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Merchandising Choices to Carry You Through to Recovery
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A vignette without all the furniture, such as this one for a dining room by Kettler Forlines Homes, is a cost-effective option that can create a lasting impact on home buyers. Photo by Kettler Forlines Homes |
 Design professionals are adapting their creative skills and services to meet today’s conscientious budget requirements.
So, while you may ask yourself whether you can afford to merchandise models, perhaps the more important question is whether you can afford not to.
Creating that comfortable feeling of being at home in a neighborhood for your buyer is essential to your selling success — and is more important now than ever.
You do have options to help get you through the downturn. There is no one-size-fits-all approach to model merchandising.
Depending on your needs, your overall sales and marketing goals and your budget, you can decide the direction that makes most sense to you.
Some options include:
- Fully merchandise new models. This approach includes all the furnishings in the home. The presentation is what captures the imagination, heightens desire and complements all the home has to offer.
This option has the most impact on prospective buyers, but it also requires the biggest marketing and merchandising budget.
- Partially merchandise new models. This option allows you to focus on specific rooms that are either important impact spaces, or perhaps hard for people to visualize living in.
With this option, you merchandise only a few specific rooms within your model. It enables you to achieve the highest impact when prospects enter your model while also enabling you to keep the budget down.
- Decrease the number of models you plan to display. This does not need a lengthy explanation, but consider the number of homes you need to sell and how quickly you intend to sell them.
If you have to trim your budget and can no longer display multiple floor plans, that’s okay. But what you can show should be merchandised to its fullest potential. The buyer will leave with a greater impression of the builder and community after visiting one great model versus seeing two or three mediocre ones.
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If it's within the budget, a fully merchandised model, such as this one by Ginsburg Development Companies, presents the greatest impact on a potential home buyer. Photo by Steve Hinds, Inc. |
- Renew or update your current models. If you model presentation is one-and-a-half to two years old, it may be time to update your merchandising.
Have a professional critique your current models to see what opportunities exist for improvement. Are accessories missing? Are there stains on any of your furniture? Does your model look outdated?
An update will cost significantly less than merchandising a new model — but it can lengthen the effective life of the model. Since simple adjustments can make the model home look rejuvenated, this option also gives you a reason to market the model with a new model grand opening event.
- Reuse furnishings — move what you own to a new model. While some of the furnishings may have faded or suffered some wear and tear and need to be replaced, you can create a new look for your model, as well as achieve cost savings, by moving those pieces in good condition to different models and creating a new look for your models.
Be prepared to budget for freshening up the look — such as getting new pillows for the sofas, new window treatments or new art that are better-suited to fit the space in the model. The costs involved are primarily for the elements needed to refresh the furnishing, moving and set-up.
- Consider a model vignette. A vignette is where you can accent the more visually prominent and important selling features.
A vignette will add color and texture while creating a background of potential to the environment. This approach can generate excitement even without furniture if done professionally.
- Go virtual reality with your models. Another option is to create a virtual reality model that combines interior merchandising with computer animation techniques.
Once the virtual reality model is complete, it can be displayed on a television in a sales office and on your Web site. The virtual reality model will enable prospective buyers to experience a model as if it were actually built and merchandised.
Any one of the above merchandising options will benefit your sales and marketing efforts, but you need to determine which one makes sense for you and matches your overall goals.
Discuss the options with your merchandiser to determine which one can work best within your budget and be your most cost-effective choice. Whichever option you choose, you’ll be able to reinforce your prospects’ reasons to buy by creating that comfortable feeling so essential to selling them a home — even in today’s market.
Lisa Lockwood is the national director of sales and marketing for Lita Dirks & Co., an award-winning national merchandising firm based in Greenwood, Colo. For more information, call Lockwood at 303-761-7225, or visit www.litadirks.com.
This article originally appeared on the NAHB Sales and Marketing Channel.
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Focusing on specific rooms, rather than merchandising the entire house, can help trim a marketing budget without losing impact on buyers. The great room in a Harvard Communities model. Photo by E.L. Imagery |
 Tax Credit Web Site Looks at Opportunity of a Lifetime
Builders and other industry professionals can help spur home sales by referring prospective first-time home buyers to www.federalhousingtaxcredit.com. The NAHB Web site provides detailed information on the $8,000 federal tax credit for first-time home buyers included in the economic stimulus legislation signed into law by President Obama.
Consumers can use the Web site to find information on the tax credit – including a detailed question and answer section. It also includes information about other housing-related and small business measures in the legislation and a number of home-buying resources for consumers.
Spanish Version Also Available Online
A Spanish version of this increasingly popular Web site is also available to provide detailed information on the tax credit to Spanish-speaking first-time home buyers.
Industry professionals are encouraged to highlight either tax credit Web site when marketing to their potential first-time home buyer market.
 Options Selling Can Boost Sales, Make Lasting Impression
In “Option Selling for Profit: The Builder’s Guide to Generating Design Center Revenue and Profit,” authors Gina Gullo and Angela Rinaldi share their hands-on understanding of high-powered selling in the ever-expanding market of options for new homes.
By offering a range of options and upgrades, the design phase provides the best opportunity to make a lasting impression and ensure that buyers will favorably remember the entire buying experience.
To view or purchase this publication online, click here, or call 800-223-2665.
 Subscribe to Sales + Marketing Ideas Magazine for Cutting-Edge Information
For additional cutting-edge sales and marketing information, subscribe to NAHB’s Sales + Marketing Ideas magazine (www.smimagazine.com).
Click here
to learn about membership benefits of the National Sales and Marketing Council and the Institute of Residential Marketing.
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