The Home Technology Association has once again created a series of branded 'Mind Share' webinars designed to make HTA Certified integrators even more successful. These series of webinars are exclusively for HTA Certified integrators and HTA supporting brand members. Bookmark this page as dates and details are filled in throughout the year.
The Best Retirement Plan for Integrators - Buying Your Building (January 26th)
Many CI businesses are so hard to sell since they are centered around the owner. Many business owners find that investment early in a building provides a great income stream in retirement or a big cash infusion to your retirement nest egg. In this webinar, we will discuss:
- The math of purchasing an owning a building
- How to get an SBA loan so you can purchase with minimal down payment
- Tales from the trenches from an integrator who successfully bought his building
How Lighting, Shades & Wellness Puts You in Front of the Line (February 15th)
Are you tired of coming into projects too late? Architects and clients feel that lighting, window treatments, and increasingly wellness solutions, are a priority in the planning process and are typically designed into the home very early. In this webinar, we will discuss:
- Why you should lead with lighting, shading and wellness in your trade partner outreach
- How leading with these subsystems helps you being perceived as more of a design resource than merely a contractor
- Why lighting and shading are a priority over audio/video to architects
- How audio/video and control systems are a slam dunk after the lighting and shading discussion
- Learn from fellow HTA integrators how they are doing this successfully
Next-Level Surveillance: AI & Remote Monitoring (March 24th)
A new revolution has arrived in high-end video surveillance and monitoring, are you up to speed on what’s possible today with AI-enabled surveillance systems? In this webinar, we will discuss:
- How artificial intelligence is forever changing the game in home surveillance
- A lighting upsell opportunity: how exterior lighting systems are a deterrent to crime
- Great RMR opportunities with remote camera monitoring
- How to radically grow the camera budget
How to Make Your Design Work a Profit Center, not a Loss Leader (April 20th)
Too many integrators are giving away their most valuable asset for free, their expertise! They wrongfully assume that providing system designs and proposals for free is a necessary evil and a cost of doing business. Learn the many benefits of charging for your designs and proposals. In this webinar, we will go over:
- Why you should market your company to architects, designers, and builders as a three-phase business:
1 - consulting & design, 2 - a contractor, 3 - a service company
- How charging for design allows you to sell more efficiently
- How your design & engineering documentation relates to your perceived professionalism
- How much should you charge?
- How to find 3rd party design & engineering resources
Cybersecurity - How to Protect Your Clients (May 25th)
Hackers are an ever-growing threat and your clients fear their personal information getting stolen. What can you as their trusted home technology provider do about this? What should you do about this? This webinar will discuss the following topics and more:
- Educating your clients on the difference between Cyber Security and Information Security
- What is my responsibility to my client and where does my liability end?
- Minimum design elements and hardware specification for a secure network
- The Cyber Security standards all projects should include
- Services I should consider to protect my client, their home and their information
- Cybersecurity service is not a one-time sale, use it to drive revenue across your business
How to Manage Client Budget Expectations (June 29th)
“What’s your budget?” That’s one of the worst things you can ask a prospective client. Almost always they have no idea of what professionally installed home technology systems cost, and therefore you put them in an uncomfortable position. There is a much better way to manage client budget expectations. In this webinar, we will discuss:
- How to effectively use the HTA budget calculator
- Top down selling
- How selling design services can change client perceptions
- Why you need to be upfront about your market position
Digital Marketing - How to Attract New Clients the Digital Way (July 20th)
Is your firm firing on all cylinders when it comes to utilizing digital tools to attract new clientele? To maximize the many opportunities out there for your brand to be seen, heard, and desired, business owners must tap into digital tools, platforms, and have resources ready to act at a moment's notice. In this webinar we will discuss:
- Local presence optimization
- Website and Search optimization
- Getting involved at the local level
- How to get & promote great reviews
How to Deal with the USA's Failing Power Infrastructure (August 24th)
The in-home safety and comfort of your client relies heavily on the stability of the power grid for essential uses and enjoyment. As a technology professional, you have an opportunity to deliver smart energy solutions that extend the effectiveness of traditional back-up power, or equip the home to be energy independent. In this webinar, we will discuss:
- How smart energy is foundational to every smart home
- Tangible opportunities to enhance the energy resiliency of the home
- Scalable whole-home solutions that provide independence from the grid
- Learn from fellow HTA integrators how they are successfully navigating the smart energy category
Builder, Architect, Interior Designer Relationships - The Rules of Engagement (October 19th)
The CI industry’s plague of subpar integrators has hurt the reputation of our industry. Many architects, builders, and interior designers look down on integrators. As you know, this is one of the reasons why the Home Technology Association was formed; to change industry and homeowner perceptions of what the best integrators do and how they do it. To foster even better relationships between integrators and industry partners, the HTA will be releasing a new “Rules of Engagement” document. Attend this webinar to learn:
- Knowledge is power…understanding their perception of you
- Discuss key company attributes to have in place before marketing to the trades
- Discuss the HTA’s Rules of Engagement documents and how they will help redefine trade partner relationships
- Advice on how to market your integration firm to trade partners
- What committment you should ask back from architects, designers, and builders
- How HTA Certification fits into the topic of trade partner marketing
This webinar will help qualified integrators 'reset' their approach to the trades and creates the basis for stronger, mutually beneficial trade partner relationships. A must attend webinar!
How to Work with Interior Designers Logistically and Financially (November 9th)
Some Interior Designers’ business models are similar to an integrator's where a fair amount of their compensation comes from product margin, while others are project-based, cost plus, or hourly. This can lead to friction when you are specifying products that conflict with what they are used to specifying, or must run through you in order for you to support the installation post-sale. The goal of this webinar is to learn the different ways Interior Designers are compensated and discuss strategies to make you a trusted member of their design team, not a competitor. This webinar will cover topics such as:
- The product categories that can potentially lead to conflicts between integrators and designers
- Discuss ways to approach designers so they see you as a resource and not a competitor
- How to make your interior designers look like a hero
- Hear from integrators who have overcome these challenges
