That back-office evolution is also being pushed out to the field. A growing minority of builders have embraced mobile communications and true business tools, leveraging GPS-capable cell-phone technology to share information with field staff, manage payroll to specific tasks, and access performance and job completion data. “In a paper-based system, the information is only as good as what you’re writing down,” says Travis Thompson, general manager for Nextel Partners, the global wireless provider based in Kirkland, Wash. “With electronic transactions, you get objective information that’s tracked and recorded automatically,” then seamlessly distributed to various back-office systems internally and among various partners via the Internet.
That kind of technological embrace among a consolidating industry of large-production builders may be what it takes to push dealers onto the same track. “We’re still looking at the extent of dealer consolidation as a function of builder consolidation,” says JCHS’ Baker. But dealers able to offer everything that builders in the top 50 markets need, he says, including technology that results in faster and more efficient processes throughout, stand the best chance of surviving the next quarter-century.
All in One In addition to the individual influences of these themes, it’s clear that all four factors driving the evolution of the supply channel toward 2030 play off each other: Only builders big enough to secure land in the right places and wait out the entitlement process will also be able to invest in technology to solve labor and materials scarcity issues; an increase in global demand for oil, cement, and steel will significantly shift how mass-produced homes are built, both in construction method and quality performance, requiring technological solutions.
But arguably the most influential driver will end up being brands: who has the strongest one and who is able to maintain it and build upon it—a vision still and forever achieved by personal contact. “A brand may have value, but it is represented mostly by salespeople,” says Kulli. “How you deliver the brand is what people think of it.” —Rich Binsacca is a contributing editor for PROSALES.
Telling Traits To get a good gauge of where U.S. home building is headed, take a look at other industries and industrialized countries and consider how business trends may influence our industry going forward:
