I’m excited to attend the International Builders Show (IBS) this year because it is the largest annual building industry tradeshow in the country. It’s THE place to see and discuss the hottest products on the market and network with your colleagues, clients and industry friends. On top of that, IBS offers more than 165+ education sessions taught by industry experts. Learn more about why you should attend IBS 2012 here.

You’re Cordially Invited!

I am speaking at an educational session on Friday, February 10th called, Recapture the Magic: Getting back to the Essentials that Attract the 50+ Buyer. This important session is a “must attend” for those who want to learn exciting new ideas to invigorate their business in 2012.

For a complimentary 30-minute expert consultation during the show, please email me or call me at 413-339-5552 pre-show or 413-221-4825 during the show to set up an appointment.

Recapture the Magic: Getting back to the Essentials that Attract the 50+ Buyer
Date: Friday, February 10th
Session One: 10:00am – 11:30am
Session Two: 1:30pm – 3:00pm

Learning outcomes:

Click here to learn more about my session.

See you in Orlando!

My article on “12 Principles of Selling in a Soft Market” was published in 50+ Builder Magazine last month!
http://50plusbuilder.com/jan2011-38.php

PRINCIPLE 1:  Do Your Homework
Before you begin your new project or as you take a fresh eyes approach at your current project, do your homework by conducting market research to assure successful sell-out of your community.

PRINCIPLE 2:  Staff to Win.  Hire Sales Staff Who Will Help You Succeed
The use of Behavioral Assessments is on the rise and is used by companies interested in improving their sales results.  Although these tools have been around for quite some time, their increased use and spot-on accuracy makes this tool invaluable.

PRINCIPLE 3: Differentiate
Your USP is the force that drives your business and your success.  Take the time to get it right!

PRINCIPLE 4: Create a Compelling Web Presence & Social Networking Strategy

PRINCIPLE 5: Incorporate Universal and Green Design

PRINCIPLE 6: Know Your Prospects and Their Influencers
It is important to understand all ages, because today more than ever we are speaking to all generations during the selling process, not to just the resident.

PRINCIPLE 7: Prepare for Discovery
Essential today in selling is the keen ability to discovery who your prospects really are and what needs and wants are unique.

PRINCIPLE 8:  Know Your Competition

PRINCIPLE 9: Pre-plan and Use a Written Follow-up Strategy

PRINCIPLE 10:  Dissolve Objections
As you diligently learn and gather information about prospects through skillful dialog and communication employing the Discovery Process, you also will discover the obstacles, objections or barriers your prospects hold.

PRINCIPLE 11:  Always Be Closing
Have you heard the quote, “You can’t sell if you can’t close”?

PRINCIPLE 12:  Practice Negotiating Skills to Close More Sales

There are no shortcuts.  If you stay with the same practices you used in the past decade, you are likely to get the same results.  Embrace and adopt The 12 Principles this year! You and your team will be pleased with the results.

Call 413.339.5552 today or email us to learn how you can benefit from implementing our 12 Principles.

As always, thanks for reading!

I am excited to start 2011 on a positive note and am hopeful that the recovery is beginning. The 2011 International Builders Show was a fantastic opportunity to network and to gain world-class insight into current housing market conditions. The educational sessions provided guidance for attendees with timely topics to take back home and apply to their business models. The tone of this year’s gathering was cautiously optimistic, a much more hopeful reality than we faced a year ago.

A theme I heard echoed by small and large builders alike was their solid understanding that this is the time to bring their team back to basics and in alignment with the new normal. This may mean taking a look at projects with fresh eyes. Builders are operating with less, as budgets and staffing were steadily trimmed over the past three years.

To prepare for a strong year ahead, do you know the answers to the following 13 questions? Ask yourself:

+ Is my product right for my market?
+ What do I need to do to validate my product, price and position in my market?
+ Has my market changed during the lingering downturn?
+ How has it changed?
+ Am I getting my message across to my customer?
+ Can I clearly state my USP?
+ Is my USP compelling for today’s buyers?
+ How important is social networking?
+ How can social networking improve my sales volume this year?
+ How long has it been since I’ve revamped my website strategy and content?
+ Do I have top performers delivering sales because I know that my business is in the hands of my sales personnel?
+ Do my sales personnel understand the complete sales process, step-by-step?
+ Are they treating each sales situation the way top sales performers do?

What were the top three benefits that you gained from attendance at IBS this year? My top 3 include:

1. 50+ Lifestyle Central
2. Universal Design Day
3. Powerful networking with colleagues and clients

I look forward to hearing your comments.

Happy Selling!

And the 2010 CAASH of the Year Award goes to…

Jane Marie O’Connor! CAASH, MIRM, CAPS, CMP

Last week at the International Builders Show Designee Awards Ceremony held at the Peabody Hotel in sunny Orlando, Jane Marie O’Connor was named CAASH of the Year for 2010.   Mike McGowan, outgoing national Chair of the 50+ Housing Council presented her with the award.

She is so honored to be chosen by her peers and gave a special thanks to Leslie Marks for introducing her to the 50+ Housing Council over 12 years ago.  In accepting her award Jane stated, “I am so honored to accept this award because it was given to me by my peers in the industry.”  Jane gave special thanks to Leslie Marks, CAASH, “for getting me on the education train at NAHB more than a decade ago…a ride that I have enjoyed so much that I’ve never stepped off.”

Jane has held the CAASH designation since its inception.  Holding this designation has helped her grow her business, has expanded her knowledge of the 50+ housing industry tremendously and has afforded her the opportunity to form alliances with some of the brightest thinkers in the industry.  She is recognized as an international expert and her many clients have benefited from her passion and knowledge base in this powerful niche market.

We wish you and your loved ones all the joys of the holiday season;
the warmth of home, the love of family and the laughter of good friends.

Underneath the moon light clouds, are jewels silver-white.
Dancing across the meadow, snowflakes fill the night.

Not a sound is heard to disturb this work of art.
Watching from a distance a deer pauses in the dark.

The pine trees are glistening, snow drifts upon the ground.
The moon’s reflection dances, upon each snowflake found.

Standing outside you observe this winter wonderland.
Snowflakes kiss your nose and dance upon your hand.

You begin to look around, you stand gazing up above.
As the beauty of winter, embraces you with love.

During the holiday season let us remember to be grateful for the gifts that have been bestowed upon us.

Happy Holidays!
Happy New Year ~ May 2011 be good to all of us!

Jane Marie O’Connor                 Brittany Martin

As a social welfare organization, as well as, the nation’s largest membership organization for people 50+, AARP is leading a revolution in the way people view and live life. Below is the article that I was quoted in:

Prefab ‘In-law’ Cottages Mix High-tech Features, Comfort
New freestanding modular home additions aim to provide the right kind of space for aging in place.

by: Elaine Petrowski | from: AARP | October 15, 2010

Eric Santolicito, 35, of Billerica, Mass., had a plan for looking after his parents as they grew older: The family man bought his sixtysomething parents’ home, demolished it and put up a new prefab house with an in-law suite on the lot.

“It was a win-win situation,” Santolicito says. “We cut our expenses for owning and maintaining two separate, older homes. Now we all have a new house with separate living quarters, and we stayed in the neighborhood where my sisters live, too. My parents were able to downsize a bit. They now have living, dining, bedroom, bath and kitchen spaces in about 800 square feet — much less for them to clean and maintain. I can look after all the yard work. And now we have the best on-site child care for our two little ones.

“Building this house the way we did — it has alleviated a lot of stress for everyone in the family,” he says.

Not everyone is in a position to build a new home to support multigenerational families. But a number of manufactured housing producers are introducing new prefab home additions with features to support aging at home or near family members. Known in the building industry as ADUs (accessory dwelling units) and in consumer media as “granny pods” and “in-law apartments,” the new self-contained units incorporate barrier-free, universal designs and options that include electronic monitoring and medical care equipment.

All are largely built or prepared for assembly in a factory, trucked to a building site and set on a foundation, which manufacturers claim cuts construction costs and time from initiation to occupancy.

FabCab, a Seattle-based manufacturer of timber-frame kit homes, offers ADUs ranging in size from 300 to 1,800 square feet. A Salem, Va., start-up called N2Care will begin manufacturing the MEDCottage — a portable ADU for temporary or extended care at home with options for high-tech medical monitoring and security equipment — in January 2011. And The Home Store — a long-established manufacturer of high-end modular homes in the Northeast — is now offering freestanding, custom-designed “in-law” units.

Are ADUs a Good Solution?

“From many angles, the ADU concept is a sound one,” says Susan M. Duncan of the National Resource Center on Supportive Housing and Home Modification at the Ethel Percy Andrus Gerontology Center at University of Southern California. “An ADU occupies the same space as an apartment but makes it into a private, freestanding home. Privacy is something we all strive for. And families are happier because the TV can be as loud as you want without disturbing the grandkids doing homework,”

Jane Marie O’Connor, of 55 Plus, LLC, in Charlemont, Mass., a building industry consultant, sees at least a potential pitfall in ADUs for those in need of care: “One key element that can still be missing would be human contact. Living in or near the home of an adult child who is likely gone all day provides little or no stimulation if there is no opportunity for socialization, which many assisted-living facilities are good at providing.”

O’Connor believes that ADUs can be a viable alternative, “but not without consideration. Make the choice with thoughtful purpose, and don’t plan to just park somebody there. Plan how to help her stay engaged in the wider community.

“And don’t forget that at-home health care always takes a toll on the caregiver. Again, plan ahead for support and relief from care duties,” O’Connor says.

ADU Costs vs. Conventional Additions

Are ADUs less expensive than comparable home additions built in the conventional way? If you’re able to put an ADU on your property, the answer is probably yes.

Read the full article here.

The Community Builders & Remodelers Association of New Jersey and the 50+ Housing Council are pleased to bring its newest educational course to northern New Jersey, just before NAHB’s Fall Board of Directors meeting in New York City.  Whippany, NJ is under an hour’s drive from NYC.

Marketing to the Active Adult

Strategies to Reach and Sell
The motivations, challenges, and expectations of active adult consumers are much different than those of first-time and move-up homebuyers. Marketing to those 55 or better requires a skilled approach that addresses their generational identities, needs, wants and aspirations. This course will give housing professionals a greater understanding of marketing strategies to help move active adults toward purchase. Special emphasis is placed on Internet marketing strategies that are effective in reaching and motivating active adults.

By completing this course, participants will be able to:

•    Identify group characteristics unique to active adults that impact their housing decisions
•    Describe the process and importance of developing strategies and plans for marketing housing to active adults
•    Assess and select components of a comprehensive Internet strategy and describe how to integrate online and offline marketing
•    Describe the components of the visitor experience that reinforce the advertising and sales message

Special Note: Currently, Jane is one of only two approved instructors for this course.  More instructors are needed to bring this brand new and very timely course to industry professionals nationwide.   Anyone interested in applying for instructor status to teach this course is required to take the course.  This is a fantastic opportunity for interested 50+ Housing Council members who are traveling to NYC for NAHB’s Fall Board of Directors meeting.  The Fall Boards begin on September 22.

Save the date.
Space is limit for only 25 students for this course.
Sign up today!

September 21, 2010
Location:  The Community Builders & Remodelers Association of NJ

9:00 AM – 5:00 PM 9 Whippany Road, Ste B2-3, Whippany, NJ 07981

Student Fee:  NAHB/CBRA Member:   $220           Non-Member:  $275

For questions and to register, contact Sharon Barkauskas, ext 302

Community Builders & Remodelers Association of NJ,  9 Whippany Road, Ste B2-3, Whippany, NJ 07981

Phone: 973-887-2888, Fax 973-887-2926, Email: sharonb@cbanj.org

Note:  Cancellation Policy: 48 hours notice of cancellation for full refund.  $25 cancellation fee for no shows.

Lunch with the Expert – Creation & Integration of Your Unique Selling Proposition

Don’t forget to join industry professional, Jane Marie O’Connor of 55 Plus, LLC for another complimentary tele-conference in our series Lunch with the Expert – Your Unique Selling Proposition

One question is asked over and over again by clients and in discussion groups within our new social media environment.

Q: “How can I increase my absorption rate?”
A: “Before you can fairly analyze your absorption rate you must clearly define what it is you are selling, both tangible and intangible values.”

It is amazing to me that this fundamental concept, this overarching guiding message to prospects, which differentiates us from the competition, is so overlooked.

1. Can you clearly list all that makes your community unique and stand out from your competition?
2. Do all your team members, including your marketing and sales staff sing the same tune in conveying your unique message?

If you answered yes to these questions, congratulations! You must be closing sales and humming along nicely.

If you answered no to the questions, you may be experiencing an identity crisis. If so, it is time to stop, take a breath and focus on the process of creating your Unique Selling Proposition (USP), even if you are already selling.

During this complimentary 60-minute tele-conference Jane’s 5 step process will be revealed.

Register here.