WHAT IF IT ISN'T ENOUGH? WHAT IF, AFTER researching your options, training your sales staff, and outfitting your model homes with the latest technology, that cute couple from Des Moines takes a pass on home automation? They still want you to build their dream home, they just don't want the $15,000 worth of electronics that could have boosted your margins.

Is it a sign you should retreat from digital home offerings? Not necessarily. That couple may close on a home bereft of the lighting controls that you know would make their lives better, but the buck doesn't have to stop there.

Over breakfast recently, David Kaiserman, president of Lennar Communications Ventures, made an insightful observation about selling technology to home buyers. He wonders whether or not, at this point in time, it's the absence of technology in new homes that will spur adoption, rather than the presence. In other words, is the typical buyer so impressed with installed home technology that he asks for it in his new home, or is he more likely to crave it after he's moved in and realizes what he's missing?

For the most part, custom home buyers already get technology. There was a reason they wanted a custom home in the first place, and that reason often meant top-of-the-line controls and maybe a cool home theater. But people who spend their weekends strolling through model homes get used to the fact that models are decked out with all the best options. Some snap up a few; others figure they'll do without. They'll move in and be just fine with their chosen countertops, but when they set foot in their neighbor's home and realize the music playing throughout the house comes from an iPod docked in the kitchen wall, they may feel a pang of regret. These days, electronics are a craving (just ask the 270,000 people who bought the iPhone the first weekend it was available).

The question builders should answer is, “Did you supply that home buyer with the necessary infrastructure and, more important, the name of an electronics contractor who can add that iPod dock down the road?” The couple from Des Moines knows they can swap out their countertops later; do they know how to get whole-house audio after the fact?

Maybe builders don't always get the technology sale right away. A parallel sales model might have them signing up a preferred installer and steering business their way in exchange for some after-close revenue. Some already use this model for telecom services (see “Let's Turn Three,” March/April 2007). We're hearing more of it when it comes to installed electronics. (Though at Lennar, Kaiserman actually wants to anticipate what buyers will miss so the builder can make sure it's there in advance.)

In this issue of DIGITAL HOME, contributor Larry Stevens looks at ways builders can make money on technology after the close (see “Cash in on Digital,” page 56). According to one person he spoke with, “Most people, once they move in, want more technology than they thought they'd want.”

But successfully capitalizing still requires a plan, including (wait for it) a standard structured wiring package. We say it all the time, but structured wiring—or even just conduit for wiring—makes technology upgrades easy.

As more and more studies show, plenty of home buyers will opt for your technology upgrades. But those who don't, whether from Des Moines or elsewhere, may still rely on you to make their digital lifestyle a reality after they settle in. Give them—and you—a hand.

Brad Grimes, Editor
e-mail: bgrimes@hanleywood.com