Month: February 2013

The leading new home search site for agents, NewHomeSourceProfessional.com, has an updated look and new features to allow agents to connect with builders and provide new home details to buyers.

Big changes have been happening with New Home Source Professional!  In an effort to continue to make the site a valuable tool for real estate agents who are searching for new homes for their clients, the entire site has received a face lift and as a builder, it is more important than ever to make sure your homes are represented!

“In many markets up to 80% of new homes are sold by real estate agents,” said Tim Costello, CEO, Builders Digital Experience. “New Home Source Professional provides the most up to date and comprehensive new home data all in one place. The new site is a valuable tool to connect agents and builders.”

Features of New Home Source Professional include:

  • The most comprehensive selection of new home information available online
  • An updated look making it easier to search for homes and connect directly with builders
  • Videos and additional home images to better showcase homes and communities
  • Agent tools to send detailed information directly to buyers
  • Ability to search agent and consumer promotions
  • Builders can receive detailed reporting on their listings along with agent inquiries

Agents should visit www.NewHomeSourceProfessional.com to sign up for free and unlock agent-only information and tools, as well as receive weekly updates via email. Builders who are interested in connecting with local agents and listing their homes on the site can email info@thebdx.com to learn more.

 

By BDX Guest Blogger, Carol Morgan, mRELEVANCE

Last month, LinkedIn reached the 200 million members worldwide milestone. This comes as no surprise since the online professional networking site has plenty to offer for those of any status in the work force, from recent college graduates to seasoned business professionals.

One of the newest, and most useful, features of LinkedIn is the endorsement sections. This section is easier to use than the lengthy testimonials section and because of this has become quite popular. Endorsements allow professionals to validate and recognize the skills and expertise their peers have added to their profile. Reward your business partners and coworkers for their mastery of a skill by giving them recognition through an endorsement. This feature is the perfect opportunity to do so without having to write out a full recommendation.

Here’s a quick overview of how to endorse your peers:

  • At the top of a connection’s profile, you’ll see recommended endorsements, simply click on the skills you want to endorse them for
  • In addition, you can suggest additional skills
  • Endorsements can also be made in the new Skills & Expertise section

If you’ve been endorsed, you will receive a notification from LinkedIn both by email and when you log into the site. You can view who has endorsed you for each skill by viewing your own Skills & Expertise section, where you can also accept any new skills recommended by your colleagues or include additional skills.

While the new endorsements section is great for recognizing other’s achievements and expertise, it does raise a few questions when it comes to business etiquette.

  • If someone endorses me, do I have to endorse them? Endorsing someone isn’t time consuming, and it’s always good to return positive favors!
  • What if someone endorses me, but I don’t want others to see it? Simply click on their face next to the skill they have endorsed you for. Then, you’ll be able to select the hide endorsement button.
  • Is endorsing someone even worth my time? On the whole, I wouldn’t suggest going on an endorsing spree, but if your peer has done exceptionally well at something or if you know they are looking for a new job in a specific field, endorsing them could potentially help them out.

For more tips and tricks when it comes to social media and business etiquette online, be sure to visit www.MarketingRELEVANCE.com.

By Eleanor Bowman, Director of Marketing, BDX

BDX recently completed a study of over 1,000 potential home buyers and one of the most surprising data points was the timeframe for home purchase. Almost two-thirds of those surveyed were unsure about when they would purchase or expect to take at least 9 months to make a decision.

Now compare this to the conversations we are having with many of our builders who work leads for 30 days and then consider them to be cold. Think about the impact this can have on your marketing campaigns? It means that if you’re throwing out leads because they haven’t converted in 30 days, you’re probably missing out on sales.

Putting these leads into a nurturing campaign can pay off months down the road when the buyer is ready to make a buying decision.

What is lead nurturing and how can home builders run successful campaigns?

Lead nurturing simply means creating a series of communications to stay in touch with those prospective buyers. These may not be the leads that your sales team is working aggressively, but it is important to keep your brand and your selling points top of mind. According to a recent report from Forrester Research, companies that excel at lead nurturing generate 50% more sales-ready leads, at 33% lower cost per lead.

Some ways builders can nurture leads through the sales cycle:

  • Create a weekly or monthly email newsletter.
  • Use marketing automation software that will automatically trigger communications at specific points in the process.
  • Use advertising retargeting programs to reach out to people who have visited your website.
  • Create social media campaigns to encourage people to engage with your brand.

Taking a few simple steps to keep these leads in your sales pipeline will pay off in the long run. Research has shown that 75% of companies basically drop leads who aren’t ready to purchase immediately. Make sure that your business is part of the 25% that will stay in touch and be top of mind when the consumer is ready to buy.

 

Before the holidays I reached out to my builders to discuss their year-end performance as well as other reports that BDX provides.  These conversations were so rewarding as I helped some builders take advantage of tools to improve the performance of their listings and generate more leads.

By making these contacts I realized how much I enjoy working with my clients and assisting each one with new ideas and best practices.  I am proud to serve my builders.  : )

Hope you have a great weekend, Jennifer

I love working with my builders because so many of them make me laugh. In the end, it’s really all about the people and helping them each day.

I also love being able to help our builders bring their marketing efforts to fruition and how much they appreciate us when they sell out a community. This seems to be happening more often these days and it’s fun to see all the new “Coming Soon” banners for their next projects. A great sign for our industry!

Happy Valentines Day, Lori