information Management, Inc. (AIM), a leading B2B marketing research company, endeavored to find out how manufacturers can service their interior designer customers during this crisis.

COVID-19 Affects Interior Designers

Interior Designers were hit hard. But with more people working at home, projects were put on hold rather than cancelled according to a poll by the National Kitchen and Bath Association in the first quarter of 2020.

As people begin to gradually return to the work force, there will be changes influenced by COVID-19 in their homes and offices. Quarantined individuals will carry with them the awareness of the necessity and safety of thorough cleaning, antimicrobial materials and increased hygiene. Interior designers will have to address these issues in their plans. An increase use of metals is predicted such as bronzes, brasses and copper, which are naturally antimicrobial and hygienic. Natural woods like bamboo, oak and cork help stop bacteria and microorganisms from growing. Not only are they more hygienic, but add to the design.

The “6 ft” distancing will change home design and remodeling. The need for space in homes will increase i.e. office spaces, study areas, libraries, gyms, media rooms, game rooms and space for Zoom meetings or even to separate accommodations for isolating the ill.

Information on new materials, designs and applications will have to be relayed to interior designers. For example, COVID-19 has exemplified the importance of sanitizing wall surfaces. Vinyl wall surfaces inherently known for durability, scrubability and cleanliness with today’s harsher chemical new technologies are being brought forth. Manufacturers will have to provide that information and new technologies to their customers according to the Wallcovering Association.[1]

AIM researched interior designers as well as architects, engineers and facility managers. There were over 142 responses to the survey. This report covers what interior designers are telling us: COVID-19 is disrupting their business and has almost become a way of life. The impact on sales of products is ongoing and, as our research shows, irreversible.

As the economy returns to normal or what may never be normal, AIM can help navigate the virus when your salespeople finally “hit the bricks” or not.

The AIM research asked architects, interior designers, facility managers and engineers: In the era of COVID-19 and social distancing, have you changed the way you get new product information from manufacturers? Almost three-quarters of interior designers have changed the way they get new product information.

72% of interior designers who responded to our survey have changed the way they receive product information from manufacturers, which corresponds almost identically to overall respondents.

Their responses on how its changed shows the shift in trajectory. Obviously, the in-person aspect was eliminated (35% no longer have in person visits and lunch-n-learns), which seems to be directly replaced with virtual meetings (34%). However, the aspect of getting product information online remains strong (25%).

An uptick of 34% in virtual and digital meetings while an increase of 25% getting information online and the web was acknowledged. The increase is projected to increase as COVID-19 increases. AIM can help determine which is the most productive way of reaching your audience.

Chart 3 indicates interior designers differ from other audiences in the survey. 30% plan to work partly from home and partly from the office while 33% will probably continue to work remotely. Regardless, most interior designers plan to work from home and manufacturers have to take steps to reach them “coming and going.”

Confusion on returning to work or staying at home not only affects interior designers, but other professionals studied. Comparatively speaking 60% of engineers (not shown) continue to work part office/part remote. Indicating, perhaps, that interior designers are more flexible in the time returning to showrooms and prefer more contact at home.

COVID- 19 is changing the way interior designers and other professionals get product information from manufacturers.

AIM asked, In the Era of COVID-19 and social distancing, have you changed the way you get new product information from manufacturers?

The highest percentage (4.1 out of 5) of interior designers preferred emails with detailed product information and a link to the website. Closely followed by Free CEU Webinar (4.0) and online webinars. A short 15-minute product introduction followed by a 30 min. product overview with Podcasts being the least desirable.

Clearly emails and free CEU webinars are the way to go. What if your reps made videos of the product launch, upgrade etc?  Customizing the video and having the rep deploy it to his interior design customers may be an approach.

Another avenue to pursue is supplying Zoom meeting materials on new products. Interior designers are using Zoom to approach their clients on new products, design concepts and project layouts.

Chart 5 shows that 65% of interior designers prefer features, benefits of products material to help their customers in products selection. Secondly, at 46% interior designers want the practical application of products “how and where product can be used.”

AIM asked: how much will COVID-19 have on interior designers’ selection and specification of products for their customers. The overall weighed impact of 3.3 out of 5 (extremely high impact) topping other respondents. An increased stress on cleanability, product availability and delivery were some of the top comments.

In a recent interview with an interior designer from the Midwest, scheduling trades and receiving materials caused the most disruption in her projects. Product selection may soon depend on availability and delivery, and manufacturers should be prepared.

The respondent were asked when the anticipated the return of rep visits. The majority 60% answered with “Don’t know,” while 29% anticipated in 6 months to a year.

AIM suggests that manufacturer react as quickly as possible. As indicated in Chart 1, manufactures should jump start the process by creating emails with supporting information. This is a keyway to continuously reach their audience.

AIM is a full-service marketing research company specializing in B2B research in the interior design industry. AIM can uncover many more ideas from this research. For more detailed information on interior designers or to see how other business professionals are finding new products and product details, call 847 358 6884 or visit www.a-i-m.com.

[1] Creating Sanitary Wall with Wallcoverings Engineered for Cleanability (9/16/20) Matthew Jones, Wallcovering Newsletter.

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Globally, COVID-19 has disrupted everyday life, bringing drastic changes to the way business is conducted. The complexity of the pandemic and its response has impacted the economy in many different ways, creating a gap between “essential” and “non-essential” businesses.

So, what does that mean for the business of architecture today? What will it mean in the immediate future…the long-term picture? More specifically, how does the pandemic and its consequences impact architects and the means by which they obtain product information they so readily depend on for their specifications?

These questions were explored in depth in new Accountability Information Management (AIM) research that tried to understand how COVID-19 has impacted how architects get product information from manufacturers. The research also identified how businesses are using different strategies to recover in the turbulent COVID economy. Unsurprisingly, the COVID-19 pandemic has had a dramatic role in changing how architects get product information from manufacturers. For example, the research also explores the drastic change in manufacturers reps’ ability to visit architects and present CEU lunch and learns.

COVID-19 Slams the Architectural Business

The shutdown hit architects hard. The Architectural Billings Index, which is used to project nonresidential building prospects, saw its largest single-month decline due to the pandemic since the American Institute of Architects (AIA) developed the economic indicator 25 years ago[1]. By April, 80 percent of architectural firms applied for federal PPP loans according to AIA. According to ConstructConnect, a leading provider of construction information, the way architects will be working is seeing a paradigm shift. Kevin Songer from Gensler said, “We continue to see design needs in the market and are staying in close contact with our clients to support their needs during this time. We are seeing some needs shift, and everyone is thinking about the near now and the far future impact. Paired with new information each day, we believe more than ever that design is what will make us stronger when we come out of this time.”

But, Gensler is always optimistic. Their DIALOGUE blog is helping shape the thinking that will be forthcoming from architects[2]. What is also being reshaped is HOW they get information, which is what the AIM research sought to explore.

Due to the pandemic, product information reaches architects differently than before, in a mostly digital format. Because of advantages in technology and automation, however, the transfer of some types of information is easier than before in some work settings[3].

The AIM research directly asked architects, interior designers, facility managers and engineers: In the era of COVID-19 and social distancing, have you changed the way you get new product information from manufacturers? The vast majority (81%) of the architects surveyed have changed the way they seek new product information.

Chart 1: In the era of COVID-19 and social distancing, have you changed the way you get new product information from manufacturers?

Their open-ended comments on how it has changed shows the shift in trajectory. Once the pandemic began, the in-person aspect was eliminated (35% no longer have in person visits and lunch-n-learns), which seems to be directly replaced with virtual meetings (34%). However, the aspect of getting product information online remains strong (25%).

Chart 2: Open ended comments . . . How has it changed?

The AIM study further emphasizes the shift from in-person to virtual/online. Just look at the dramatic swings in elements of the chart below, such as the increase in online CEU attendance pre-to post-COVID (30% to 73%), or the dramatic decrease in office CEU Meet & Greets pre-COVID to post-COVID (77% to 11%). Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, architects are using more online resources, phone calls and email to get product information.

Chart 3:  Where professionals go for new product information, pre and post COVID.

These results stress the importance of providing product information on websites (a 15% increase) and a dramatic rise of online presentations (43% increase).

It also affects organizations like the AIA. Note the collapse of trade shows as a source of information. These shows pre-COVID-19 tended to be grazing grounds for architects throughout the world. As they locked down and out, the situation is forcing these organizations to rethink their positions dramatically. One major association in the construction industry AIM interviewed put it bluntly: “We lost a million dollars and more when you factor in the cancellation fees. How do you replace that?”

More specifically, the AIM study asked: Today many manufacturers are trying different methods to get product information to you. How likely are you to use the following types of communications to learn about new products/materials?

Chart 4: How likely are you to use the following types of communications to learn about new products/materials?

Clearly with architects, free online CEU webinars with detailed product information are the most useful. Architects rely heavily on CEUs for professional education regardless of COVID-19, so ensuring that your online courses are up-to-date, robust, and easily accessible is likely the best method for staying connected with this group.

This does not discount the other communications tactics like emails with links to website or YouTube product information. However, you can see that providing architects with free CEU webinars is more likely to get their attention – especially if you and your sales reps already had the contacts!

AIM also asked: how much of an impact will the COVID pandemic have on the architect’s future selection and specification of products for the projects you are involved with? The overall weighted impact (five being extremely high impact) was 3.1. However, the architect’s weighted impact score was 2.9 –making it an important factor, if slightly lower than other occupations.

Chart 5: How much of an impact will the COVID pandemic have on your future selection and specification of products for the facilities you are involved with?

The top four verbatim comments about this impact were:

• Importance of easy cleanability
• Supply/product availability
• More willing to use familiar products
• Increasing interest/importance of touch-free products

Interested in how other building professionals look for product information or on when architects anticipate they will return to work in the office?

Check out the AIM website for more details on this research.  The above is just a limited summary of the many insights contained in AIM’s research report. For further discussion and more detailed information on architects or to see how other building professionals are finding new products and product details, contact AIM by phone or email today.  AIM is a full-service marketing research company specializing in B2B research in the building construction market.  Visit our website to take advantage of other research and reports.

[1] Designing to Survive, by Philip Kennicott, JULY 13, 2020, WASHINGTON POST.

[2] For example, “Here’s How Developers Can Reposition Office Buildings for the Future” is one of many articles from Gensler in their ongoing Blog about this topic.

[3] AIM research has continually demonstrated that the manufacturer’s website is the most important marketing tactic for manufacturers to disperse their information.

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The global COVID-19 pandemic has brought dramatic changes not only in everyday life, but also for the business of managing facilities with lasting effects. The issues are more complex than staying safe and working remotely. And essential businesses are hit differently than the non-essential.

So, what does that mean for the people who manage buildings  today? What will it mean in the immediate future – or the longer term once the virus is gone?

More specifically, how does the pandemic and its reverberations effect facility managers and the means in which they find out about products and services they need to run their facilities in this new COVID environment?

What Buildings?

The severe lockdowns spawned by COVID-19 has an unbelievable impact on buildings. When people were told to stay home, offices throughout the country suffered. As the lockdowns continued, it was clear that dramatic changes were taking place – almost daily. Would furloughed workers return? What would have to happen to the office environment to have them return safely? What else would have to be considered with construction markets?

“Rather than the typical lag, the CRE (commercial real estate) industry was affected immediately. This was because trade activities and occupiers’ businesses were shut down,” according to Jim Berry from Deloitte & Touche LLP.[1] According to an Accountability Information Management (AIM) research, supply line disruption caused significant damage to how buildings were renovated or built. Repeatedly AIM has heard from clients and their customers, “the worst was not knowing if or when I can get the material.”

One of the leading architects in the world, Gensler, has produced ongoing information about the reaction to COVID-19 and its impact on buildings. According to one of their reports, their clients “for the most part are holding. They are hesitant to spend capital on their current portfolios and some are waiting to invest in distressed properties.”[2] They noted that with so much square footage currently sitting empty in urban centers, the future “must be community oriented, and existing office building stock can be repositioned to better meet the needs of the people who live and work nearby.”[3]

The real problem, however, is the uncertainty around what government will do. Regardless of what a facility manager may have in mind, if the government rules forbid opening, the severity of businesses that will be lost cannot be stopped. Therefore, loss of businesses to occupy buildings will impact facility managers and their roles going forward.

But in all cases, information and how information about products for buildings is taking on new paths. This is what the AIM research uncovered. In sharing the information, AIM is preparing the groundwork of how facility managers will want this information from manufacturers.

That new communication pathway(s) became perfectly clear in new AIM research that tried to understand how COVID-19 impacted how building professionals get product information from manufacturers and identify strategies businesses are using to recover from the pandemic. And it may be of no surprise that the COVID-19 pandemic has changed the way building professionals such as facility managers get product information from manufacturers.

The pandemic has changed the landscape of how product information reaches facility managers. Interestingly, all the previous disruptions (digital disruption, AI, etc.) have paved the way to make the flow of information an easy evolution.

The AIM research directly asked architects, interior designers, facility managers and engineers: In the era of COVID-19 and social distancing, have you changed the way you get new product information from manufacturers? More than half (58%) of the facility managers have changed the way they seek new product information.

There is no doubt that the initial lockdown where people were staying in their homes had an effect on this pathway of information. For example, in other AIM research, companies with multiple plants were already meeting virtually, so they didn’t skip a beat when the lockdowns occurred.

However, nothing could stop the impact of supply chain disruptions, so even though facility managers were able to communicate, getting the products they needed was a severe problem (i.e., one manufacturer was getting orders for their touchless product, but unfortunately couldn’t meet the demand because of these types of supply-chain disruptions, forcing the facility managers to take different approaches).

AIM research supports the shift in trajectory. Based on open-ended comments from respondents in-person rep visits/contact was eliminated (35% no longer have in person visits and lunch-n-learns), which seems to be directly replaced with virtual meetings (34%). However, the aspect of getting product information online remains strong (25%).

These shifts will, in turn, provoke discussions on how to reach facility managers. After all, if you can’t meet with them in person, how will you get the messages across?

Even when things begin to re-open, the days of “just dropping by” are gone. It is clear that a new contact strategy must be created – and the manufacturer who figures it out first will win the day. This is why the AIM research is important to developing such a strategy. It provides clues as to how facility managers want to be reached.

For example, Chart 2 shows if you want to reach these people now, an email with a link to your website will be the preferred way of doing so. AIM has documented evidence of the importance of a manufacturer’s website before COVID-19 as the most important marketing tactic in the manufacturer’s arsenal. After COVID-19, that importance has only increased!

The  AIM research asked respondents to indicate what their product sources were prior and during COVID. In fact, the AIM study confirms the virtual/online shift. Just look at the dramatic swings in chart below! Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, building professionals are using more online resources, phone calls and email to get product information.

The collapse of trade shows as a hub for facility managers to gather is also telling. Plus, prior AIM research found facility managers are one of the most engaged audiences by sharing information WITH EACH OTHER. AIM studies have shown that these people are networked to the nth degree – that they call each other and talk to each other more so than other peer groups.[4]

But, most important is the website. Keeping the website current is more important than creating a new strategy for your salesforce. With respect, who needs a salesperson if the information is on the website? The role of salespeople is actually being redefined as this report is being produced. Companies everywhere are asking themselves these questions. The answers will develop as these other opportunities are sorted out.

For example, perhaps the salesperson of the future does a virtual meeting and navigates through the website for the customer. Perhaps “customer rooms” are created on the website for the salesperson to load up with information for presenting to facility managers.

Some companies have apps for this that can be used in a face-to-face setting. However, an app deployed is just that: another app in the world of apps. The key ingredient – a trained sales professional – still has a role, even if that role is being redefined.

These results of the AIM research stress the importance to provide product information on websites (a 15% increase) and a dramatic rise of online presentations (43% increase).

More specifically, the AIM study asked: Today many manufacturers are trying different methods to get product information to you. How likely are you to use the following types of communications to learn about new products/materials?

Clearly with facility managers emails that include detailed product information and link to website is the most useful. Rather than make a general one to email blast to everyone, customize the information in the email for facility managers and deploy it to facility customers or manufacturer representatives to reach their prospects.

This does not discount the other communications tactics like CEUs or online presentations. However, you can see that emailing facility managers is more likely to get their attention – especially if you and your sales reps already had the contacts!

AIM also asked: how much of an impact will the COVID pandemic have on the facility manager’s future selection and specification of products for the facilities you are involved with? The overall weighted impact (five being extremely high impact) was 3.1. However, the facility manager’s was 3.0 – ranking it midrange, making it an important factor.

The top four verbatim comments about this impact were:

• Increased stress on cleanability
• Product availability
• Will use what is familiar
• More interest in touch free product

Other comments include:

• Products expected to change based on our new needs. – Property Management Company
• We will take into consideration the products ability to be disinfected to coordinate with our internal cleaning protocol. –School District
• I have always tried to specify cleanable products.- University

There are many more ideas that AIM can uncover from this research. For more detailed information on engineers or to see how other building professionals are finding new products and product details, give us a call or send us an email. AIM is a full-service marketing research company specializing in B2B research in the building construction market. Visit our website for more details on this research and take advantage of other research and reports.

[1] COVID-19 implications for commercial real estate: Preparing for the “next normal,” Jim Berry, Deloitte. Berry leads the US Real Estate (RE) sector for Deloitte. Prior to assuming the US RE sector leader role, he served as the head of Deloitte’s Audit practice for the RE sector.

[2] Here’s How Developers Can Reposition Office Buildings for the Future, Sheryl Schulze and Ian Zapata, September 16, 2020.

[3] Ibid.

[4] Security professionals are also an engaged networked audience, talking with each about the latest developments. This type of understanding is critical to the manufacturer who seeks acceptance for his products in the built environment. In other words, you have to create a buzz.

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If you are a manufacturer, what’s up with your sales representatives calling on engineers these days?

Accountability Information Management, Inc. (AIM) is a leading B2B marketing research company and wanted to find out.

There’s no doubt about the disruption COVID-19 caused – or more properly, the government’s reaction to the virus. The impact on sales of products is profound and, as our research shows, irreversible.

We wanted to know just how profound it was, so we conducted research to engineers, as well as architects, facility managers, and interior designers. There were over 142 responses to our surveys, and this report covers specifically what we found out from engineers.

The intent is to offer potential tactics to navigate business based on how the pandemic affects the return to “normal.”

Because the fact is, it will never be “normal” – whatever that was.[1]

Chart one indicates engineers differ from other audiences in the survey: 60% of them said they plan on working part office/part remotely in six months – perhaps anticipating what has turned out to be the “norm” for many companies as they sort through ways of working.

However, note that 40% are either uncertain or “probably” going to continue working remotely. The confusion around how people work is reflected not just with engineers, but in the other professionals we studied.

Gensler, one of the leading architectural firms in the US., conducted a survey in September, 2020 because Gensler designs and builds a lot of offices and wanted to find out for themselves what’s going on. They discovered, “Only 12% of U.S. workers want to work from home full-time. Most want to return to the workplace, but with critical changes.”[2]

What companies are finding out is that work – a lot of work – while it can be done remotely, still needs a certain sense of “social.”. All of this will change the way your sales force will interact with engineers now and in the future.

Here are more results our survey produced to contemplate.

Over 70% said COVID-19 changed the way they get product information from manufacturers!

Chart 2 shows this response and its significance for manufacturers as they figure out how to communicate their product information. A more detailed look at responses from engineers and architects showed 83% changed the way they get their new product information from manufacturers since COVID-19! That’s 13 percentage points higher than the average of all the professionals who responded to our survey.

And HOW did they get information and continue to get information?

Chart 3 shows you how! Just look at the dramatic swings in how in virtually all of these ways!

Engineers would be notorious for going to trade shows for gathering information for example…and now? With the collapse of the trade show industry (just Google how many have cancelled or are cancelling or turning “virtual”), engineers will tell us that they will still get their information – but it will be from the manufacturer websites!

In fact, in AIM investigations, we have shown repeatedly how engineers cruise manufacturer websites for specifications on an ongoing basis. In study after study, we have monitored the engineers’ usage of searching for specifications for a specific product from the manufacturer. This also includes the distribution channels of the manufacturers searching the manufacturer website (i.e., distributors constantly cruise websites for specifications and pricing). COVID-19 has only increased reliance of these audiences on the manufacturer’s website for current information. Thus, if your website isn’t current or easy to use, you could face losing to your competitors.

Information consumption and distribution has always been more pronounced on the Internet.

In B2B Never Sleeps, an article[3] that documented what happened over one weekend on a B2B media outlet’s website, content was consumed not just by the media outlet’s target audience (building owners and developers). In fact, architects and engineers were consuming the content with equal gusto!

Engineers, furthermore, were very much used to having sales representatives visit them with new product information, to update their catalogs, etc. However, with the onset of COVID-19 and their not being in the office (Chart 1), what should the manufacturer’s sales force expect?

Chart 4 shows that it will be at least six months to a year before a rep will be in their offices! Indeed, 25% have no idea of when that will happen. How are your reps going to do their jobs? And what type of restrictions will there be when visits take place?

Chart 5 shows that everything from face masks, to social distancing to appointments and restricting group sizes are taking place. For example, in one meeting AIM attended during COVID-19, we purchased a thermometer to take our temperature as we walked in to make the client feel more comfortable![4]

In the meantime, what are your sales reps doing? How are they going to earn their commissions?

One of the key questions AIM asked professionals is: how likely are to use specific types of communication to learn about new products from manufacturers? Chart 6 shows you the results for engineers compared to all professionals. It gives you a clue on how to employ your sales reps for effectiveness:

Clearly, email with video demos is the way to go. What if your reps made videos of the product launch, upgrade, etc? Rather than make a general one to blast to everyone, customize the video (the technology is there!) and have the rep deploy it to his engineering customers.

This doesn’t discount the other communications tactics like CEUs. However, you can see that doing a video and emailing it to the engineer is more likely to get their attention – especially if your sales reps already had the contacts!

And what type of information would be in your video?

Chart 7 shows you what you would expect for engineers: technical information! Other important information would be to stress the product benefits and specific examples of how and where the product can be used.

AIM also asked: how much of an impact will the COVID pandemic have on the engineer’s future selection and specification of products for the facilities you are involved with? The overall weighted impact (five being extremely high impact) was 3.1. However, the engineer’s was only 2.4 – actually, the lowest of all the professional groups we measured. The top four verbatim comments about this impact were:

• Increased stress on cleanability
• Product availability
• Will use what is familiar
• More interest in touch free product

There are many more ideas that AIM can uncover from this research. For more detailed information on engineers or to see how other building professionals are finding new products and product details, give us a call or send us an email.  AIM is a full-service marketing research company specializing in B2B research in the building construction market.  Visit our website to take advantage of other research and reports.

[1] In Why Doesn’t a Sales Force Follow Up on Leads?, the author discussed primary reasons, which included being too busy, questioning the source of the lead, reliability of the lead, difficulty in penetrating the target – all of which flew out the window when COVID-19 showed up. Today, saying you can’t “hit” the target because he is not in the office is just another excuse like the others were excuses: working for the engagement with the target.

[2] Planning for the Future Workplace and a Distributed Workforce, September 10, 2020 by José Luis Sanchez-Concha and Francesca Poma, part of Gensler’s ongoing exploration of how design is responding to the COVID-19 pandemic. Increasingly, people are finding out that we are social animals! Duh.

[3] B2B Never Sleeps, in IMARK Group’s publication, IMARK Now. Spring edition. By Jim Nowakowski.

[4] A Plea to Ban Masks from Business Meetings.

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Accessible public restrooms are integral for any commercial space and are not just for the physically challenged or the aging. However, in addition to meeting today’s rigorous ADA standards, builders, architects, interior designers, kitchen and bath professionals and remodeling contractors must also consider other factors including sustainability, efficiency, hygiene, “well design,” durability, as well as aesthetics. And in the post-COVID world that also means going hands-free as much as possible.

When it comes to designing an ADA restroom, the 2010 ADA Standards (Chapter 6) is the go-to source for making sure to get the basics done right. Many states and local municipalities have also adopted the 2017 ICC/ANSI Standards for commercial buildings. While the 2010 ADA Standards and the 2017 ICC/ANSI Standards are similar in many regards, they sometimes differ in the contexts of scope and technical requirements.

Keep in mind that when undertaking a new construction project or planning to make physical changes to an existing building and the prevailing governing body uses both sets of guidelines, adhere to the more stringent requirements found in either the 2010 ADA Standards or the 2017 ICC/ANSI Standards. Plus, it is important to note that some states guidelines are ”stricter” than others. Please check with your local guidelines to be sure that all requirements are being met. [See Beyond ADA sidebar for other ADA sources.]

The most important details when it comes to ADA compliance design are spacing and measurements of several elements within the restroom.

ADA Design Details

Stylish design and accessibility design are not mutually exclusive. They can coexist within a design vision to create a refreshing, inclusive restroom. Thoughtful selections and creative use of existing space and materials will help. It is all in the details.

Usually, when you consider accessibility design, the needs of people who use wheelchairs is forefront. Wheelchairs vary in size and design and the use of motorized scooters continues to grow. Like wheelchairs, scooters are available in a myriad of sizes. Yet, today’s accessibility standards fail to address these trends and their ramifications on bathroom designs.

Designing an ADA restroom, however, goes beyond accommodating wheelchairs. For example, the needs of people who have sensory disabilities such as blindness or deafness and those who use devices such as canes and walkers. The needs of these individuals may require the elimination of protruding objects from your design and may necessitate the inclusion of a fire alarm that has strobe lighting.

Additionally, consideration for the people who tend to individuals with disabilities, including parents and opposite-sex caregivers, is necessary when designing ADA restrooms. These considerations, for example, have given rise to “family” bathrooms in places like malls and other establishments frequented by consumers who have a wide range of needs.

Defining Terms

Before examining the guidelines within ADA for restrooms, it is important to understand the interpretation of the Codes involved, the requirements of the builders and owners, architects and engineers, all play a role in achieving the desired result. Often, perhaps more often than anyone cares to admit, intense disagreements emerge as to the interpretation of what is and what is not a problem or an issue. These interpretations can often stall a project’s schedule and at times side track it unnecessarily.

No one knows this better than ADA expert James V Vitale, AIA, LEED AP, CASp, RCI. Vitale has been involved in advocating for ADA issues for many years, and is often called upon as an expert witness in these matters.

According to Vitale, projects involve a series of managed tasks/topics related to achieving a specific result/goal. The solution involves issue identification and successful resolution and implementation.

“The methods and means for doing this vary from project to project,” he points out, “but a lot of confusion arises when the terms ‘issue’ and ‘problem’ are used relating to projects. They are very close in meaning. Unless you define your terms, things will go South.”

“Look at it this way,” he continues. “Issues are typically resolvable, whereas problems may often be viewed in a negative light. You see, the word ‘problem’ is often connected with the word ‘solution’ in a person’s mind.”

The goal Vitale emphasizes is to identify the issues associated with an initial goal to be met.

“People’s word choice matters – a lot,” he says. “The  word choice plays an enormous role is facilitating understanding. By defining your terms, the timing and amount of responses can be minimized.”

Mis-understanding can be avoided if definitions are discussed and set at the beginning of every project, but especially ones that incorporate ADA thinking.

ADA Standards

A good starting point when designing for a wide range of abilities, disabilities, and other characteristics, are the ADA Standards. These guidelines about restrooms include the floor space, the toilet height, the space under the sink, the type of faucet used and even the placement of the toilet paper roll!

Basically, you want to make it as easy and pain-free as possible to use the space. Typically, products are designed to be most suitable for the average user. In contrast, products that are designed according to accessibility are designed to be usable by everyone, to the greatest extent possible, without the need for adaptation or specialized design. For example, a door that automatically opens when someone approaches it is more accessible to everyone, including small children, workers whose arms are full, and people using walkers or wheelchairs.

Here are some of the most common ADA bathroom layout guidelines when designing an accessible restroom:

Note: There are separate ADA guidelines for children restrooms. See alternative measurements in tables indicated in each section where ADA makes distinction.

Clear Floor Space

Maneuvering Space – The disabled should be able to easily maneuver to the toilets and sinks within the restroom or stall. For a 30” x 48” wheelchair, a clear floor space of at least 60” diameter is required, allowing a 180-degree turn. In some cases, the available clear space can be supplemented by open space under a fixture to meet the minimum requirement or a T-shaped turning space that is 60” in length with a 36” width.

Mounting Heights – To make accessories such as dispensers and dryers accessible, their operable parts must be located no higher than 48” above the finished floor and no lower than 15”. They should also be fully recessed where possible into the wall to prevent injuries.

Equipment Accessibility – Equipment and accessories should be designed for a forward or parallel approach, as well as for both left- and right-hand access.

Signage – The standard requirement for ADA signs is be on the opening side of the door and should align the reading characters at 48” to 60” above the ground surface. The baseline of the tactile character should measure 16” from the highest tactile character. The tactile character should be used as a compliant sign. As for existing restrooms that are not compliant with ADA standards, there should be a sign that indicates the nearest restroom that is ADA compliant.

For a more detailed explanation of signage requirements, see sidebar Follow the Signs. To assist with ADA restroom design, the sidebar also includes corresponding product information from ADA product manufacturers.

Stall Requirements

Doors

Door Swing – Doors must swing out and at least 36” wide to accommodate wheelchair-bound people and be self-closing.

Door Handles and Latches – Door handles must be easy to operate with one hand without pinching, twisting or tightly grasping, and mounted between 34” – 48” above the finished floor.

Door Operation – Door handles should require less than 5 lbs. of force to push or pull open.

For a more detailed explanation of door and door handle requirements, see sidebars Opening Doors and Get A Handle On It! To assist with ADA restroom design, each sidebar also includes corresponding product information from ADA product manufacturers.

Toilets

Toilet Depth – Wall-hung toilets should have a depth of 56”, while floor-mounted toilets should have a depth of 59”.

Toilet Seat Height – The top of the toilet seat should be installed at a height of 17” – 19” above the finished floor and 16” – 18” away from the sidewall to the centerline of the toilet.

Toilet Seats – Toilet seats cannot be spring-loaded to return automatically to an upright position.

Flush Controls – Flush controls can be manual or automatic. Manual flush levers (if present) must be placed on the open or accessible side of the toilet, which may be on the left or right, depending on the stall design and should require less than 5 lbs. of force to operate. Center, push-button, trip levers are not ADA compliant.

Note: Wheelchair accessible compartments for children’s use shall be 60” wide minimum measured perpendicular to the side wall, and 59” deep minimum for wall hung and floor mounted toilets measured perpendicular to the rear wall.

For a more detailed explanation of toilet requirements, see sidebar The Toilet: Taking Care of Business. To assist with ADA restroom design, the sidebar also includes corresponding product information from ADA product manufacturers.

In-Stall Dispensers

Toilet Paper Dispenser – The toilet paper dispenser should be mounted so that the center of the dispenser is only 7” – 9” in front of the edge of the toilet bowl and unobstructed by the side bar. The opening for the toilet paper dispenser should be 15” – 19” above the finished floor. For an ADA stall, toilet paper dispensers that do not control or limit paper delivery are recommended to keep guests from needing to repeatedly reach for more paper.

Seat Cover Dispenser – Toilet seat cover dispenser should be 15” – 48” above the finished floor.

For a more detailed explanation of in-stall dispenser requirements, see sidebar It’s in the Details: In-Stall Dispensers. To assist with ADA restroom design, the sidebar also includes corresponding product information from ADA product manufacturers.

Grab Bars

Properties – An ADA-compliant grab bar must be fully anchored and have a smooth surface that can be easily grabbed. The bar must be 1-1/4” to 1-1/2’” in diameter. Grab bars must have round edges and must return to the wall (or another anchor point) so there are no exposed ends. ADA-compliant grab bars must be securely anchored to the wall, be stationary in their brackets and be able to support 250 lbs. of force.

Placement – The stall must have two horizontal grab bars. One is located off the back wall (on the rear wall above the toilet) 33”-36” from the floor and floor and extending 1.5” away from the wall. Another grab bar 42” length is also used at 33”-36” from the floor off the wall on the side or partition closest to the toilet. A third 18” vertical grab bar may also be added above the grab bar on the side wall.

For a more detailed explanation of toilet stall grab bar requirements, see sidebar Get a Grip On Grab Bars for Water Closets. To assist with ADA restroom design, the sidebar also includes corresponding product information from ADA product manufacturers.

Urinals

Placement – The rim of an ADA compliant urinal must be a maximum of 17” above the finished floor.

Depth – Urinals should have a minimum depth of 13.5” from the wall to the outer rim of the bowl.

Flush controls – Flush controls can be manual or automatic operation. Manual controls must be at maximum 48” above the finished floor and should require less than 5 lbs. of force to operate.

Floor space – There should be a clear floor space of 30” x 48” in front of the urinal to allow for a forward approach.

For a more detailed explanation of urinal requirements, see sidebar A “Stand Up” Fixture. To assist with ADA restroom design, the sidebar also includes corresponding product information from ADA product manufacturers.

Lavatory Requirements

Sinks

Requirement – There should be at least one sink in the restroom that meets ADA requirements.

Placement – Sinks must be installed with enough clearance underneath for a person in a wheelchair to be able to reach the faucets. The sink basin should be a maximum of 34” above the finished floor, leaving a knee clearance of 27” high, 30” wide, and 11” – 25” deep. Countertop sinks should be installed as close to the edge as possible to allow for easy access.

Height – The disabled should have 9” in height and 17” – 25” in depth of toe clearance without hitting any plumbing.

Exposed Plumbing – Any exposed plumbing should be insulated and padded to prevent any injuries to a person’s legs. A protective panel can be installed to block off the plumbing but must still allow for 8” deep of knee clearance and 11” deep of toe clearance with a 9” height.

 For a more detailed explanation of restroom sink requirements, see sidebar Everything and the Bathroom Sink. To assist with ADA restroom design, the sidebar also includes corresponding product information from ADA product manufacturers.

Faucets

Operation – Faucets can be lever operated, push, touch, or electronically controlled. They should be usable with one hand without the need to tightly grasp, pinch, or twist the wrist. Users should be able to turn the lever with no more than 5 lbs. of force.

Depth – The reach depth to the faucet must not exceed 11”.

For a more detailed explanation of faucet requirements, see sidebar “Turning On” Accessible Faucet Design. To assist with ADA restroom design, each sidebar also includes corresponding product information from ADA product manufacturers.

Soap Dispensers

Placement – Can be manual or automatic. Soap dispensers should be mounted no higher than 44” above the floor. Customers should be able to simultaneously use soap dispensers and faucets without interference.

Operation – Manual soap dispenser button should be used with one hand and should not require over 5 lbs. of pressure to activate it.

For a more detailed explanation of soap dispenser requirements, see sidebar Grasp Should Exceed Reach. To assist with ADA restroom design, the sidebar also includes corresponding product information from ADA product manufacturers.

Mirrors

Placement – The bottom edge of the reflective surface of a mirror located above a sink should measure 40” maximum above the finished floor. If the mirror is not above a sink or countertop, it should be located 35” above the finished floor.

Safety – Mirrors should not have any exposed edges that may lead to injury.

For a more detailed explanation of mirror requirements, see sidebar Mirror, Mirror On the Wall. To assist with ADA restroom design, the sidebar also includes corresponding product information from ADA product manufacturers.

Hand Drying

Hands Free – Hand dryers and towel dispensers should allow for left-hand and right-hand approaches. If the unit does not allow for both, one of each type is recommended.

Placement – Hand dryers should be mounted between 40”- 48” above the finished floor and cannot extend beyond 4” from the wall. If using a paper towel dispenser, the opening should be at a maximum of 48” above the finished floor.

Clearing – A clearing of 30” x 48” should be provided in front of the hand dryer to allow for a forward approach.

For a more detailed explanation of hand drying requirements, see sidebars Drying Hands Matter: The Paper Towel Dispenser and Integrating Hand Dryers into ADA Restrooms. To assist with ADA restroom design, each sidebar also includes corresponding product information from ADA product manufacturers.

Trash Disposal

Trash Receptacle – A trash receptacle should be out of pathways and not placed in front of sinks, handrails, hand dryers or paper towel dispensers.

Placement – Recessed trash disposal units should not project more than 4” from the wall and should be mounted with the opening at 27” above the finished floor.

For a more detailed explanation of door and door handle requirements, see sidebar Talking Trash. To assist with ADA restroom design, the sidebar also includes corresponding product information from ADA product manufacturers.

Showers

The ADA guidelines indicate that showers must have certain clear INSIDE dimensions, but there are two acceptable styles.

Transfer Shower

Size – An ADA Transfer Shower must have an inside dimension of 36” x 36” with a seat and grab bars and more specifically adhering to the following:

• Must be 36” from center points of opposing sides-no construction tolerance is stated in the code
• Must be 36” from the back wall to the outside of the shower on the wall the seat is mounted on – no construction tolerance is stated in the code
• 36” minimum opening at the entry of the shower from the top to floor
• Clearance of 36” wide minimum by 48” long minimum measured from the control wall

Grab Bars – ANSI calls for vertical grab bar on control wall. Back wall grab bar to extend 18” from control wall; 1.25” To 1.5” diameter, 250 lbs. load rated, not to be placed above seat; mounted at same height where multiple bars used, 33”-36” above finish floor and no more than 6” from adjacent wall.

For a more detailed explanation of shower grab bar requirements, see sidebar Get a Grip On Grab Bars for Showers. To assist with ADA restroom design, the sidebar also includes corresponding product information from ADA product manufacturers.

Seat – L-shaped seats placed no more than 3” from front entry and may be folding or non-folding; 250 lbs. load rated; mounted 17”-19” above bathroom finish floor; distance from seat wall to back edge, 2.5” max, to front edge 15”-16”; distance from adjacent wall no more than 1.5”; L-shaped seats to extend 14”-15” from adjacent wall.

For a more detailed explanation of shower seat requirements, see sidebar Take an (Accessible) Seat. To assist with ADA restroom design, the sidebar also includes corresponding product information from ADA product manufacturers.

Shower Head – The controls, faucets, and shower spray unit shall be installed on the side wall opposite the seat 38” – 48” maximum above the shower floor and shall be located on the control wall 15” maximum from the centerline of the seat toward the shower opening. Users should be able to turn the lever with no more than 5 lbs. of force.

For a more detailed explanation of shower head requirements, see sidebar ADA Shower Heads – You’re in Control. To assist with ADA restroom design, the sidebar also includes corresponding product information from ADA product manufacturers.

Roll in Shower

Size – An ADA Roll in Shower must be at least 60” x 30” inside dimension.

• Must be minimum 60” x 30” from center points of opposing sides
• 60” minimum opening from top to bottom
• Clearance of 30” wide minimum by 60” long minimum adjacent to opening

Seat – ANSI calls for seat to be provided, optional for ADA. Folding seat placed on side wall no more than 3” from front entry. Same criteria as Transfer Shower Seat.

Grab Bars – Back wall grab bar to extend 18” from control wall

Shower Head – The controls, faucets, and shower spray unit shall be located above the grab bar, but no higher than 48” above the shower floor. Where a seat is provided, the controls, faucets, and shower spray unit shall be installed on the back wall adjacent to the seat wall and shall be located 27” maximum from the seat wall. Users should be able to turn the lever with no more than 5 lbs. of force.

Shower Ramps

Should a change in level be greater than 0.5” and less than 3”, ramps not steeper than 1:8 may be used in existing sites, buildings, and facilities where such slopes are necessary due to space limitations.

For a more detailed explanation of shower requirements, see sidebar Accessible Showers. To assist with ADA restroom design, the sidebar also includes corresponding product information from ADA product manufacturers.

For more information on the 2010 ADA Standards (Chapter 6), explore the standards here.

Additional topics of interest may include:
Aging in Place Legislation Going on Now
Aging in place design: what you need to know for marketing

Note: All images are sources from the 2010 ADA Standards.

The post Examining ADA Restroom Requirements: The foundation for accessible design appeared first on Accountability Information Management.

The real essence of a market strategy for a product manufacturer deciding to enter a market, however, is answering four questions:

1. How big is the market you are entering?
2. How many products do you want to sell into that market?
3. Are you going to take away buyers of other products for yours or create new buyers?
4. How and where are you going to sell products?

The fourth question can actually shape the first three questions. For example, if you decide to sell direct in a two-step distribution market, your market size may expand or contract accordingly. Or, if you have an established two-step distribution base, will filling it with your new product eat into your other product sales?

This fourth question has grown in importance over the years because of technology and the Internet. The evidence is any market you examine today: established brands are being overturned, pushed aside and threatened by other brands simply because of the way they go to a market.

Strategy Becomes Increasingly Complex

Unless you have a well planned and executed market strategy – one based on facts not fiction – you are not likely to succeed for long in this disruptive environment. As markets become more complex than manufacturers care to admit, so does the strategy to penetrate them  (see a blog on this topic, Who’s On First when it Comes to Strategy).

Success is often the result of inertia that has been built up over the years. People, being people, think that things will also go on like before because of that inertia.

You have only to review business today to see this argument falls flat (i.e., mergers, acquisitions, new competitors change the landscape quickly, and no amount of money or effort can sustain and prevent market upheaval).

A general rule, then, is that any established market a manufacturer may want to enter has leaders and followers already in it (unless of course you are creating a new market). That is, there are established brands and secondary brands. Lately, because of technology and the Internet, there are what we call “interloper brands” that disrupt a market. These are brands that seem to come out of nowhere and establish a base within a market, surprising both the established and secondary brands.

Wall-Hung Vanities are No Different

According to Grand View Research, the global bathroom vanities market size was valued at USD 7.5 billion in 2018 and is expected to expand at a CAGR of 5.9% from 2019 to 2025. Those are “nice to know” stats, but what’s really behind them to help you match a successful strategy?

The first thing you find when examining that market is the rampant confusion of just what a wall-hung vanity really is. It’s always important to “define your terms” and using research results like the above is no different.

As a matter of fact, with all specifications, the main obstacle is language. Is a vanity a sink? A fixture? A cabinet? Just deciding on one of those definitions will impact your efforts if you decide incorrectly. And examining the 400,000+ specifications available in the construction market today via the ConstructConnect database to help you determine the answer is time and cost prohibitive unless you have a clear understanding and definition of your search terms.

Yet, if you are determined to penetrate the commercial wall-hung vanity marketplace, your strategy must include reaching the professionals who write these specifications: the architect or owner channels. This means contacts. This means having a sales force capable of making such calls on these professionals. This means implementing a concentrated marketing effort in order to tip the scales in your favor by having you listed or designated as “an alternative” in what may be a very crowded marketplace. This means, in short, you have to exert time and effort to find out the truth.

The Fourth Question

The fourth question we suggested – how are you going to sell your products – is essentially the determining factor in hatching your marketing strategy for wall-hung vanities. If you Google the term, you’ll find millions of pages all offering such products through a variety of channels. How do you expect to stand out or will you become just another vanity on the Google Wall? What is going to be your true differentiation and will it be strong enough and important enough to your customer and potential customers?

Should you consider a retail strategy? A showroom strategy? Both? What about selling direct?  How will your strategy to reach the consumer market differ from reaching the commercial market?

If you want to sell a lot of these products in a single swoop, commercial specification is the way to proceed. But, getting specified isn’t easy. This is the “road less traveled by,” but it makes all the difference.

Besides, regardless of the road you take, it will be crowded with competitors. Therefore, differentiation will be one of the real keys to success. Your wall-hung vanity MUST differentiate to be purchased or specified.

Your market position as you aim for specifications is always divided into those brands that dominate a specification and the other brands that want to dominate. Sometimes, “basis of design” is important. Therefore, your strategy for the commercial market always begins with a specification analysis.

In the case of wall-hung vanities, a curious thing occurs when you do that: unlike other markets, there is no dominant brand. In fact, the specification market for wall-hung vanities is virtually devoid of brands – making it wide open territory for a manufacturer who wants to penetrate and dominate it.

Of course the wall-hung vanity will compete with other sink/vanity options in the commercial market. Typically, in the current specification mode, the decision on what wall-hung vanity to use is left to the contractor. Is that where you want to play?

Many Start, Few Finish

Before we get too excited, it is important to face the realities of discovering the right strategy.

There is a reason no brand dominates wall-hung vanities: it is partially because it may be considered a commodity product.

Fighting your way out of a commodity world is extremely difficult and costly, and so many companies in examining the risks, take a different path. That is, they produce a “me too” product and hope by entering established channels they can at least get something.

Or, like many manufacturers today, they let their brand be dragged into the commodity world unknowingly by believing that the world doesn’t change. This gives the “interlopers” an open ticket to disrupt.

But, if you have true differentiation, you actually can succeed in breaking through even in a commodity market. However, you have to put your differentiation (either product or service differentiation) in front of the people who matter: the architects and owners who make or influence the purchase decision.

Many manufacturers turn to specialized rep organizations to help with these efforts. While these companies do what they advertise, they do so on behalf of all the lines they carry. The weight they give your product during the presentation to the architects and owners – the knowledge they bring to the table – is only as good as you, the manufacturer, trained them to have. Or as the other manufacturers have given them.

Will they fight for your specification? Do they know enough to dismantle the existing specification with benefits of your product or at least put doubt in the mind of the owner or architect – if they can get in front of them to begin with?

Targeted Market Exposure Used to be Easy

In the old days, the manufacturer would run an ad in one of the five architectural or four owner publications that existed, leads would come in and salesmen would call. Many manufacturers who followed this pattern built strong market shares. Prior to the disruptive environment that exists today, these were the major brands found in the specifications.

But, times change. Today, people are getting information from all sorts of channels – not just the media outlets. In fact, the five architectural publications have become three and owner publications are quickly disappearing, suffering like all print publications from the onslaught of digital information.

However, established brands in markets are not invulnerable. They, like secondary or interloper brands, have to fight in order to maintain their position. In fact, in a recent AIM research report , we found that the leading product manufacturer who for years dominated the specifications for a specific product suddenly dropped to the number two preference. In other words, the dominant brand was no longer dominant in the specification arena. Anything is possible.

How Does this Change Happen?

Effort. Targeting the right architects and owner organizations repeatedly with information, presentations and education. It’s not cheap or easy, but in the long term, that is the only way to topple existing specifications and gain traction in the commercial market.

In fact, that is the only way to maintain the existing specification by leaders. The dirty secret of digital communications is that there is never enough. The thirst for more data can’t be satisfied (see the Blog, how much data can you eat?).

Often, however, leaders become complacent. That complacency is your opportunity to begin your campaign.

Wall-Hung Vanities Spell Opportunity

This category of product seems to be wide open for someone to come in and dominate the category. In the past two years, for example, only 133 projects in the ConstructConnect Insight database had “Wall-Hung vanity” in the specific specification, and within those, no one manufacturer dominated. In fact, more than not, that was an open specification – left to the contractor or owner to “fill out.”

In today’s current commercial construction environment, there are 105 active projects with “Wall-Hung vanity” in the specifications, and the absence of a dominant player still exists. Therefore, if you are a manufacturer of Wall-Hung vanities and want to dominate this category, you have to start with these 105 projects.

The market valuation for these projects is $1.7B. That’s a lot of potential for wall-hung vanities, and even more if you can dominate the specification.

Where do You Start?

There are 25 different types of commercial projects for wall-hung vanities in our group of 105 projects, but only three of these markets comprise 81% of the total share: Apartments, Hotels and Nursing Homes. If someone tried to convince you that government buildings or medical offices are the key markets for your vanities, your aim would be considerably off. It isn’t that government or medical aren’t markets: your potential would be only 4% or so of the available markets for Wall-Hung vanities. Where would you rather hunt?

Architects with Influence

There are ten architects that control over 50% of the projects that involve wall-hung vanities in our grouping. Four of those ten are involved in the top-valued projects. Here is the list (the top four are among them) for your review:

• Leddy Maytum Stacy Architects (LMS)
• Martin Riley Associates Architects, P.C.
• IBI Group
• Architectural Concepts Inc.
• FRCH Design Worldwide – Cincinnati
• WATG
• Gorman & Company, Inc
• Cornerstone Design Architects- Ann Arbor
• Bargmann Hendrie + Archetype (BH+A)
• Bessolo Design Group Inc

How do you tell which are the top four? Through specification analysis! Or, is it better to aim at all ten?

Often, not a single architect or small group will control an end user client like a hotel chain.

For example, AVID hotels is part of the IHG group of properties. Avid hotels is IHG’s newest brand. In this group of products with wall-hung vanities, there are 18 projects going on – and not all by the same architect. This is not uncommon when the owner holds the key decisions on what goes into the rooms. Here is a list of those architects for your reference.

• ADR Designs
• AP Architecture Inc.
• B&A Architecture
• Carlson Design Team
• Craig A. Otto Architect Inc.
• Dale Sweeney Designs
• Design 360 Architects
• FORM Architectural Group
• HRH Architects, Inc.
• Indigo Design
• Jerry Herndon Architect
• Leonard Design
• Leung Architects
• Maust Architectural Services Inc.
• Overcash Demmitt Architects
• Pure Design
• RSS Architects
• Union3Studio, Inc.

But, in many cases you might be better off contacting the IHG group directly. Often with large hotel chains they have a pre-approved list of manufacturers for fixtures and fittings or a standard spec that cannot be revised by the architect.  If your brand is not on the approved list, your brand will not appear in the specification.

This is just the beginning of the type of analysis that will help you hatch your strategy for successful penetration of the commercial and residential wall-hung vanity market or any product in a market. For more information including more lists, strategies and discussion, please call us. We’re here to help.

The post How to Penetrate the Commercial Wall-Hung Vanities Market appeared first on Accountability Information Management.

By Maria Lester, LEED AP

The building construction industry touches every part of our lives – from our homes, schools and workplaces, to our community spaces and general infrastructure. Beyond doubt, connecting the technology infrastructure to the physical spaces and buildings where we work and live can deliver significant benefits – managing the use of energy, optimizing space utilization, and controlling operational and maintenance costs among them.

When you think of how technology has reshaped the building construction industry, new construction usually comes to mind first. While technology can improve the design and construction process, implementation of technology must be part of a broader strategic platform.

However, newly built intelligent buildings represent a tiny fraction of the built space. Existing buildings far outnumber any new construction. Statistics show that for every new commercial property being built, there are approximately 100 existing buildings of a similar type. Considering all building types, the numbers become staggering. According to IFMA (International Facilities Management Association), one in every three buildings is more than 50 years old. More than 70% of buildings are 20 years old, or older!

It is safe to assume that these existing buildings overall are not “smart” and accessing information about any aspect of them is difficult and in many cases, cost prohibitive. The majority still operate the same way they did decades ago. Even though new technologies have been emerging at a rapid pace, it is challenging to transition these buildings into the digital world where they need to operate.

Whether dealing with new construction or retrofit, managing a “smart” building changes everything. And yet, the facilities management industry is no stranger to technology. It has been using computer-based tools for decades, although most of the technology in use is now dated[1]. Even so, these solutions are often proprietary in nature, information is server-based, and most importantly, it lacks instant access.

What is Smart?

The transition to smart buildings has become much more than energy efficiency. IoT and mobile technology are the game changers, escalating the technology transition and leading to improved communication, on-site access to computing functionality, and accurate data recording. In other words, everything in the building is getting “smart.”

The goal however remains the same: to have solutions that will ensure healthy building and infrastructure operations while also reducing costs, improving productivity and boosting sustainability.

According to Konkana Khaund, Director of Consulting Energy, Buildings & Smart Infrastructure at Frost & Sullivan, the challenge is not technology—it is here and it is proven—but, rather, it is the willingness and preparation to take advantage of it[2].

For example, retrofitting an existing building requires weaving “smart” technology into the existing infrastructure, including WiFi, ethernet, Bluetooth mesh and “smart” sensors. Once the “smart” infrastructure is developed, a retrofitted “smart” building can return all the same benefits of a newly built “smart” building.

The New Standard: Integrated Smart Systems

Monitoring and managing building conditions has always been a time-intensive job for the facilities management team, so the rise of the “smart” building is a positive development. Failures of equipment, even the smallest component, can really hurt a building’s profitability, so preventing problems is one of the most important jobs for any facilities manager.

“Smart” systems have changed and are changing the way building information is accessed. Not just information related to building use or occupation, but also critical information for emergency, safety, compliance and the day-to-day functions of building operations and maintenance are being affected. It is vital not only to the operation of a building, but to occupants’ well-being and the growth of an organization.

“The goal is to have more measurable output to evaluate performance,” says Khaund. “Automation provides more tangible output and intelligence. Building management companies use automation to get data and output for trend information, navigate investments, where to cut costs, where to be more efficient and to predict operations.”[3]

For example, the use of apps is transforming the job of facilities managers regardless of the age of the building or the sophistication of its systems. Facilities managers can get instant access to any building-related information being electronically monitored, not only to prevent accidents from becoming catastrophes, but also to reduce operating costs and significantly improving customer service. Plus, when problems arise at a building, action can be taken in real-time using a “smart” device.

“Many of the big facility management companies have their own platforms that work with manufactures to customize products/software to optimize the operation of the buildings they manage. These systems operate to maximize efficiencies in many building services areas including energy, security, maintenance and even cyber security,” Khaund explains.[4]

The ability of building products to be “smart” and to communicate in real-time is crucial. This is true not only during renovation, but also in new construction. For example, using the cloud is all well and good, according to people who study these techniques, but the real key is integration. It does no one any good if systems can’t talk to each other, especially if real-time data is required. Diverse systems create problems. Even within similar systems, variations or home-grown software add-ons create a multitude of issues for true integration.

And yet, such integration exposes the enterprise to cyber attacks. When you have layers of software, and you break one layer, it’s more difficult to get to another one. However, if they are all operating under a single platform, cracking in opens the entire system to havoc. This is only increased when you have devices talking to each other to not only devices within the facility, but to devices outside the facility.

What’s in Your Product?

Manufacturing is no longer simply about making physical products for buildings. The idea of standalone building products working in isolation is quickly becoming a thing of the past. Smart and connected devices are the foundation of the IoT. In other words, smart buildings require products to have technology that will support integration into a building’s network (IoT)[5].

In short, the building becomes the product.

But, what does that mean for a building products manufacturer?

We can learn from the first product adapters of a “smart” building, whether new constriction or retrofit. Thanks to IoT, the products within a building that we interact with daily – security, lights, sensors, windows, HVAC units, doors and CCTV — are being transformed from mere static, standalone forms to objects with cognition.

It’s that idea of cognition that changes everything.

Sensors can be used to recognize context and circumstance and then adapt the way they work accordingly[6]. These sensors then communicate in real-time with facility managers. Notifications can also be communicated through programmed mobile apps.

For example, consider today’s HVAC products that can use their cognition (sensor) to work more efficiently, more effectively and more intuitively than has ever been possible before. The combination of IoT and HVAC systems sees several different wireless sensors, smart vents and other technologies come together and add intelligence that helps the two communicate.

Adding sensors and connectivity are the first steps in turning “dumb” products into “smart” ones, thereby giving the building more thinking power. By harnessing the power of IoT, the network of everyday objects is equipped with sensors that can record, send, and receive data over the Internet without human intervention, putting the building to work for us, including providing optimal lighting, heating and temperature without any user input, as well as save money and reduce environmental impact.

It’s About the Information, Stupid

Any building product that needs monitoring and maintenance should include a form of product-monitoring technology that can capture and transmit key data such as maintenance issues, early warnings or vital signs in real time or near-real time.

Why? Because everything in the building is an asset, and asset management is what monitoring is all about. In other words, it’s the information that the products produce that become the asset[7].

Think about your body. Your body has components in it (heart, liver, etc.). But, it’s the information from the components that tell you the health of your body.

The same is true of a building’s health, only the components are the assets – things like lighting, duct systems, plumbing products. The nerve center of a building manages the information from these components, like your brain manages information from the body’s components. “Manufacturers of building industry products need to create more scalable solutions,” explains Khaund. “Plus make the product inventory process less complex for products to move correctly and smoothly through the value chain into the final process of installation, considering the numerous entities and touch points it navigates through along that process. Too many SKUs can confuse a system.”[8] Having components talk to each other requires standardization – and as a manufacturer, one of the things you strive for is non-standardization. You don’t strive to have your components talk to a competitor’s component.

But, if you are interested in the building as the product itself, you have to. Systems need to talk to each other and work together for the entire building to maximize success. Integration is and always will be the key.

At the end of the day, keeping it simple is really the answer. While technology is a central part of designing and manufacturing smart connected products, the core feature/function still needs to be central to a “smart” connected device with the idea that the building is the product[9]. Do not get distracted by this connected benefit because at the end of the day it still needs to work and be a seamless experience.

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References

[1] In a recent case history, a major manufacturer was using out-of-date security software. In evaluation, the software manufacturer announced he was ceasing support for that software, requiring the manufacturer to invest thousands of dollars to migrate to a new platform. The manufacturer did a best-in-class study and changed vendors. This is not an isolated case.

[2] Interview with Konkana Khaund, Director of Consulting Energy, Buildings Smart Infrastructure at Frost & Sullivan, September 17, 2019

[3] Ibid.

[4] Ibid.

[5] McKinsey has a nice paper on IoT called Making Sense of Internet of Things Platforms. In it, they noted “each Crunchbase for venture-funded IoT platforms, and you will get well over 100 hits. And that list doesn’t include many bigger technology players entering the market with IoT platforms like Microsoft, IBM, and SAP or several industrial companies with similar aspirations like GE, Bosch, and Siemens. There are IoT platforms of every shape and size. There are platforms for specific industries like commercial real estate and family health. Some focus on one type of device: for example, there are at least two platforms focused on augmented-reality headsets. Some are focused on a particular function, like manufacturing. There is an IoT platform for dogs.”

[6] This has been in development for years in many products. Smoke detectors, for example, have had the ability to detect a real fire based on repeated readings of levels of smoke, addressing false alarms which can occur depending on the size of space. Sensors in plumbing products have evolved over the years to detect users more accurately (though they still fire off due to faulty electronics).

[7] McKinsey’s Global Institute predicts IoT will have an economic impact of between $4 trillion and $11 trillion by 2025. Companies can capture value by creating new revenue streams from providing connected solutions and services to consumers and enterprises and by reducing costs in operations

[8] Konkana Khaund interview, September, 2019.

[9] In one case, a process control valve manufacturer did a mean-time-between failure on the valves in a client’s plant. Not all the valve were his. When he presented it to the owner, the owner was so impressed he asked why he didn’t do it on all the valves? The control valve manufacturer told him he didn’t have the data for the competitor’s valves. The plant owner said, “Well, change them out to yours if you can’t get the information you need.” Needless to say, the control valve manufacturer had an excellent result either way. Remember, it’s about the information.

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