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Monday, April 28, 2008
It's Just Business as Usual
Apr 28 2008 11:16AM | Permalink | Email this | Comments (2) |
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I came across an article in a major newspaper in one of our major cities ... which I’ll leave nameless to protect the innocent. In any case, it doesn’t matter anyway, because what you’ll read about is the same everywhere. Matter of fact, I believe it addresses the “state of selling” in today’s homebuilding industry. Here it is:
Buyer’s Lost as Builders Botch “Hello”By Al Lewis
Jen Gordy wants to buy a new home.
She’s gone from one construction site to the next, popping into sales offices and touring model homes. Mostly she’s been ignored.
Sometimes she can’t even find the sales office, and when she does, there is often not a sales person to be found. And when an actual salesperson is in the sales office, he or she is on the phone.
On several occasion, Gordy said she was greeted with the line, “I’m just a temp. I don’t know anything. But have a look around, and someone will get back to you.”
And they never do, Gordy said. “One girl even told me she wanted to follow up with me, and she never even took down my information.” One of the few homebuilders that did follow up sent Gordy a blank postcard. It had her address on it, and the company’s address on it. Just blank, white space where the message was supposed to be.
One of the biggest problems with the US economy is an unsold inventory of more than 4 million homes. One reason that this inventory will probably be with us for a long time is because too many home builders don’t know how to sell a house.
They’ve had it too good for too long. The long lines of begging homebuyers with earnest money checks are gone. And now, with the housing and mortgage markets in the tank, they seem to have forgotten how to say, “Hi” to a hot prospect
Gordy was looking diligently to buy a home. But she was also working as a mystery shopper, gathering data for two market research firms-Qgenisys Inc. and Red Tree Marketing Resultants. These two companies sent mystery shoppers to 50 new home communities, which are being built by 31 national and local homebuilders.
The mystery shoppers posed as customers needing to by homes within three to twelve months – except for Gordy, who was truly looking.
The conclusion: “Builders are spending millions to ignore their prospects.”
Home builders spend countless hours dreaming up promotions. They offer deep discounts. The come up with giveaways. They take out radio, television, Intranet and newspaper ads. They even hire people with ipods to stand along the side of the road, listening to tunes, dancing, waving and swinging these really stupid signs.
And when someone actually walks through the door? Well, here are the Qgenisys and Red Tree research results:
• Not greeted whatsoever, 16% of the time
• Agent did not ask for permission to follow up, 44% of the time
• Agent did not follow up, 64% of the time
• Agent did not follow up with relevant information, 84% of the time
“A crowded model-home center was not the problem,” the study reports. “In three fourths of the cases, the prospect was the only visitor.”
Peter Kowalchuk, president of Qgenisys, said it’s a shame many home builders are resorting to markdowns, “Why buy a home now when home builders are signaling that their prices are coming down? "If they're going to offer me $30,000 now, they're going to offer me $40,000 later," Kowalchuk said.
Desperation is sometimes born of ignorance. "The changes that home builders need to make won't cost them much money," Kowalchuk said. "Just say 'Hi' to people."
Any home builder reading this column is probably thinking that I have, so far, failed to point out that this shocking research comes from two marketing-research consulting firms, which are just trying to get hired.
It's a valid point, and I applaud your skepticism. But before I go, I should leave you with one other thought: It's still got to be better than hiring a bunch of temps.
What a great article. We’re still doing what we’ve always done ... expecting different results. It’s time that we get in touch with the sales process that’s effective with today’s customer. And it’s got to be much more than “back to the basics”.
Reader Comments
at 4/28/2008 3:30:27 PM, Frank Haunschild said:
This situation would seem to have a simple solution--get salespeople back to the basics, and do it quick. I think the problem is much more complex than that. Our buyers have changed. Their access to the internet, they have the ability to research our communities before they ever set foot in our offices. If they have bought a new home previously many anticipate the same old approach, and most decide to avoid it. Obviously a new strategy is in order, as well as a new breed of salesperson. I believe we need to hire people who have likeable personalities and genuinely like people and like to help them--givers as opposed to takers! They need to listen more than they talk, think on their feet, and need to be able to ccarry on a conversation based upon the feedback they receive, rather than recite a canned message. Our industry has historically hired experienced new home salespersons, who can hit the ground running. Unfortunately that can lead to more of the "same old same old". Hiring a new breed will cause a major paradignm shift in many sales organizations. They will have to hire ahead of need, and will have to train them to use their natural talents in our business, no longer expecting them to hit the ground running. Interesting times ahead!
at 9/11/2008 2:00:18 PM, The MLS Store said:
There is a major problem with the conventional real estate process. The answer -- The MLS Store! check it out @ www.MLS-Store.com
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