HTSA Targets Builders, Architects

High-end custom installers need some help targeting home builders and architects, and the Home Theater Specialists of America (HTSA) is looking to help. The buying group of 60-plus high-end custom integrators is focusing on three opportunities in 2008, according to executive director Richard Glikes: builders, architects and the luxury market.

To that end, HTSA shipped four builders to its annual spring conference, held April 7-10 in Rancho Mirage, Calif.

The builders expressed differences on most subjects but tended to agree on one thing: they really rely on home systems integrators for education. “There is way too much to keep up with [in technology], so we look for a lot of design input from A/V contractors,” said Bob Alton of Ryan Associates, St. Helena, Calif. “CAD capabilities is huge.”

Fellow panelist Mark Dale of Oklahoma City-based Carriage Homes, concurred. He said that home technology differs from the other products that go into a house. “When you deal with audio visual, you’re dealing with part of the house that the customer has some handle on,” he explained. “My customers don’t know much about foundation, they might know a little about insulation, but they do know about audio visual; they do know about security ….”

For this reason, the panelists seemed all too eager to let integrators engage with the home buyer.

Mark Sever of Sever Design Group Architects, Scottsdale, Ariz., noted, “Anytime you can sell upgrades, I’m all for it. … The one thing I’m interested in is a happy customer.”

Generally, the builders get a cut of those upgrades – not just because they can, but because there are genuine costs to managing the construction of a small home theater, for example, versus a behemoth.

When one integrator asked if it was routine to pay “kickbacks” to general contractors for home systems installations, all of the builders categorically rejected this practice.

Instead, they add their related expenses to the overall construction cost.

“My fee is fixed,” said panelist Stephen Yates, Project Management Services, Reno, Nev. “I know how much time and effort it takes to build a house. Contractors are just a line item. I don’t mark it up.”

What’s in a Brand?

Home systems integrators will tell you that they’re selling their own brand – their company name – not the products they represent.

But the homebuilders on the panel said that product brands may play a role in the A/V sale.

Dale said, “Brand name certainly has some benefit to our customers. They might not be familiar with it if it’s not available at Best Buy.” He adds, however, that a good integrator should be able to overcome branding issues. “It’s up to the A/V contractor to sell it.”

Alton suggested that consumers are comfortable with brand-name electronics, but there is a special opportunity for integrators who sell niche brands: They can more easily sell extended warranties. “If they [consumers] recognize the names, they might say, ‘Oh, it’s a Mitsubishi, so once the warranty runs out, I can get that fixed.’”

On the other hand, he says, if it’s a brand they don’t recognize, they may be uncomfortable buying it without an extended warranty.

Builders, Architects Key Focus of HTSA

The builder panel is just one example of how HTSA is paying more attention to builders, architects and related trades.

The organization will exhibit for the first time at the American Institute of Architects Convention in 2009. Glikes says that HTSA has studied architects to figure out how they work, and how to reach them effectively through the trade show.

He says that architects are more micro-oriented and less “solutions-oriented” than we may think. “What I hear from them is, ‘Show me how this bracket works,’” Glikes says.

To that end, HTSA will demonstrate products at its AIA booth. Lighting and shade control, as well as LED lighting will be among the products exhibited, according to Glikes.

To promote its qualified network of integrators, HTSA also will show projects completed by HTSA members, as well as an inkling of the process of home systems integration. “We’ll show them plans all the way to the finished projects,” Glikes says.


Stephen Yates, Project Management Services; Mark Dale, Carriage Homes; Mark Sever, Mark Sever, Sever Design Group Architects; Bob Alton, Ryan Associates