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Eight Ways to Drive Internet Leads and Sales

The 11th in a series of tech talks for builders.

Try these eight simple ways to make your Web site a more effective sales tool.

• Put a person and a process in place to follow up on all leads in a timely manner.
  
  Let's start at the end of your sales funnel. You have a smart marketing strategy. You have lots of Web site visitor traffic. You receive a great number of leads. Yet, if no sales come out of the other end, what's the point? Put someone in charge of follow-up.
  
  
• Leverage builder portals (Web sites like www.newhomes.com, for example, or www.homebuilder.com that aim to attract as many visitors as possible in a niche market) to drive leads.
  
  The number and quality of distribution options continue to grow. You need a marketing presence where home shoppers look for homes. For example, you may prefer the Dallas Morning News to the Fort Worth Star Telegram. However, if 40% of home shoppers are looking at your non-preferred weekend paper, you may still want to advertise there. It works the same way online.

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• Make your Web site faster and easier to navigate.
  
  An amazing thing happens when your Web site becomes faster and users find it easier to use: You immediately see a substantial increase in both visitors and leads. Try this test:
  
  Simplify and reduce the size (in kilobytes) of your homepage and then measure your visitors and leads over one week. Did your ratio of leads to visitors improve? Did you notice an unusual pick-up in visitor and repeat visitor traffic?
  
  
• Make it easy and compelling for Web site visitors to start a dialogue with you.
  
  Make sure your contact links are where visitors can find them and be careful to name them in a way that makes people want to click. For example, "Request Brochure" will probably get more clicks than "Have a salesman call me." In addition, put an 800 number on your Web site and offer to answer your visitors’ questions.
  
  Don't ask Web site visitors for too much information on online forms. While you might want to know their phone number and quite a few other things, requiring this information may discourage them from completing your form.
  
  
• Review your driving directions and update them as if your Web site visitor is relocating from out of town.
  
  This is one of the easiest ways to build traffic and probably the single most overlooked piece of content on home builder Web sites. Is it possible that your advertising dollars were effective enough to motivate a shopper, but your driving directions were so poor that the shopper found another builder's community to visit?
  
  
• Create a good auto-response for every community you build.
  
  Every time you get a lead, that’s a chance to start a dialogue. Most builders use auto-responders that spit out automatic text replies to online queries, and in most cases the copy is lame. This is your opportunity to set an expectation and sell the community a second time. You can't stop there. You still have to follow-up.
  
  
• Call every contact who gives you a phone number.
  
  On most builder Web sites and builder portals, Web site visitors are not required to give their phone numbers. If they give you a phone number, it is an invitation to call. Accept it and call.
  
  
• Highlight your "coming soon" communities and create interest groups for e-mail campaigns.
  
  Turn your "coming soon" communities into backlog builders. It is a place where you have the potential to create excitement. Let your Web site visitors join your VIP list or preferred buyer program.

Blair Kuhnen is the owner of Lux Solutions, a Fort Worth, TX-based consulting firm serving the home building industry by providing Internet related sales and marketing solutions.He can be reached at 817-923-4026 or via e-mail.

Earlier Articles in This Series

• To read, “Know Your Technology Needs Before You Invest,” Part 1 of this series, published April 14, click here.
• To read, “Strategic Planning Software Can Help Focus Your Business Model,” Part 2 of this series, published April 21, click here. 
• To read, “Does Your Planning Software Match Your Project's Sophistication?” Part 3 of this series, published May 5, click here.
• To read, “Don't Put the CAD Before Your Product,” Part 4 of this series, published May 26, click here.
• To read, “Manage Prospects and Buyers More Efficiently With Technology,” Part 5 of this series, published June 9, click here.
• To read, "Automate Your Selection and Change Order Processes,” Part 6 of this series, published on June 23, click here.
• To read, “Scheduling Software Can Improve Your Cycle Time,” Part 7 of this series, published on July 7, click here.
• To read, "An Effective Purchase Order System Enhances Efficiency," Part 8 of this series, published on July 21, click here.
• To read, "Don’t Fix New Software If It Isn’t Broken," Part 9 of this series, published on November 24, click here.
• To read, "Beware Software Consultants Who Are Salespeople in Disguise," Part 10 of this series, published on December 8, click here.

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Be Part of the Technology Solution

Do you:

• Have questions about the Web?
• Want to learn how to make the best use of technology in your home building or remodeling business?
• Have technology tips to share with your peers?

Join the Information Technology Work Group —  a sub group of the Standing Committee on Business Management and Information Technology — to brainstorm articles, booklets, Web content and other tech-related business management resources for NAHB’s members from 3:30-5:00 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 17, in the Las Vegas Convention Center.

E-mail Marcia Childs or Jill Tunick for information.

Want more information about using technology in your business?

NAHB’s Business Management Department offers a variety of online resources to help you run your business better and more profitably. Click Business Management Tools for articles about human resources, financial management, sales, production, technology, customer service and other business-related topics. In addition, visit the NAHB Software Users Network Discussion Forum (SUN) to ask technology consultants and other builders what they think of various software packages and applications.

BuilderBooks.com also offers a variety of publications about computer technology. To view or purchase these publications online, click here.

Subscribe to NAHB’s Business of Building e/Source

NAHB’s Business of Building e/Source is your monthly electronic guide to the hot issues and emerging trends in home building business management. You’ll find practical advice, tricks of the trade and sound business guidance — all delivered monthly, straight to your desktop, in a quick and easy-to-read format. Business of Building e/Source is available free to NAHB members and their employees. To subscribe, click here on the members only side of www.nahb.org.
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