This is What a Smart, Connected Building Looks Like in 2019

July 16, 2019 by Eric Stromquist Leave a Comment

Watch as Ken and I take you on a video tour of one of the Smartest Buildings we have seen!

*[WASHINGTON, June 11, 2019]*– Distech Controls, an innovation leader connecting people with intelligent building solutions, and Smart Building Technologies, LLC (SmartBT), today presented the JLL Smart Building team with the “Unified Project of the Year” award for its work transforming District Center in Washington, D.C. to a connected building that elevates the occupant experience. Given every two years by Distech Controls, the award singles out the commercial building project that best leverages connected lighting technology and intelligent building solutions.

Ken and I were at the Event on June 11. It was powerful to see what can happen when like minded smart building controls professionals come together with a common purpose. JJL, Distech , SmartBT and others created a building that integrates many diverse systems. They optimized energy and operational expenses. And at the same time created a tenet experienced that exceeded expectations. This is not an easy feat.

We have talked on ControlTrends about

Episode 323 ControlTalk NOW: Kele Acquires TCS — Industry Updates from CABA, Honeywell, Belimo, Lynsspring, EasyIO, and More.

July 14, 2019 by Eric Stromquist 1 Comment

Special Guests Kele's Richard Campbell and Temperature Control Systems' Scott Cross talk about Kele's most recent acquisition. Industry updates from CABA, Belimo, Lynxspring, J2 Innovations, Iotium, Bosch Building Technologies, Optigo, KMC Controls and Honeywell.

Two Products Every Smart Building Control Pro Should Know

July 10, 2019 by Eric Stromquist Leave a Comment

Do you have conflicts with IT over your smart building controls being on their network? What do you do when your BACnet controllers are not communicating and you don’t know why?

No worries, Monica and Grace, who are with Optigo Networks, have two great solutions. We caught up with Monica McMahen and Grace Young at the 2019 IBcon Smart Buildings Conference. They showed us two products every smart building control pro should know.

If you are having problems with IT and their network, create your own!

With Optigo’s, Optigo Connect this is easy and affordable. The Optigo Connect family of

Breaking News: Kele, Inc. Completes Acquisition of Temperature Control Systems, Inc

July 8, 2019 by Eric Stromquist Leave a Comment

*NEWS RELEASE*

July 8, 2019

CONTACT:

*John Tingle *

john.tingle@kele.com

*901-937-4963 *

Kele, Inc. Completes Acquisition of Temperature Control Systems, Inc.

Acquisition is Kele’s third since 2017 and strengthens service to south-central U.S.

MEMPHIS, Tenn. and DALLAS – Kele, Inc. today announced the acquisition of Temperature Control Systems, Inc. The acquisition expands Kele’s footprint and enhances its ability to serve customers in the south-central United States. Temperature Control Systems, which is headquartered in Dallas with six locations across Texas and Oklahoma, will increase its offering with a broader product line, value-added services, and faster delivery options.

Kele President and CEO Richard Campbell said customers from both companies will realize benefits from the acquisition. [Read more…]

ControlTalk Now Will Return Next Week

July 8, 2019 by Eric Stromquist Leave a Comment

Ken and I took the 4th off, and hope everyone had a wonderful 4th of July Weekend. We will return next week with more Control News You Can Use.

The Data Driven Approach to Making Money in HVAC and Smart Building Controls.

July 3, 2019 by Eric Stromquist Leave a Comment

The data driven approach to making Money, or more Money in HVAC and Smart Building Controls.

The ever informative Ron Zimmer is at it again. He gives us his unique perspectives, based on his years in the Industry and new research data from CABA.

CABA – the Continental Automated Buildings Association is the go to source for data driven competitive intelligence. They have the world’s largest research library, and help influence Industry trends.

We caught up with Ron at IBcon 2019. Ron shares his thoughts on the IBcon conference and how it relates to the research data from CABA.

Ron makes a very generous offer to our ControlTrends Community, if you want to make more money then watch this video and reach out to Ron.

Never Go To Bed Angry… Stay Up and Fight

June 25, 2019 by Eric Stromquist 1 Comment

This was the title of an email I received from one of my copywriting coaches Ben Settle.

It got me thinking. Not about staying up and fighting with my wife, but about persistence. About not giving up. About the HVAC and Smart Building Controls Business. About Success and failure. About sales.

According to Brian Williams, PhD

It takes an average of 8 cold call attempts to reach a prospect

30-50% of sales go to the vendor that responds first

80% of sales require 5 follow-up calls after a proposal is made and 44% of sales reps give up after one follow-up

Think about that!

Only 20% of all sales happen without 5 follow-up calls and 44% of all sales reps give up after the first no.

Persistence wins over talent.

So why don’t more people follow up?

In my experience , most sales reps will do anything to avoid getting a NO. Or they don’t want to be a nuisance.

A big reason I have been successful at sales is that I kept going when most would give up.

Years ago, I called an energy director at a prospect for 235 work days in a row. Everyday it was voice mail. I left him a message every single time and on the 236 day he called me back.

“You are the most persistent person who has ever called me and I have to meet you.”

My response was, “ If I worked this hard to get a chance at doing business with you, imagine how hard I will work to keep your business and keep you happy?”

_Of course that is before I knew what to say to get an appointment._

Effort always wins in the long run….but the long run can be a very long time! So how can we get results faster?

CORRECT THEORY!

EFFORT PLUS CORRECT THEORY= PROFOUND RESULTS

One of the benefits of struggling and not giving up is you learn what works and what doesn’t. These theories become useable frameworks that when added to effort dramatically improve results.

I have a challenge and an offer…

Think of a prospect that you want to meet but can’t get into to see…

an account you have given up on…. one that you would be willing to try to contact one more time.

How you say somethingis more important than what you say. Say the right thing in the right way and you will get better results.

My offer: Using all I have learned about sales over the last 40 years, I will write a custom script for you to use next time you call this client.

Type the Word “Challenge” in the subject line and email me at hvaccontrolpro@gmail.com . I will get right back to you and tell you what I need to write your script. I can only do 6 of these, so first come first serve.

Why am I doing this? I love sales and I love the challenge. Eventually, I will be changing for these types of services and want some case studies. If you take me up on this offer, I might ask you for a testimonial.

Persistence wins over talent…..

Persistence plus Correct Theory….

wins over Persistence alone.

Good things,

Eric

PS. I posted some sales videos on the ControlTrends YouTube Channel. Check them out here:

Non Verbal Persuasion Hacks

Get to Yes Faster

The 4 Most Important Words in Sales

This has been a sample of the New ControlTrends Sales and Marketing News Letter...

……….. is a compilation of what works in sales and marketing for the HVAC and Building Controls Industry.

“Sales is the easiest job in the world to do poorly and the most difficult job on the planet to do well.”

Ken and I have been selling in the Industry for over 40 years. ( hard to believe we are that old). We each have over 10,000 hours of face to face selling and marketing.

Like most sales people the majority of what we tried did not work.

Unlike most we kept going, and as one of my teachers use to say, ” if what you are doing is not working try anything else.”

As a result we have found lots that does work, and work well.

The newsletter is a way we can share some of what we know. We will not be posting many of these on ControlTrends, so if you want to get the sales and marketing news letter sign up below.

You can expect to get 2-4 news letters a month.

PS. I only have 2 spots left on the offer I made to write a sales script for you, so if you want one of the remaining two spots email me at hvaccontrolpro@gmail.com

Live Footage of the Smart Buildings Integrator Summit at IBcon 2019

June 19, 2019 by Eric Stromquist 1 Comment

With over four hours of great dialogue from the smartest minds in Smart Building Controls, we were hard pressed to cover the Master Systems Integrator Summit at the 2019 IBcon Event.

We did live stream a couple of the sessions.

Unedited. Raw. They capture the depth of understanding and usefulness of these smart building trends.

In this video, Brain Turner and Scott Cochrane join conversations around the emergence and intersection of IT, OT, and IOT in Smart Buildings.

Well done. Stay tuned for more video coverage of IBcon 2019.

Smart Buildings Integrator Summit — Huge Focus on the Master Systems Integrator

June 13, 2019 by Eric Stromquist 1 Comment

And Realcomm|IBcon 2019 begins...

Ken and I spent the yesterday listening to the some of the most intelligent minds in Smart Building Controls business. These are the minds that are shaping the future of Smart Buildings. And, yesterday was just the Pre-Con Event!

We are now at the main sessions of the 2019 Realcomm/IBcon Conference in Nashville, TN.

We are covering this event for our global ControlTrends Community — shooting as many videos as we can, interviewing the savviest controls people we can find, and live-streaming as long as we have battery life!

This is one of the videos we live-streamed yesterday. Conversation included how owners are profiling Smart Building Controls Master System Integrators, and how they are learning to specify the MSI role before the project is bid to protect their Smart Buildings interests. It is a must watch for anyone wanting to be successful in today’s evolving building automation market.

As we post this, we are unpacking the camera gear and heading back into the show to live-stream more great content.

If you want to see more of these in real time, be sure to subscribe to our YouTube Channel.

Three Things to Make Sure You Get an Open Smart Building Controls System

June 12, 2019 by Eric Stromquist Leave a Comment

"We Won't Get Fooled Again" (The Who)

Ken and I are in Nashville to cover RealComm|IBcon for our ControlTrends Community. Preparing for the Ultimate Smart Buildings Conference got me thinking….

What is the one thing that building owners need to know to make sure they maximize their Smart Building Controls investment ?

Open. The Building Automation Control System must be open.

And, an Open System means you have Choice.

Let me explain:

Many Control Vendors tell you that their building automation control system is open because they use Lon or BACnet or some other open protocol. These protocols allow their controls to talk to other devices on the network. Based on this they claim openness.

And yes, an open protocol is the first part of a control system being open. But, it does not ensure that you have an open system, because it does not ensure you have Choice. Open protocol is not equal to Open System.

Two mandatory (but not always discussed) requirements for an Open System:

1) Open Sourcing. How many people and companies can install and service your Smart Building Control System? If it is one, you have a problem. If you do not now, then later. You might be dealing with the best contractor on the planet, what happens if they go out of business? Ask the question. How many qualified companies can service my system? Can my people get the same training and pass a test to become certified to work on my system?

2) Open Knowledge: Can my people get the same training and factory certifications as my contractor? Can I get the same programming tools. This is important! Many systems use a separate tool to program the controllers in the system. If you can’t buy the tool, you can’t set up and program replacement controls. Make sure you have the option to buy the programming tool.

If you are a facilities manager or building owner, who contract out a multitude of services, you are well aware of the vulnerabilities of having only one service provider and what the consequences are when the relationship is not working out.

Not having the freedom of choice (and benefits of competition) to intelligently and swiftly change service providers is an awful predicament to be in.

Don’t repeat the same mistake with your building control automation system.

Following these cardinal rules: Choose Open. Have choices. And, stay in control of your facility’s destiny.

Check my video out to learn more.