Loyal customers are the most powerful marketing tools in the
home-building business. Only loyal customers have the power and credibility to qualify you
as a builder of choice among their coworkers and friends. Loyal customers enthusiastically
tout their home and builder whenever conversation turns to home buying. You are the
builder of choice even before a referral walks into the sales office.
The same quality of referrals does not come from customers that are
merely satisfied. They are in the middle ground, with no strong feelings one way or the
other. Satisfied customers will do you no harm but they probably won’t do you much
good either. They are less likely to endorse their builder. When they do, they are not as
enthusiastic and likely to temper recommendation with advice for avoiding problems. Your
referrals must do better.
You start in the right position. Your customers make a decisive act
of faith when they purchase a home from you. Now your task is to maintain their level of
enthusiasm through the rest of their home-buying experience. Do this by delivering, the
unexpected, impressionable experiences that exceed expectations in a way that instills
confidence, respect, and loyalty in your company.
Every stage of the home-buying experience can be used to create WOWs
that are meaningful to the home buyer. WOWs observed at recent National Housing Quality
Award winners include:
- Educating buyers about the home construction process and inviting them to be involved in the building of their home.
- Floor plan layouts that demonstrate insight into making the home an inviting place to live.
- Thoughtful human factor designs that anticipate needs such as placement of light switches, electrical outlets, and hose bibs.
- Keeping buyers informed of construction schedules and progress without being asked first.
- Having the home ready for closing BEFORE the scheduled closing date.
- Pre-final punch-outs so complete that the customer finds zero defects at final inspection – but you find a few minor items.
- All final punch list items are completed before closing.
- A week after move-in, call to schedule visit to take care of any problems found.
- Two weeks after move-in the company President calls to see if there is anything that be done.
- Willingness to accept warranty responsibilities without being confrontational.
- Fast response to callbacks.
- Pro-active warranty inspections at six and 11 months that find things that the customer did not see.
- A home maintenance inspection/review two or more years after closing.
Get the most out of your WOWs by keeping them a pleasant surprise.
Sales presentations may want to fire all the guns to make the sale, but savvy builders
save the bang for when it gets the most bucks – when it changes a satisfied customer
into a loyal customer.