How to Market: Plugging InHigh-tech products call for simple sales pitches.

Most home buyers who didn't add a high–tech home theater or install remote-controlled lights and door locks in their new homes say their builder never offered those upgrades.

Many of those builders admit they shy away from technology–even talk their buyers out of it–because they don't understand it well enough to sell it.
Surprise: You know enough. The typical home buyer doesn't understand computer mumbo-jumbo any more than you do. Most consumers couldn't care less how their TV set works. They just know if they click the "on" button they can catch their favorite sitcom.

As long as it fills a need or solves a problem, almost any kind of technology can be an easier sell than you might think. And it can reap considerable profits when you offer it as an upgrade.

A recent survey from market research group American Lives revealed that 60 percent of buyers believe new homes should be built like new cars–with computerized controls–and they'll pay more if the gadgets make their lives simpler or more convenient.

Another poll shows that 86 percent of builders agree home technologies are helping them sell homes, even during the prolonged housing slump. Indeed, one–third of builders in that Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) survey say adding technology to their homes has increased their revenues.

And their buyers are begging them for it. Another CEA survey claims the No. 1 reason builders include home technologies is because the buyer or their architect asked for it.

Don't wait for them to ask. Build cutting-edge products into spec homes and show them off in your models. And when people ask how a gizmo works, skip the technical explanation and tell them how it will work for their families.

Sales pitches that focus on safety and convenience are most effective, especially with women, who are more likely to decide whether to buy the upgrade than their husbands. Some salable points:

• Automated houses that include remote–control access to lights, thermostats, security systems, or door locks, for example, resell up to 50 percent faster than homes without those bells and whistles, estimates manufacturer Home Automation.


• Homes wired to communicate with their owners via the Internet or telephone can notify working parents whenever a door is opened so they know what time their kids get home from school–and whether they leave the house again.


• Those same tools can let an absent owner know when an intruder has entered the home by opening a window or door.


• It's cheaper and easier to install the wiring for future technology during new construction than to retrofit it later, and it's easier to pay for it as part of a 30–year mortgage than as an after–move–in expense.

Can technology upgrades compete with the lure of optional high-end kitchen appliances and granite countertops? You'll never know if you don't offer them. Many of your buyers won't know what's possible when it comes to home technology unless you tell them. Once they realize it can keep their kids safe, it might seem as plausible an expense as a stainless steel refrigerator.