The Monday Morning Building Product Advisor
​Issue #109

About 6 years ago, this newsletter was in its wee early stages.

I had a whopping 10 people signed up.

[And 1 of them was me!]

Back then, I wasn’t active on LinkedIn or any social media, so I was depending on someone stumbling across my website and signing up.

[In other words, I didn’t know WTH I was doing.]

And I eventually gave up and stopped writing those emails.

But then, in early 2023, I took several courses and learned how to write for online audiences. And in April of that year, I got brave enough to actually write my first LinkedIn post. [I’ve written another 500 posts since then…]

And in December of 2023, I finally resurrected this newsletter and have been sending it out (almost) every Monday since.

“That’s nice, Neil… Why you telling me this?”

Well, I was just going through some of those old original emails, and stumbled across one that I think is very relevant today.

In fact, I’ve shared this example as recently as last week.

Today’s email is an updated version of the one I originally sent on June 30, 2020. It was the second-to-last email I’d sent before quitting.

I hope it’s helpful…

What have you done for me lately…?

There’s a rep I work with regularly.

Good product. I specify them on almost every project.

Anyway! They call me every few months to check in, ask what’s on my boards, and close every conversation the same way:

“Let us know when you’ve got something going out to bid.”

Do I call them when I do?

Honestly? Na-a-h-h-h.

Not because I don’t like them. It’s because they haven’t really done anything for me. If anything, I’m the one doing them a favor by specifying their product.

So when I’m juggling 1,000 things as a project goes out the door, that call doesn’t make the list.

Now compare that to what happened a few weeks ago…

I had a hospital project CD deadline coming in hot, and a hardware schedule that [no matter how hard I clicked my heels & wished] just wouldn't write itself.

If you’ve never had to spec door hardware for a healthcare facility, count yourself lucky! Security requirements, automation, code compliance, infection control… It’s one of those tasks architects dread and put off until the last possible moment.

But then, out of the blue, a knight on a white steed galloped up to save my bacon!

A rep, I’d never met before, stepped in and did the whole thing. He gathered the information. He sorted out the complex door types. And put together complete hardware sets for every opening on the project.

When we finished going through everything, he said, “Hey, would you mind giving me a heads-up when this goes out to bid? I’d love to make sure my team gets a shot at it.”

I was like, “Abso-freakin’-lutely.”

And I meant it. Two months ago, I didn’t “know this guy from Adam.” Now I’m ready to go out of my way to make sure he gets a fair shot at the project.

That’s the difference between being present and being indispensable.

So here’s the question: which one are you?

If you offer something that saves an architect real time or headache…

• Help with specifications
• Code compliance help
• Design Assist
• Takeoffs
• …Anything

… Are you making sure they actually know you offer it?

Don’t assume!

Many architects, especially younger ones without mentors, don’t know these services exist. They think they have to figure it out on their own.

Tell them.

In your presentations. On your website. And in a one-pager that exists for no other reason than to explain what you’ll do for them and what it’ll save them.

Because that’s how you get the phone call.

​
That's it for this week!

Cheers to building more than just buildings, and see you next week,

Neil "Keep-on-doing" Sutton
​Architect | The Product Rep Coach

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P.S. This is exactly the kind of thing I dig into with the reps I work with. Figuring out where the "indispensable" opportunity is hiding in what you already offer. And how to make sure the right architects know about it.

If that's something you'd want to think through, reply to this email, and I can share more.

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