Nowadays, almost every homeowner is either working on their smart home upgrades or planning on them. Not only do smart home installations make a home comfortable and convenient but also, they increase the value of the home if the owner is planning to sell.
Smart home installations also ensure that you save electricity used to run your home hence lesser utility bills at the end of the month. This has made the smart home installation market grow at high rates over recent years.
According to Juniper Research report, the smart home installation and services market is projected to reach revenues of about $195 billion this year. However, for this market to succeed, some key players are involved in it, and the most important one is the smart home installer.
As the smart home market continues to grow daily, there is an increasing demand for homeowners and contractors to hire a reliable and qualified smart home installer. So what exactly does it take to be a successful smart home installer?
Here are some tips;
Step 1: Sign up for a smart home installation course
This is the most important step for anyone who has decided to start a career in smart home installations.
Home automation business requires a professional who is well trained and qualified in this field so that homeowners can feel a sense of security hiring them to install the most delicate smart systems in their home.
For this reason, a smart home installer is required to take a course and gain knowledge on everything entailed in smart home installations. Various learning platforms both online and offline, offer the relevant courses for aspiring smart home installers.
However, you need to research the learning platforms that offer smart home installation training and cover the Internet of Things (IoT). This will help you stand out among your fellow competitors in the field.
Step 2: Get Certification in Smart Home Installation
Being a certified smart home installer gives your clients that much-needed assurance that you’re qualified in this particular field and have the necessary understanding of smart home devices and systems.
The most prestigious certification that any smart home installer can have is the one from Smart Homes School.
Smart Homes School gives their certification to smart home installers based on their knowledge, testing, and troubleshooting of all the smart home devices needed to make you one of the best in the field.
Having the Next-Generation Smart Home Installer (NGSHI) certification for any smart home installer shows that they are proven and have all it takes to excel in the field.
Step 3: Keep up With The Trends
Smart home business, like any other technology-based field, witnesses new developments every day. What might have worked last month might be outdated today.
For this reason, if you want to succeed in the home automation business as a smart home installer, you’ll need to be updated on all the new trends happening in this industry. This will shape your skills and knowledge and put you in a better position to succeed in this business.
Step 4: Use Smart Home Devices in Your Own Home
As a smart home installer, you want to gain familiarity with the same smart home devices that you will install for your clients. For this reason, it’s helpful to have these smart home devices in your own home.
It’s even better to go for the smart home devices that are the most popular among your clients. This will help you gain a better insight around these devices’ functioning and performance so that you’re in a better position to recommend the best ones for your clients.
When you use these smart home devices in your home, you’re familiarized with the main causes of breakdowns and any improvements you can make in their user interfaces.
Step 5: Gain Experience in The Field
After you’ve completed your smart home installation course and obtained the certification, you might not get the bigger jobs right away. This is because most clients prefer smart home installers who are experienced in the field.
This shouldn’t worry you even one bit. You can always start your smart home installation career by taking the smaller jobs first.
This will help you gain much-needed experience in the field, and you will be able to work with the best installers in the field who can teach you a thing or two about the home automation business.
During this period, it’s important to stay patient and keep learning. The experience you’ll gain doing the smaller smart home installation jobs will prepare you for the challenges you might encounter in the bigger jobs.
Step 6: Understand Smart Home Devices Usage
To succeed in the smart home business as an installer, you’ll need to be acquainted with the different use cases of different smart home devices. It’s helpful if you research how your potential customers are using their smart home devices.
When you learn about the different usage of smart devices, you’ll know which ones benefit your customers’ lives. Learn about the improved technologies of smart devices so that you can make correct and reliable recommendations for your customers.
Step 7: Learn About Third-Party Integrations
As a smart home installer, along the way, you’ll encounter different clients with different preferences. You’re bound to meet clients who would prefer that their smart home devices be integrated with other third-party devices.
For this reason, it’s important to be prepared to tackle these situations. Some clients will require you to integrate their smart home devices with their mobile phones so that they can control them from the comfort of their couch.
Others might require you to integrate their smart home systems with digital voice assistants such as Siri, Alexa, or even Google Assistant.
Final Thoughts
Succeeding in the smart home business as an installer will require you to put a bit more effort and be clinical with your work. This is because it’s through your great work that homeowners will be referring their friends and relatives to you.
This will ensure that you’ll never lack jobs, and you’ll keep gaining experience as you climb to the top of this field.
Interested in building your own smart home Install business, then why not join the waitlist for the next cohort of students going through the Certified Next-Generation Smart Home Installer (NGSHI) Professional Program Training Program.