RD&B Magazine

When the judges for our 2009 Excellence Awards couldn’t stop talking about one of the contest entries a few weeks ago in our offices, it caught my attention. Several times during the day — as the project was passed from judge to judge — conversations would start up again and again about how awesome this house is; What a great job the builder did; How it perfectly addresses the homeowners’ needs.

It was so good, the judges discussed giving it best-in-show recognition, even though we don’t have a Best-In-Show award. So, they talked about creating one, but ultimately decided to table any action until they had time to thoughtfully develop rules and requirements for such an award. The judges — two builders, two architects and an interior designer — control who wins what, so their decision was final.

However, they never said anything about giving the project exposure on this blog, so I’m going to give you a sneak peek at the project that got the judges so worked up. The project won the Vacation Home category. Here are some stats:

Location: Texas
Size: 1,300 sq. ft. (perfectly sized, the judges said)
Cost: $260,000
Builder: Laughlin Homes and Restoration
President: Richard Laughlin

Now, here are a few photos of this perfectly sized vacation home the judges liked so much (click image for larger version). Enjoy, and look for the rest of the winners in our July/August 2009 issue.

It’s easy to carry the weight of the recession on your shoulders around your office, and to let that weight bring you down. It’s difficult to look beyond today toward better days, but it’s important to try.

I stay motivated by telling myself this is a temporary situation, and things will turn around. I remind myself that these sometimes dismal days will soon be behind us, and we’ll all tell war stories, and talk about lessons learned during this great recession.

All of these are true statements, so my conversations with myself are effective, and I remain motivated to do my job. The economy will get better, and for some architects and builders, it already is.

I have the privilege of speaking to architects and builders every week, and occasionally at trade shows and conventions to speak to them face to face. And I can tell you that almost every conversation I’ve had with readers of Residential Design & Build in the past two months has been about the increased traffic and phone calls they’re seeing, and in some cases actual signed contracts landing on their desks. Recovery is already beginning; You just don’t hear about it on the nightly news.

If your business still struggles, don’t start taking blame or beating yourself up for forces you can’t control, like the economy. And remember, you’re better than what your balance sheet shows; You are not your job.

The NAHB released a disturbing story this week. It cites the trouble many builders are having getting loans for new construction projects, or closing out existing loans.

Banks appear to be caving to outside pressure rather than relying on common sense and basic decency. And the billions of dollars in relief funds from the bailout program don’t seem to be helping builders at all. I thought the bailout money was intended to open up credit, not close it down even tighter.

Read the story and see for yourself how bad things are out there. The NAHB story has gathered 100 real-life examples of the problems real builders are having. It’s upsetting to read them, but you should.

It’s also upsetting when I see TV commercials showing families playing in their back yards, riding bikes, couples holding hands on moonlit strolls to the sounds of lovely, soothing music in an attempt to persuade homeowners to do business with banks. What … builders aren’t good enough?

Banks better start lending money again and stop building new branch locations on every street corner I see.

Can you adequately explain your business in 10 seconds? How about 15 seconds?

Can you successfully explain your business in one breath?

Give it a try right now. Don’t think. Just do it. Right now.

How’d you do?

If you struggled, then it’s time you develop your elevator pitch. You know, this is what you’d say to someone on a brief elevator ride if they ask, “What do you do?” or “What’s your business?”

Spend a little time working on your elevator pitch. You might be surprised at what you’ll learn about your business when going through the process of creating your pitch. It’s a good exercise. Hold a 30-minute meeting and see what your team comes up with.

One way to get your team’s creative juices flowing is to imagine you’re in the movie biz. A colleague of mine has a Hollywood friend who once told him that in order to capture the attention of a movie producer, you must be able to shout the concept at someone across a parking lot so the other person instantly understands what your movie is all about. For example, “It’s a buddy movie!” Or, “Boy meets girl, boy meets other girl, hilarity ensues!” You get the idea.

The easy way to get this done is to say, “We build custom homes.” Or, “We design custom homes.” But I suggest making it a bit more interesting. What about this, “We design custom homes according to the homeowner’s vision, not ours.”

What’s my pitch? “We’re a total-market magazine for both architects and builders of high-end custom homes who understand the close relationship between the design and build processes.”

What’s your pitch?

[Wanna share? Send me your pitch at rob.heselbarth@cygnusb2b.com.]