March, 2008

Unidentified Opportunities

In the end, if you understand your customers' operations and deliver products and services that are critical to their success, you can't help but succeed.

By Rick Schumacher

When Stanford University classmates Bill Hewlett and Dave Packard launched HP in 1939, it’s said that they had a novel, if extremely sensible, hiring philosophy. Decades before HP became a global powerhouse, people interested in working for the company didn’t simply check a job board for openings. In its very early days, HP had no openings, but it did have unidentified opportunities. In order to be added to the payroll, applicants were expected to understand HP’s operations, and to explain to the founders how their skills were critical to the company’s success. By thinning the potential labor pool, HP ended up hiring only those who shared the founders’ passion.

When times are tough—as they were in the 1930s, and as they are today—the ability to sniff out and act on unidentified opportunities can mean the difference between success and failure. I just returned from the International Builders Show in Orlando. According to NAHB, attendance was down 11% from last year—which meant that 92,000 builders and other attendees took time from their business to immerse themselves in workshops and seminars, and to peruse the 1,900 product exhibits. Considering the slow housing market, it would have been easy for the 92,000 builders to justify staying home, waiting until the market bounces back. The fact that they didn’t, but that they invested the money and time to seek out unidentified opportunities is a very good sign.

On the dealer side, I’m happy to report that the people who read this magazine haven’t been sitting on the sidelines, waiting for lucrative opportunities to be delivered. By listening to your customers, many more of you have gotten involved in selling installed products. In fact, according to our 2007 Readership Survey, more than 40% of you sell at least one product installed. With the shrinking pool of qualified labor, and a growing do-it-for-me attitude among builders and homeowners, installed sales are often a logical extension of your current operations. For a fresh perspective on this potentially lucrative area, read this month’s cover story by consultant and trainer Paul Bumblauskas.

Another opportunity that is becoming hard to ignore is the explosive growth in green building. In honor of this market phenomenon, NAHB proclaimed the second day of IBS as “Green Day.” “Green building is the next big thing,” said NAHB President Sandy Dunn, “and we’re certainly ready for it.” Indeed, with the official launch of its Certified Green Professional educational designation, builders, remodelers and developers can get their arms around this very real evolution in residential construction. If you’re ready to embrace this market reality, I encourage you to share the monthly columns written by our own green building editor, John Wagner. John has a unique ability to cut through the clutter, and make it relevant and real.

After meeting with dozens of manufacturers at IBS, I have no doubt that they are more determined than ever to help you and your builder and remodeler customers tap into unidentified opportunities. I saw products that outlast and outperform best-in-class products in many categories. Even incremental improvements in energy efficiency, structural stability, and cost savings can be the difference between giving your customers what they ask for, and educating them about doing it better.

In the end, if you understand your customers’ operations, and deliver products or services that are critical to their success, you can’t help but succeed.