Industry Trends

Discover important builder trends and how they are shaping the industry.

Builders Quick to Capitalize on Trend with Online Technologies

Surveys commissioned by Redfin in 2016 and 2015 show that one in five home buyers made bids before seeing a home in person. Even more surprising, nearly 40 percent of people who purchased homes for more than $750,000 bid blindly in 2016. How are builders and sellers accomplishing this feat? 

Technology is taking the place of in-person visits to model homes and existing homes. Transplant buyers moving to ultra-competitive markets like Philadelphia, Richmond, and Colorado Springs are now able to bid with confidence against area residents, by exploring homes in vivid detail online.

Realtor and Certified Relocation Specialist in Dallas, Jeannette Rohan says the timing for these new technologies couldn’t be better. “Several major corporations are transplanting thousands of workers to our area, which has created a hot seller’s market for builders and existing home owners. Offer deadlines and multiple bids have made it impossible for out-of-state buyers to see the existing or spec homes they like before they go under contract. The builders who are able to simulate a visit to the community and the model homes are winning these buyers over.”

As I quietly added the phrase “sight unseen” to the end of her sentence, Rohan corrected me. “It’s only sight unseen in the traditional sense. These people aren’t really taking a risk at all. They’re getting intimately familiar with the homes online. They’re making informed decisions about the areas, the communities, the models, and even the elevations and finishes. They’re buying these homes with as much certainty as buyers from the area who do visit the communities and tour the models, and when they move in, they’re just as happy.”

Here are the online technologies and resources enabling out-of-state buyers to get in the game:

Online Virtual Tours

Until you have experienced today’s best-of-breed online virtual tours, you’re likely to continue believing that nothing can replicate the immersive experience of a model home tour. But with virtual tours, buyers can “walk through” model homes, engage with the spaces and appreciate the design flow and layout, as well as materials and textures. The virtual experience actually exceeds the experience of visiting model homes in two very important ways: 1) Builders can cost-effectively make every model available for buyers in every community to tour online; and 2) Buyers can choose elevations, building materials, fixtures, and design options and visually compare them to make more informed choices.

Video and Animation

Video is vivid, entertaining, informative, and actionable. It’s versatile too; builders can use it on their sites, in online listings, on a YouTube channel, and in the sales and design centers. Video is preferred over text on social media, and it’s viral. Transplant buyers talk to one another and share information, which makes it especially valuable for builders trying to capture this market. Video offers a one-time low-cost investment with so many applications.

Professional Photography

Builders are competing against existing homes, yet many fail to provide as many pictures as their existing home competition. For transplants, the more visual information you provide, the better your chances of making the final consideration set. Decisions happen quickly. Quick decisions are often emotional decisions, and emotional decisions are influenced by the senses. So make use of high quality, high quantity dramatic professional photography in your listings and on your sites. Use photography and custom graphics liberally throughout all of your marketing materials. Use it to showcase models, as well as your custom work, interior features, and design options.

3D Renderings and Floor Plans

3D renderings enable buyers to appreciate height, depth, flow, and the relationship of spaces to one another. When you don’t have the advantage of a model home to demonstrate dimension, get a similar impact by using hyper-realistic 3-D renderings with custom color enhancements, including landscaping and lighting for dramatic effect.

Downloadable PDF Brochures

Buyers print and share PDFs, and transplant buyers are especially likely to use them because they come in groups. Use these pieces to balance visuals with text that drives home your brand’s marketing messages and key details about your communities and homes.

Rohan says transplants to competitive markets rely heavily on these resources. “As someone who works closely with corporations and the employees they relocate, I can tell you that all of these materials simplify the process for my clients. Buyers feel good about contracting with builders who do their best to inform them and minimize the risk of such an important decision.”

Why are there so many kids hanging out in the park walking around looking at their phones? If you’ve been paying attention to news headlines and social media lately, you’re probably noticing that the Pokemon Go app has been released for less than week and it has taken over everything. If you aren’t familiar with the new app for Android and IOS, it is an Augmented Reality game that places Pokémon in the world around you. Users walk around and find the Pokémon near them trying to catch them all! What is new about this app is that it causes people to get up and move. Within this short period of time the app has taken off with an estimated 7.5 million downloads and growing, over 6 million mentions on Twitter and helping to boost Nintendo’s market value by $7.5 billion.

Here is a quick over view of how the app works. Once downloaded on their IOS or Android phone, people are able to walk around and “look” through their phone to try and find Pokémon. They are able to level up, train their Pokémon, and people often travel in groups because they are able to find more Pokémon when they are together. People travel to Pokestops to find Pokemon to capture and meet in groups at “Gyms” to battle their Pokemon.

There are Pokémon pretty much everywhere and you can attract even more to your location using what is called a “Lure”. The lure is location based, draws in Pokémon from the surrounding areas and has them group where the lure is. The lure also shows up on other people’s maps letting them know where the Pokémon are going to be! These lures have can draw massive groups of people from the surrounding area.

So why should builders care? Well, if you’re an adventurous marketer, you’re probably already thinking through the opportunities, what a creative way to get people out and walking through your communities, checking out your sales centers and amenities.

This weekend will be the first weekend since Pokémon Go has been available in the U.S. so you can be sure that people will be out and about looking for Pokémon, especially families. With families looking for Pokémon your homes are the perfect place for them to look. Setting up a lure at your homes will attract Pokémon and in turn attract people to your location. Once they are there give them a tour of the houses, the neighborhood, or maybe even set up a “safari” for people to come and hunt for Pokémon.

Each lure last for 30 minutes. You are able to buy a pack of 8 lures which will last 4 hours. Two packs of those and you can attract people to your location all day long. The currency within Pokémon Go are Pokecoin. A pack of 8 lures cost 680 Pokecoins and you can buy 2500 Pokecoins for $30.99. So for about 31$ you can attract potential buyers to your property all day long. Here is a breakdown of the costs for Pokecoins and Items within the game to get a sense of what options work best for you!

This app has gotten people up and moving like no other app has come close to. Jawbone fitness trackers found that users playing Pokémon Go got 62.5% more steps than average. With all of these people moving around and exploring their surrounding areas; now if your chance to make sure they come and find your properties! They started their journey looking for Pokémon, but they could find their new home as well.

And the Pokemon craze should get you thinking about other ways to use Augmented Reality within the new home market. Uses such as: viewing different faucets and fixtures within a model; walking around an empty lot but “seeing” how the neighborhood is going to look when finished; displaying real time data on a tour such as air quality, temperature and so on from room to room. The opportunities are endless and as technology continues to progress the home building industry will continue to change.

Pokémon Go is huge right now so it is the perfect time for your communities to join in! With all of these people out walking around looking for Pokémon it is the perfect opportunity to attract people to your homes. Be sure to contact BDX at info@thebdx.com for all of your Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality needs.

Part 1 in our Series: 6 Technology Trends Builders Can’t Ignore in 2016

A convergence of digital and online technologies is beginning to profoundly transform our industry. Six technology trends in particular will revolutionize homebuilding, from marketing and sales to design and construction. What we do with these technologies will enhance buyers’ perceptions of our brand and engagement with our people, as well as their lifestyles, comfort, and security when they move into our homes and communities. The next generation of homebuyers expects us to embrace the promises of these six technologies as they do, and will reward our innovation with loyalty and brand advocacy. The first post in the series focuses on the Digital Customer Experience.

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Creating a comprehensive digital customer experience requires measuring and improving the experience at every customer touch point: marketing, sales, construction, field, and warranty. It’s about being everywhere your customer expects you to be – on every device, through every sales channel – in order to improve engagement, satisfaction, and loyalty.

Research proves that delivering a superior customer experience in the digital age is critical to your success:

  • By 2017, 89% of executives expect the customer experience to be the prime basis for competition. [Tweet This] Gartner, 2014
  • “Digitally mature” companies have significantly better business performance. MIT & Capgemini Consulting
  • Just 5% of companies say they do digital well enough to make it a competitive advantage. Forrester, 2015
  • Companies can use digital customer care to boost satisfaction by 33%. McKinsey, 2015

The digital customer experience is the accumulation of seamless interactions across the customer’s journey that adds up to a best-in-class reputation for those that deliver it. Reaching payoff requires substantial investments in marketing strategies, technologies, mobile apps, and services.

CEOs may be reluctant to embrace digital, especially when customer service scores are currently satisfactory or better. Potential incremental gains are lower, with a lower possible return on investment. This scenario is highly prevalent in our industry, and leaves good builders vulnerable to those delivering poorer service, but with the capital to turn things around. In any case, providing projections on near-term returns may be difficult, but the macro-economic case is compelling.

Why invest heavily in a digital customer experience?

According to Forrester Research’s 2007-2014 Customer Experience Index studies, the top ten customer experience leaders generated a total return over this seven-year period of 77.7%. [Tweet This] The S&P 500 Index generated a 51.5% total return during that period. On the other hand, the bottom ten customer experience laggards generated a paltry -2.5% return. To underline this finding, in one of America’s strongest bull market runs, companies offering the worst customer service experienced negative returns.

Digital experience benefits work their way to the bottom line, beginning with improved retention, repeat business, and referrals. Customers are less price sensitive in the models they choose and are more trusting in your ability to make added options smart long-term investments. Customers are happier, marketing costs are lowered as word-of-mouth generates more leads, and your expenses associated with detractors and PR crises are reduced. All of this can result in dramatic revenue growth and higher margins.

Begin with a consistent customer service ethos.

The first step in this process is to review your customers’ experiences along their journey from home shopping to warranty repairs. Train all of your front-line personnel to be willing to see issues from the customer’s perspective and make sure they are committed to delivering on expectations. They must value honesty, integrity, and fairness, and they must behave consistently, so that the customer recognizes your organization’s customer service ethos in each interaction.

Deliver a seamless communication experience.

Once a commitment to customer service values is in place, you can begin formulating your messaging for every step in the sales cycle. Marketing messaging, as well as how you listen and respond to customers, your corporate objectives, graphic design, and application functions must be standardized across communication channels. If you’re where most builders are in this process today, you will be evolving from multi-channel leveraging of several channels and devices, to Omni-channel integration of a personalized, consistent experience across all channels and devices. Start slowly and methodically, standardizing your current channels and devices before integrating new ones.

Best-of-breed businesses use data segmentation and marketing automation to perfect the experience, [Tweet This] delivering tailored messaging automatically to each distinct buyer persona. Work your way up to this summit by planning how to capture prospect data in a consistent manner across channels and devices.

Your journey toward creating a satisfying digital experience for your customers will be one of the most rewarding experiences you have in your career. We can help you make it a success. If you would like to learn more about how to get started, email BDX today or call us 1-866-651-8866.

Virtual Reality is transforming the world we live in, especially within the homebuilder industry. In order to stay ahead of the curve we all need to stay informed about the products that are out there and the application to our businesses. With various options out there from Google Cardboard to the Oculus Rift there are many avenues for your business to utilize virtual reality. If you are interested in the possibilities of virtual reality for home builders, check out the infographic below brought to you from BDX!

Virtual Reality for Home Builders

Virtual Reality for Home Builders Infographic

Search Engine Marketing

SEO can have a big impact on your marketing strategy and how consumers find you online. But many builders are stumped by this three letter acronym and aren’t sure where to start or how to improve their rankings. In this webinar we will break down the basics of SEO, show you how to properly manage your SEO program, and outline what you can do as a builder to improve your rankings in search results.

 

FREE WEBINAR: SEO — How To Win At Search Engine Marketing

Date: Wednesday, February 24, 2016

Time: 11:00-11:30 Central Standard Time (CST)

Presented by: Dan Vance & Ashley Steel from BDX

Click here to register.