Are you looking for the most efficient way to ramp up your home builder customer service? Let's be honest, the biggest issue most home builders have is with their customer service. There are a lot of components when it comes to building a house, and many clients don't see all the background work your team puts in.
The key?
Easy user experience and frequent communication. Getting there takes time and a foundation of best practices that your whole team is ready to "buy in" with.
Reading time: 5 minutes
Level: Intermediate
Key Takeaways:
- the importance of an online sales concierge with chatbot technology to help your customers in real-time and deliver a better user experience
- why your home building company needs to invest in great customer relationship management
- the power of online reviews and what you can do to create better experiences
Shorter warranty claim processes, faster answers for customers, and higher online ratings are possible with these three home builder customer service must-haves.
Set Up An Online Sales Concierge (OSC)
In order to dominate your local market with great customer service, you need to be available to respond in a convenient way that today's home buyers appreciate. They don't like calling people or to be called, especially when looking for answers to their questions. Your bottom line depends on adapting to this trend.
When you create a chatbot in the form of an Online Sales Concierge (OSC), your site visitors can send a message and get answers to common questions quickly. From there, you can then have a real person jump into the conversation, and you'll start to see the results right away. More leads will enter your database, and more importantly, you will be able to filter out where they are at in the home buying process so your sales team can take over and close when they're ready.
The numbers don't lie. These millennial home buyers respond best to less intrusive and convenient ways to access information and have been "... the most active generation of buyers for five consecutive years". If they can message you and find what they're looking for in a few minutes, you've just established yourself as a helpful resource and will stay top of mind when they're ready to buy.
Remember to use your content to your advantage within your Online Sales Concierge. Create guides and blog posts around common pain points and questions your ideal home buyer might ask. That way when they do, you can ask for an email and send them only the information they need. Adding a new lead to your Customer Relationship System (CRM) really is that easy. And if you don't have one of these yet, you're about to see why having an automated way for nurturing both your current and potential customers is something your home builder company just can't afford to go without.
Invest in a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) System
Wouldn't it be nice if you had an all-in-one sales and marketing automation tool that could handle all of your contacts and give you an easy way for your marketing and sales teams to come together and increase your bottom line? All while giving your leads a great experience, personalized to where they are at in the sales cycle?
With easy-to-use software like HubSpot, this wish can be a reality. The impressive CRM component is just the beginning of the capabilities you'll find inside! HubSpot brings all of the important aspects of sales and marketing together with the goal of moving your leads along the buyer's journey the right away.
That means more home sales for you and the best part? You can track EVERYTHING. In a contact record, you'll see what pages someone visited, what pieces of content, if any, they download, who they've been assigned to for a follow-up, the list goes on and on.
You can check page performance, conversion rates, insights on your email marketing efforts, and create customized dashboards for your marketing and sales teams so you can oversee your objectives and work towards them in real time.
That's what you see behind the scenes, but the real reason for all of this is for the better customer service experience and brand you are building.
What a customer sees is monthly newsletters filled with great content about home buying, info about new home models and the communities you build them in, details on promotions, and more.
They see personalized emails that speak to what they need and what stage of the home buying journey they're in. Some examples of this are new content offers, friendly follow-up emails after a showhome tour, and information on the latest quick possession homes. Once they build with you, these emails could be timely responses to warranty claims and customer review requests (more on that below).
They also see a great home builder website with relevant calls-to-action and blog content that has them staying on your site longer and taking a look at their options.
All of these elements contribute to a better experience. This is something you can control and an area where you should do everything you can to deliver exceptional customer service in every interaction that someone has with your company. We mean from curious site visitor all the way to happy homeowner.
Make Customer Reviews Worthwhile
There is no better time to ask your customer for an honest and insightful review than after they take possession of their new home and can't wait to move in. You can queue up an email in a workflow that encourages your clients to submit an online review in exchange for a gift card to a popular place they'll enjoy.
An excited new homeowner is going to give a review based on their current experience so this is the perfect time to add to your positive ratings. A much better idea than waiting a few months when there's a chance an issue could pop up and they put their frustration into a review that doesn't tell the whole story.
Another important step in the review process that shows you want to deliver great home builder customer service is taking the time to respond to every single one you get. Yes, even the bad ones. Let your customers know you appreciate their feedback and are willing to come to a resolution. This proactive approach goes a long way to repairing customer relationships and even reversing negative reviews into something much more positive.
With these home builder customer service foundations in place, you will be on the right track to delivering the best experience possible in every interaction because you are in-tune with the behaviours of your ideal buyers and have the information they need, when they need it.
Ready to get your customer service back on track with some specialized marketing help? Contact us today if you want a customized plan to deliver the results that matter most to you.
Originally published April 16, 2019
Photo credits: depositphotos.com
