A well-designed pre-construction presentation centre evokes the spark of home in buyers. It’s often the only tangible asset in the real estate sales funnel and can make or break the sale for many deals.

Today, presentation centres need to sell more than the usual cosmetic or structural upgrades like parking spots, hardwood floors or bathroom improvements. They must familiarize potential buyers with their building’s smart technology system and in-suite hardware, so that future residents can understand the deep-seated benefits that will enhance their community living experience beyond just paint colours or backsplashes ever could.

As a developer, if you’ve already invested money into smart tech for your building, it’s important to showcase this through your sales centres. As real estate adapts to new and changing technology, smart living has become a competitive advantage in the industry.

Here’s our advice, learned from building dozens of decor centres, on building and designing an effective smart technology presentation centre:

It’s possible to integrate the in-suite hardware into the presentation centre to simulate the full solution (including the lobby phone, wall pad, etc.), but we find developers rarely choose this option. In this example, the hardware would be installed like a live suite – with a lobby phone outside the apartment, wall pad mounted in the living room and a digital door lock on the unit’s front door.

A sales centre simulation gives potential buyers a realistic feel for what it would be like to live with the technology. In practice, this method may not be as efficient as a dedicated display.

The technology demonstration often becomes disjointed as clients have to trek back and forth to look at all the different hardware.

The most convenient and popular option is a stand-alone display that demonstrates everything all in one place, so buyers and sales staff can make a quick pitstop, run through the main features, and continue on their tour.

If you’ve chosen a stand-alone display, SmartONE offers several functionality options to match your sales strategy:

1. Standard demo model

Our standard pre-designed demo kit can be either free-standing or wall-mounted and is perfect for developers who don’t want to create custom presentation centres.

Think of this model as an “easy button” for developers who don’t want to create a custom sales centre.

It includes the most common in-suite and shared community hardware including:

• Lobby phone
• Wall pad
• Digital door lock
• Smart light switch

The design is clean and easy to navigate through. The hardware is labelled and fully functional. Your sales staff can conveniently demonstrate key features like visitor access, community security, lighting control, various suite access options, and other in-suite capabilities.

An included tablet also plays a short promo video, outlining the full list of resident features.

2. Custom display

With the custom display option, you have the freedom to express your brand. You’ll receive design consultation and planning support, to help with both the marketing and technical aspects. We’re equipped to bring your vision to life! Our skilled team has helped developers execute all kinds of displays – some even award-winning.

3. Dummy display

If you opt to not have working tech in your presentation centre, we can install non-functioning “dummy” components that look real but are just for show.

4. Video only

The simplest option is to display only a promotional video. You can also work with our team to brand our existing template with your look and feel to uniquely showcase your brand. It’s also possible to add additional technology features to the video and more complex effects or graphics, though branding and editing work will incur additional fees.

You don’t have to create your marketing material from scratch. We know exactly what you need. Whether you want to use it as inspiration or for reference, we provide a content library full of design and copy resources to save you time and effort when making your marketing materials. Our content library is approved by SmartONE engineers, giving you peace of mind when explaining this new and sometimes unfamiliar technology.

We also offer a final marketing and engineering review to ensure technical accuracy.

Most importantly, we thoroughly train your sales staff on how to use the demo system and provide training material that outlines sample sales scenarios.

One of our top recommendations to developers is to have both a lead marketer and contractor assigned to manage the design and installation of their demo system. A builder is the best resource to confirm that the power, wiring and cutout requirements are met so the demo unit can be installed properly. Once the area is prepped, the SmartONE team can install the hardware in a matter of hours.

“The number one thing buyers should take away from a presentation centre tour is a sense of excitement – ‘I can’t wait to live there!’” said Dani Matti, SmartONE Product Marketing Manager. “Lead with the benefits and features, using the tech on the wall as a reference. Describe the lifestyle to future residents and elevate the living experience – they’re getting a customized living environment like no other.”

In the end, you can build a branded smart tech hub in your presentation centre, customized for your sales funnel. And to support your launch, we always provide sales training, a resource library and project management support. Contact us today for a demo or for help building your demo system.