A couple years ago we started to take notice of some alarming demographic trends that seemed to be completely off the radar or our clients - they are:
- Who are your buyers going to be in 5-10 yrs, and what's the plan to attract and keep them? and ...
- Who are your EMPLOYEES, subs, suppliers going to be in 5-10 yrs, and ditto... what's the plan to attract and keep them ?
GenY (born between 1980-1995) are going to have a huge impact, as will the continued influx of immigrant labor.
So... here are a handful of things I've been focused on with clients since that 'revelation'.
- Dude, Where's My Recovery ?
If and when there is a 'recovery'- the market is going to look nothing like it did in 2006. Those who 'get' the way other industries have adopted technology will be positioned for success - anyone else waiting around for another bubble are simply going to be out of the
game. - GenY and Their Impact:
Over the next decade there is going to be essentially a complete turn-over of not only buyers... but just as importantly employees, tradespeople, etc. This is a much bigger deal than just a 'generation shift' - this group really is different. Much different. - Green, Lean, and Clean: How? It's all about 'best practices' . To an outside observer, 'Green' has appeared out of nowhere, but in reality it's an overnight success, a generation in the making. Much of 'sustainable' and 'efficient' is the output from good building science, best construction practices, etc. With the right education we can kill several birds with one stone, and that stone is pretty simple: "do it right the first time". This is one area where technology can be a huge benefit to builders/remodelers.
- Training Without Words:
In many parts of the country today, 70-80% of trades people on the ground are unable to read/write English at a level sufficient to follow simple instructions. Add to that a significant % who can't read or write ,period (functional illiteracy) and we have another challenge. How do we educate them ?
We believe one answer is web-based video tutorials that do not rely on written language. Think about that - it's a full-circle back to petroglyphs that only took 12,000 years. An example: installation videos delivered to a worker's cell phone in response to them scanning a bar code with their phone's camera. No, that's not science fiction, major corporations are working on it today. More later on this.
