The Monday Morning Building Product Advisor
​Issue #114

We’ve covered a lot of ground together over the past 4 weeks.

You now know how to score your territory. You can sort your relationships and document what matters. And you can also invest your energy where it really counts.

[If you missed any steps in this series, see the links at the end of this email.]

But there’s a question that you’ve probably been asking yourself along the way.

What do you actually do with the other 80%? The architects who aren’t ready yet. The ones on the low-cost track. Do you just let them go quiet and hope they find you when the timing shifts?

A lot of reps do. And those reps lose specifications they never even knew they were in the running for.

Today we’ll fix that. And the fix is simpler (and cheaper) than you’re probably expecting.

Let’s wrap this thing up.

The 80% isn’t a problem to manage...

...It’s an asset to protect. Think of it this way…

Every architect in your territory who isn’t ready right now is working in a timeline you can’t see.

• Projects will get funded.
• Firms shift their focus to winning new building types.
• A healthcare client walks through the door of a firm that’s been doing office buildings for a decade.
• A school district awards a contract to a firm that’s never done educational work before.

You don’t know when that moment is coming. Nobody does.

But here’s what you do know.

When it arrives, if you’ve been consistently present, you’ll have a big head start. Showing up in that architect’s inbox with something interesting every few weeks helps. It gives you an edge over reps who haven’t been around for 6 months.

You don’t need to invest deeply in that relationship right now. But it’s absolutely worth staying “top-of-mind” with them. Don’t look at the 80% of your territory that isn’t immediately ready as a drain on your resources.

They’re a long-term asset that appreciates every time you show up… [as long as it’s in the right way.]

What “showing up in the right way” actually looks like.

Staying present with the 80% doesn’t mean more lunches.

It doesn’t mean more CEU presentations, more sample drops, or more calls that go to voicemail. All that is high-investment activity. And we’ve spent four weeks establishing that high-investment activity is reserved for your top 20%.

For the 80%, you need something different. A low-cost system that gives steady value without demanding much from either party.

In practice, that looks like these three things…

1) A regular newsletter keeps you present without asking for anything.

Not a product announcement. Not a promotional piece with your latest spec sheet attached.

Something genuinely useful. A short insight into a common design challenge. A quick observation about something you’ve been seeing across multiple firms. A question worth thinking about.

The standard you’re aiming for is simple: would an architect be glad they opened this? If yes, send it. If it reads like a marketing email, start over.

Once or twice a month is plenty. Consistency matters more than frequency.

A regular newsletter helps you stay top of mind. It trains architects to connect your name with helpful ideas, not just sales.

That’s a very different place to be when a project lands.

2) An occasional short email does what a newsletter can’t.

Every few months, write a quick personal note to some architects on your low-priority list.

Not in a newsletter format. Just a short, direct, unformatted text email that sounds like it came from a person, because it did. Build it around a problem they mentioned.

Something like:

“Hey [name],

Did you ever solve the [challenge they mentioned] issue on your multi-family project? I saw something recently that made me think of you.”

That’s just two lines sent in less than a minute.

But don’t let its size fool you. Because that email actually shows that you remembered. 6 months later, you still knew what mattered to them.

That’s what separates you from reps who are just persistent.

3) Passing along a relevant resource does the rest.

If you find something useful, like a new product, a code update, or an industry trend, send it along with a brief note.

“Saw this and thought of what you mentioned about envelope performance. Might be worth a look.”

You’re not asking for anything or pitching them. You’re just giving value with your name attached.

Over time, those little things compound. The architect gets 3 or 4 of these relevant, low-pressure emails from you each year. Over time, they start to see you in a new light.

You’re seen as more than a vendor who only checks in occasionally. You’re someone who actually pays attention.

Together, these three touchpoints cost almost nothing.

That’s the entire low-cost system.

• A newsletter you’re probably already thinking about writing.
• An occasional two-sentence email.
• A relevant link you pass along when you come across something relevant.

But don’t confuse “low-cost” with “low-value.” What this approach produces over time is invaluable.

It means that when a project gets funding, a healthcare client arrives, or a school district award comes in, the architect’s first call isn’t to the last person who stopped by. It’s to the rep who’s been subtly and consistently present for 2 years.

And they might not even have the best product! But they get the call because they never disappeared.

What the whole system looks like when it comes together.

Let’s take a step back and recap what you’ve built over the past 5 weeks.

1. You have a framework for scoring your territory. So you know which relationships deserve your real investment and which ones need a lighter touch.
2. You have a process for sorting without sentiment. So you can stop over-investing in relationships that feel warm & fuzzy but never move, without feeling guilty.
3. You have a two-part documentation routine. So the intelligence from your best architect conversations doesn’t flutter away in a parking lot before you’ve even started the car.
4. And now you have a low-cost communication system. So the 80% of your territory that isn’t ready yet stays warm, present, and connected to your name.

That’s a complete system. Uncomplicated and inexpensive, but it does take commitment to run consistently.

So let’s talk about that before we close out.

This only works if you actually do it.

Not dramatically, and not all at once, with a big “January Launch.”

It’s more of a subtle […kinda boring] kind of commitment. Most reps won’t do it consistently. Not because they can’t, but because the results aren’t immediately visible. This system operates on a timeline that doesn’t always match the pressure of your sales quotas.

But if you can commit to this simple system, you’ll become someone different over time.

Remember that rep from Issue #110 who won that specification with her one stinkin’ email? She had the same territory and essentially the same product. But this time, you see that she has this whole system running.

She knows which architects deserve her best energy right now. She’s got a 4-field note on every meaningful conversation from the past 6 months. And the architect who mentioned a moisture problem over lunch last year has been getting a newsletter every 4 weeks. And they’re getting a short personal email every 3 months.

When his project hits Design Development, he doesn’t search his inbox for a rep who might be able to help. He just replies to the last email she sent.

That’s what this is all for.

In case you missed the first 4 emails of this series, here they are:

• MMBPA #110: She sent 1 stinkin’ email. You did 3 years of lunches.​
• MMBPA #111: 6 ways to stop chasing architects who will never specify you​
• MMBPA #112: The 4-star trap that’s draining your time, energy, and lunch budget​
• MMBPA #113: Voice memos, parking lots, and fuzzy details that fluttered away​

If you want to go deeper on any of this, I’d love to help.

Whether it’s the scoring process, the documentation routine, the communication system, or just figuring out how to think about your territory in a way that actually produces results, that’s exactly what I do.

Just hit reply and let's talk.

​
That's it for this week!

Here's to building more than just buildings, and see you next week,

Neil Sutton
​Architect | Speaker | The Product Rep Coach

=======

P.S. Do you really want inside an architect's head?

When you’re ready, there are 3 ways you can start working with me:

• Product reps: If you want to be better at connecting with architects, reply, and let's chat.
• Business owners or Team Leaders: You can book an Architect Connections Training for your team. Reply, and I'll send you the details.
• Speaking: If you need me to present at an upcoming group meeting, get in touch, and let’s talk!

=======
​If this was forwarded to you, go to → mmbpa-newsletter(dot)carrd(dot)co ← so you don’t miss the next lesson.
​=======