By now, I’m sure you’ve heard all about the Tesla “solar roof.” This new product will replace standard roofing shingles with solar cells capable of generating electricity.
Using them in tandem with the in-home battery known as the Tesla Powerwall, homeowners will be able to take what was previously just a standard home improvement project and expense and convert it into an asset that saves them money on their utility bills for years to come.
Ahh, technology is amazing, isn’t it?
But what does that have to do with building supplies, you ask? After all, it’s just another roofing product, right? The bad news for building suppliers is that this new product is ushering in an era of disruption, which will affect the business for many years to come.
The Solar Roof’s Biggest Draw: Price
You see, Tesla is maintaining that their solar roof will cost nearly the same as a traditional roof. In their minds, they see tremendous waste in the traditional distribution model of building supplies. By streamlining distribution and selling direct to contractors or homeowners, Tesla is betting they can interrupt traditional sales while simultaneously providing a better product for the consumer.
They may just be right, considering they are doing the same thing in the automotive space already.
We all know how the distribution of building supplies is handled today. Many old-world relationships exist and many parties have their hands in the cookie jar during the process of distribution. By disrupting these traditional methods, Tesla is not only going to make an incredible product that will change energy consumption and generation for homeowners, but it is also innovating by turning distribution upside down.
We’ve already seen this happening with more niched products. Nest has convinced homeowners to spend $300 on thermostats and CO detectors—that’s in addition to monthly fees! Ring.com has an innovative new doorbell. Some older manufacturers such as Schlage and Kwikset have already introduced electronic products for homeowners to control access remotely. And more and more devices will join the Internet of Things (IoT), ushering in new revenue models such as subscriptions in addition to new methods of distribution.
But What Makes Tesla Different?
With the announcement of the solar roof, roofing was just made into a sexy product.
For a homeowner, there is normally nothing exciting about roofing. I just had my house reroofed last year. The contractor came to the house and showed me two products. I obviously have my industry insights to guide me toward a decision, but he was heavily influential. And that’s pretty much what the buying cycle was: research and decision, picking a color, and having the job done.
Sure, you research the pros and cons of one product versus another to make sure you aren’t making a catastrophic mistake (or sound uninformed to the contractor), but in the end, you are influenced by the contractor’s expertise and his experience with a product. This is typical with many building supplies that homeowners choose to install and is a struggle for building materials marketers to overcome.
How does this relate to Tesla? For one, there are almost no contractors that will come and advocate for the product—it is simply too new. Tesla is developing advocates themselves. And they are doing it by using their brand awareness in addition to powerful marketing, mostly online.
Now, for certain, there is a difference in the fundamentals of this product versus a normal roof. And even more certain is that this is an innovative product for which no competition exists. Most roofs don’t generate electricity! But the power of influence is important with building supplies. It will be very difficult for contractors to overturn the intuition of homeowners when it comes to a material such as the solar roof, even if math is there to call into question the true cost savings of the product.
Case in point: The economics of a Model S don’t make sense for most buyers, yet people are scrambling for these cars at a brisk pace because they are becoming fans of the brand and concept.
Digital Is Disruptive By Nature
High-quality design, influential content. The digital landscape for building materials will never be the same.
So what can traditional building manufacturers do to generate awareness, advocacy, and influence?
For one, begin taking cues from what newer companies like Tesla are doing. Be heavily invested in online initiatives. Generate content and be active on social channels. If you remember nothing else from this post, remember this (I’m even going to bold it because this is a make-or-break concept!):
Homeowners are now being conditioned to compare building supply manufacturers to other new-world, disruptive products and companies.
This means if you make decking or fencing or siding or pavers—anything that was previously a utilitarian product that lacked a certain level of consumer excitement—you are now going to be compared against the standard that Tesla is setting. And this is especially true on the higher-end products. Let’s face it: Someone doing a small-budget job probably doesn’t have Tesla on their mind anyway.
And if you need more evidence about how important going digital is, consider who your end users are these days. They are online savvy; they have experience searching, researching, and making buying decisions purely based on digital information gathering. The average age of a first-time homebuyer is now 33. A 33-year-old today has been online for 20 years. Think about that for a second and let it set in. These folks are the ones that can and will break the contractor influence and allow manufacturers to access and educate them.
We all know building supply companies are easily 10 years behind the rest of the digital world in terms of design, user interface, and content marketing, including social media. Now is the time to seize an opportunity. If you don’t know or cannot identify which of your direct competitors is doing the right thing with their digital initiatives, it means there is a vacuum to be filled.
Now is the time to act. Evaluate what companies like Tesla are doing. Find other building supply manufacturers who are doing it right. Assemble a team to build your digital ecosystem. And get out there and kill it!
