NCHI Membership Helped Culligan Business Flow - 3/15/2004 - Real Estate Education Training Schools Conferences

NCHI Membership Helped Culligan Business Flow

At first, the company met with buyer resistance because the product was new. They needed some ammunition and found it in an NAHB survey that indicated that 45% of new home buyers wanted a drinking water system in their new homes. Culligan was able to see the report and use the data in its sales presentations because of its NCHI membership. That was half the battle.

The other half involved gaining access to builders who might be looking for an edge in the competition. That came during a production builders meeting during a NAHB Spring Board of Directors meeting.

A Culligan representative, David Swift, had been an active member of the committee for years and had developed a business relationship with the then-chair of the committee, a prominent California builder in a key market Culligan was targeting. During the committee meeting, the builder discussed his market, the limited land available, its intense competitiveness and his need to include many more features in his home as a way to differentiate his homes and gain a competitive advantage.

Following the meeting, the Swift approached the builder, got two minutes of his time in which he briefly told the builder about the new water system and the home buyers’ survey results. That was followed several weeks later full presentation. Soon after, the builder brought the system into his homes.

The builder was a bell cow to that segment of the California market and other builders followed his lead during the ensuing months. Culligan was able to sell its water system to builders — and builders were able to provide a feature that potential home buyers wanted — because Culligan was able to leverage its NCHI membership to attain the resources and develop the networking opportunities to introduce its product to the membership.