Students in business school are taught that a business is worth the sum of its future profits. This criteria is how investors calculate an accurate price of a company’s shares. In his national bestseller How To Build Habit-Forming Products, Nir Eyal discusses how companies can drive higher customer lifetime value. According to Eyal, customer lifetime value is “the amount of money made from a customer before that person switches to a competitor, stops using the product, or dies.” Your customer’s habits increase how long and frequently a customer will use your product.

Building Product Use Drives Building Product Growth

Architects who specify building products on a regular basis are more likely to tell their colleagues about these products. Specifiers who become hooked on a particular building product become brand evangelists who provide the manufacturer with free messaging. Frequent usage creates more opportunities to encourage other architects to use a building product.

The Enemies Of Habit

According to author Eyal, “the enemy of new habits is past behaviors, and research suggests that old habits die hard.” The challenge for building product manufacturers is to help architects, specifiers, and other design professionals to form new habits. Habits keep architects loyal. When an architect uses a product often on projects, they no longer need to think about using it. The result is habit driven behavior that is difficult to change.

Your Product’s Habit Forming Potential

Building product manufacturers can determine their product’s habit forming potential by reviewing two factors: frequency and perceived utility. Eyal argues that a behavior that occurs with enough frequency and perceived utility will help make it a default behavior. If either factor falls short, then the desired behavior will probably not become a habit. Habits can take weeks or even months to form. Habits are what will help increase your customer lifetime value. How are you reaching architects to help form positive habits? Do you have an effective AIA online course to educate design professionals?

Is Your Building Product A Painkiller Or A Vitamin

A common question that investors ask company founders about their product is “are you creating a painkiller or a vitamin?” Most investors consider the best answer is a painkiller. Products that are painkillers solve a need and relieve pain. Products in the vitamin category do not solve a pain point and appeal to a user’s emotional needs. Habit forming products are typically in the painkiller category.

Getting your building products specified can be an uphill battle especially when an architect has specified your competitor’s products for several years. Convincing an architect to change their behavior and habits is the ultimate challenge. However, it’s worth the effort because once a new habit sticks it will be difficult to change. How does your company try to change the specification habits of architects? What strategies does your organization use?