From left, Jason Collman, Clare Controls VP of sales east; Chris Brunner, IES North Houston Division manager; Kathy Delgado, VP of sales and marketing for M/I Homes; Jay
McManus, area president for M/I Homes.
controller with wireless security, HVAC
integration, lighting control, a video doorbell,
and also free remote access, self-monitoring,
and tech support for life.
Together, they outfitted the M/I Home
models and design centers, and then trained all
of their sales agents on how the technology
worked while making sure that every agent had
the Clare app installed on their phone and was
comfortable demonstrating it to every customer.
This was done well in advance of the first system
being installed in a customer’s home as an
additional measure to ensure there were no
performance issues prior to their customers
experiencing the product for the first time.
Once a customer purchases the home, a
member from IES meets with each customer to
go over the technology that is included and
make them aware of additional technology
packages that are available, such as additional
lighting, automated door locks, and home
entertainment or music packages. Once
40 Residential Tech Today | July/August 2019
installed, IES comes back and spends 60-90
minutes going over how their system works and
providing them with the customer support
information for both Clare Controls and IES, so
customers feel good knowing they don’t have to
call the builder down the road should they have
any further needs with the technology.
So far, M/I Homes in Houston has included
Clare Controls in 260 of their homes in 2019
and is expecting to exceed 400 homes by year’s
end. They are finding that their customers are
spending four to five times more on additional
technology than what they had spent previously
because of how easy the system is to use, how
affordable it is to expand, and that there are no
monthly fees or additional strings attached.
McManus and his team are very happy with the
response they are getting from their customers,
saying that his team has not received any issues
so far. This success has led to Clare Controls
expanding their program with M/I Homes into
11 other markets with around 2,000 systems
forecasted so far to be installed this year, and
even more markets likely to follow.
McManus notes that the home buyer market is
changing, and customers are expecting the
technology to be there just like they do the stove
and other standards. He sees that technology will
take a bigger role in new homes and feels that a
lot of what we are seeing with more minimalist
design and younger buyers will continue to create
the opportunity for additional technology to be a
more important part of the new home
requirements. McManus has already seen other
builders in the market try and come out with
solutions to compete, but it’s more than just
about offering technology to your customers.
M/I Homes tagline is “Welcome to Better!”
To be better, you need to have the right team of
people all working together with the customer’s
best interest in mind and with IES and Clare
Controls as partners, they definitely have the
right technology team in place! x
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