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| Architectural Specification Program |
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| 1.
What do RBA’s representatives do when they visit a
design professional’s office? |
Our
representatives will present the unique benefits of your
product to the spec writer, project architect, or decision
maker early in the project design process, during pre-design,
and at times during the conceptual stage of a project.
We try to get a proprietary specification for your product,
which will have enormous "holding power." Our
representatives are reliable and will answer questions,
solve problems, or
assist with specifications. We order catalogs, specifications,
samples, and request box lunch presentations from you on
behalf of the design professionals to assist them in product
selection and for writing their project specifications
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| 2.
Why should I hire RBA to make specification calls instead
of hiring someone to directly work for our company? |
RBA has access to "hard
to see" architectural firms and spec writers because
they know us. They see us because we will not waste their
time when we are educating them about your product technology.
We can help you establish better communications with design
professionals and spec writers with whom you are having difficulty.
Many times architects are reluctant to tell product reps
about problems, but they will tell us. We can find out what
the problems are and how they can be corrected.
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| RBA saves your staff and
reps valuable time by calling on design professionals, so they
can be selling in the field. Are your reps paid to call on
architects or to move product? Are they evaluated on the number
of architects they visit? Reps are busy solving field problems,
calling on customers and putting together bids. Often they
are unable to find the needed time to call on the design professionals
in their territory. |
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| Hiring a full time rep to make architectural specification
calls is very expensive due to salary, benefits, and travel expenses.
Our specification program lowers your personnel costs. Current
estimates are that the average direct company rep costs the company
$90,000 to $100,000 per year. Do you really want to add another
company rep to your payroll to concentrate on design professionals?
We identify your local rep or distributor in the area to the
design professional. Your representative will get the results
of our face-to-face meetings and can make follow-up calls, as
requested by the design professionals. |
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| 3.
How do I determine the success of the architectural specifications
program? |
| The success of the program
can be determined by three criteria: company and product recognition,
education, and specification. Our representatives have three
goals when they walk into a design professional’s office.
First, we build name recognition for your company and product
line. After our initial visit, your reps and marketing team
should feel confident that the design professional recognizes
your brand and is aware of your company. |
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| During our presentation,
our representatives will educate the design professional about
the basic benefits of your product. Educating the design professional
is crucial in getting your product specified. Finally, we ask
that the design professional include your product’s in
their office master specifications. |
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| "Hot leads" are
emailed daily to your company. A spec writer will not wait
long to receive help from a manufacturer. RBA’s communications
will inform you who to contact and what urgent requests are
concerning. Often, this occurs when a spec is being finalized
and we have an excellent chance to get your products in the
specification. Reports are written for all calls we make and
are submitted to you at the end of each call period. You can
then send these call reports to the appropriate rep or distributor
for sales follow up. |
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| 4.
How much does the Architectural Specification Program cost? |
| RBA is paid no commissions.
We work on a monthly retainer basis. This fee includes our
representatives salary, travel expenses (airfare, hotel,
rental car, etc.), and all administrative costs. There are
no hidden
fees. We have several programs to fit your company’s
budget. We can create a national program for you to maximize
the 50+ markets that we visit or we can develop a regional
program. |
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| 5.
What is the most important aspect of the Architectural Specification
Program? |
| Follow up! Once our
representatives begin making architectural specification presentations
to design professionals, there needs to be a point person in
your office to perform the follow up. Follow up might be as
simple as sending product literature or guide specs. "Hot
leads" and weekly call reports are emailed to your company
every week. A spec writer will not wait long to receive help
from a manufacturer. Therefore, someone on your staff must
be able to quickly respond to guide spec and product literature
requests, technical and pricing questions, and anything else
that the design professional asks for. The point person might
also send the “hot leads” to reps in the field
to follow up on. This helps establish a relationship between
your company and the design professional after our initial
visit. |
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| Continuing Education
Program |
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| 1.
What is continuing education for design professionals? |
| All architects who are
AIA members must complete 18 Learning Units (LU’s) annually to retain their membership. Architects
in most U.S. states and Canadian provinces must meet Mandatory
Continuing Education (MCE) requirements for licensure. Eventually
all states will require MCE. A learning unit represents approximately
one hour of study time. Eight of those LU’s must be of
Health, Safety, and Welfare (HSW) designation, which is a quality
standard set by the Architectural Record Examiners board, (ARE).
AIA also requires four hours of Sustainable Design (SD) education.
HSW and SD LUs are the most sought after credits by design
professionals. RBA can create, host, manage, and market a course
for your company
that has the HSW or SD designation. |
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| 2.
Why should I choose RBA to create and host my face-to-face
or online continuing education course? |
| RBA is an American Institute
of Architects Continuing Education Systems (AIA/CES) Cornerstone
Partner providing continuing education to Registered Architects,
Interior Designers, Engineers, and other Design Professionals.
We are committed to bringing together design professionals,
building product manufacturers, and trade organizations by
offering courses that educate and increase the exposure of
your company. RBA creates continuing education programs that
assist in getting your products recognized and specified by
design professionals. RBA was awarded the Award for Excellence
by the American Institute of Architects, (AIA), for online
continuing education in both 2002 and 2008. |
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| In addition, RBA offers
a unique program that is unlike any other program in the country.
We develop, host, and manage your continuing education course.
Your company would fall under our ”AIA Cornerstone Partner” umbrella;
which means we pay all annual providership fees and obtain
the necessary registration with the AIA. |
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| We act as the “provider” for
your face to face presentation or host your course on our web
site. The courses on our web site are available free of charge
to the design professional to be completed at his or her convenience.
We attend to all the reporting and archiving required by AIA,
and we provide a certificate of completion to the design professional.
Over 80,000 design professionals are notified by email-blast
when your course is introduced on our website or available
for lunch and learns. One of the beneficial aspects of the
CE program is that your course will also be included on our
CD ROMs that are distributed to all contacts visited in our
Architectural Specifications Program, (approximately eighteen
hundred per year), as well as at all major trade shows. |
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| As the sponsor you are
provided with real time reports when a design professional
successfully completes your course; included in this report
is the name, company name, phone and fax numbers and email
address of those who complete the course. A link to your company’s
website is included with your course making it convenient for
the architect to contact you directly to obtain more information.
If the architect links to your website from the course, we
are able to track how long they spent looking at your company’s
information and report this to you. |
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| 3.
How much does a CE course cost to develop and host with RBA? |
| The cost to develop and
host a CE course is much cheaper compared to other marketing
efforts.
You get the most “bang for
your buck” educating design professionals through a CE
program. To determine the cost, we will have you fill out a
course development form. The form will list all of the materials
you
have available to develop a CE course with such as digital
photos, CAD details, video clips, case studies, as well as
learning objectives.
The more material you can provide to us, the less expensive
the development costs. For example, you may already have a
Powerpoint
presentation that just needs to be modified to meet the AIA
and state requirements. |
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| After receiving the course development form and reviewing your
materials, our continuing education department will provide you
with a free estimate for the development and registration of
the course. The monthly hosting fee is determined by how many
CE courses you currently have with RBA. Many manufacturers have
both face-to-face and online courses with RBA. We discount the
monthly hosting fee for all additional CE courses after the development
of your first course. |
