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BALA From the Builders' Perspective



December 17, 2004
HousingZone

Chris Porter, Web editor at HousingZone.com, talks with previous BALA winners Darren Senn, director of design for builder Senn & Youngdahl, and Ken Madden, president of Shiloh Custom Homes, about their experiences with BALA.

Porter: How does your company use your BALA award status?

Madden: Every time we win one, we do everything we can to let as many people know about that as we can. Mostly, when we sit down with a client, face to face once we get them in, we don't tout the awards, but when they walk in, they see the trophies on the wall, the plaques on the wall, and then they see a listing of those awards. It gives what we call "collateral credibility." They say, "These guys have been around, they've paid the dues, and they're recognized in the industry for being one of the best." ( Listen. )

Senn: We actually have gotten the posters that are produced each year, and we have those in our offices. When people come into our office, that's one of the first things they'll see: the BALA award with the huge picture of our house. So that's nice. I'm not sure if it will really directly sell a home for us. It provides us with great credibility, though. It's just another one of those things that people see. They know that we're a reputable builder. They know that we have been probably one of the more innovative builders in our territory here. And then when they see the awards that we've received, it really gives a lot of credibility to our organization. ( Listen. )

Porter: Can the process of putting together an application be a learning experience for your company?

Ken Madden
Madden: The first time we did one, yes. And then, after that, it caused us to focus on design: looking at what won, why did ours win versus what other homes won. And then, once we find out afterward who the judges are, we actually can pretty well tell by the makeup of the judges panel why certain homes won and other homes didn't win. We find that when there are more architects and more large-city architects sitting on the judging panel, homes with a more contemporary bent seem to win. When there are more builders that are actually involved in it, we find that more traditional homes that people really actually live in win quite a bit more. It has caused us to look at design criteria. It has caused us to look at what is in a house, what is a trend — if that is the correct word for it — what people have an interest in. ( Listen. )

Senn: I try to think about these judges who are looking through, I would assume, several hundred binders. And we obviously want to try to make ours stick out in some way. So we think about the photographs that we use. They're not all just necessarily a picture of a house. We may show a detail shot. We may show a blurred-out shot with attention called to something that may not have anything to do with the house. ( Listen. )

I think it has probably enhanced, in some ways, the way we try to appeal to our customers in a visual way. It does help us understand how we are showing our floor plans and our houses from a visual perspective. ( Listen. )

Porter: How do you decide that a project is right for competition? Is it when it's still in the design stage, when it's completely done or somewhere in between? And are there signals about this?

Madden: There certainly is. A lot of that has to do with just the creativity of the design. Once we see the preliminary, the thought goes through your mind: "This one could definitely be an award-winning home." Frankly, we're not really sure until the house is completed and furnished. We've done some homes here that are incredible and beautiful architecturally, but the homeowner was the interior designer on them, and the insides just didn't turn out as nice as they could have. We recognize and realize, even as great as this home is architecturally, it doesn't show as well photographically. ( Listen. )

It's caused us to see what people look at. When you look at a photograph — lighting, color, the organization of spaces, brightness that's in the room, all those elements, and those are the homes that we're finding that consistently win — when we do see this, we look at this house and say, "This one is a strong contender." ( Listen. )

Porter: Darren, one thing that's a little different about your firm is that you are both the designer/architect and the builder. At what point during the process do you decide that a particular project is right for a competition?

Darren Senn
Senn: It's kind of different for every project. Our models are typically the ones that we have in the award program. They're part of our product that we want to showcase. Those are the ones that generally get photographed — we photograph all of our models. I think we try to anticipate the BALA awards. We like to submit every year, and we anticipate which of our models may be the strong model. ( Listen. )

Porter: Are there any signals?

Senn: I don't want to sound arrogant in any way, but I think that all of our models are worthy of consideration for an award. Whether they receive an award or not … sometimes they do, sometimes they don't. We really work hard to give something to look at when they come see our products. And if they're well-accessorized, and the photography works well, and we get good shots, I think they're all worthy to submit for an award. ( Listen. )

Porter: Do you look at other winners and say, "There's something we can learn from this"?

Senn: Absolutely. I'm just honored that we're a part of those we see pictured there. To see our work alongside of the best in the industry — which I do see that when we go to the BALA awards — I think those are the most outstanding projects that are there, and to have ours represented alongside of those is a wonderful honor for us. I think our work is good because of the good work that goes before us. We're challenged to do good work because of all the good work that's out there. And there's not a better venue to see that good work than at the BALA awards. I love it. I really do. ( Listen. )

Madden: Most definitely. We take a look at those homes, those products, and see what can and can't be done and what wins and what doesn't win. And study them. I do. I take time and study all the entries, and I even go to the point of looking at some of the production work. "Why is this one winning?" and "What qualities are good?" And, again, it also gives you an idea of what the trend is heading toward. For us, we're into this Tuscan, Old World, which is very strong and predominant. We saw that moving that way probably about six years ago. ( Listen. )

And then it also helps you see the quality of the work. Who are good builders? Who are the guys that consistently win? We look at that and say, "OK, these guys are players." We're part of the Builder 20 group, and the asset of that has been being able to talk to other people about how they do their business. And many times we'll recognize another builder that's not a part of our Builder 20 club but is another builder that's consistently won several times, and you say, "You know, we might need to get to know this guy, or maybe we could call him up to talk with him." And we'd say, " We'd like to know how do you do this and how do you handle this" and "Was this a problem?" And it's amazing how many people open up because they're needing that same information from us.

Porter: So it really has been a good networking experience?

Madden: It has. We've used it as a networking tool. It is an opportunity because it's a prestigious award. It's not won by a lot of people. When you win it once, it brings you into a relatively exclusive club. When you've won the award multiple times, of course, it puts you into an even more exclusive club. We have found, frankly, when we've won — I'm going to the home builders' show coming up here — when the people see our little card and say, "Oh, you're Shiloh," it means something to them. And it kind of makes you feel good for all this work that you do that someone recognizes you. ( Listen. )

Porter: Darren, you had said that receiving an award won't directly sell a home for you, but can it affect your bottom line? Or is that too hard to quantify?

Senn: Yeah, it's probably kind of hard. We don't ask any more for an award-winning home. Does it add to the bottom line? No. But it's one of many elements that bring great credibility to our organization. I mean, gosh, we've got a really great product that many people like. We take that and couple that with a BALA award, a local award, the publications that we've been in, and those are all elements that help us sell homes. ( Listen. )

Madden: In a competitive market, and especially high-end luxury home as a competitive market, any time your reputation is considered to be better than someone else's, you gain a distinct advantage. So then you're able to get more work, and when you're able to get the work, you're not having to be as competitive to get the work. All that does translate to the bottom line. It gets you, again, collateral credibility: This person's well-established. And when you've been doing it for such a long period of time, and a client is going to make a 2-3 million-dollar investment into a home, they feel much more comfortable if this person is proven. By having that track record, it shows them, "Wow, these guys have been doing this for quite a while." Which, in turn, relates and falls down to the bottom line. ( Listen. )


© 2009, Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All Rights Reserved.

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