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Builders Must Begin to Meet Potential Buyers on Their Turf
 About two months ago, Zillow.com, the Seattle-based online real estate service company that was founded in 2005, announced that it had formed a partnership with nearly 300 newspapers to provide online real estate listings to advertisers purchasing space in print. Just about that same time, newspaper publisher Gannett reported a drop of 41% in real estate advertising since the year before.
A coincidence? Probably.
A sign of things to come? Most definitely.
More and more people are seeking news, information and guidance from sources that respond to the way they live their lives, They are looking to the Internet — specifically to community Web sites, e-mail marketing and social networking sites like MySpace and LinkedIn — to find what they need and want.
New-Home Sales Begin on Your Web Site
Potential home buyers today are following that same trend. Many now surf builders’ Web sites to find their perfect home from their homes and offices before visiting a builder’s community or models. Throw in the cost of gasoline to the convenience of looking online, and potential buyers have even more reason to make their initial forays into the market online.
This growing online interest, for the most part, is a positive development. While the Internet has reduced traditional community foot traffic, the buyers who do visit sales centers are, for the most part, much more interested in a home or community than a typical cold, walk-in visitor.
Consequently, builders must devote more resources to their Web sites and to how they portray their homes and communities online. They need to pack their Web site with details and features that draw in potential buyers and keep them interested in the project.
The same message and focus builders put into designing the sales center for any new project should also be placed on designing a project’s Web site. A savvy marketing team can help create an experience that defines the project and answers most questions before the buyer sets foot in a sales center.
Buyers Expect Better Customer Service From Their Builder
As the market corrects, buyers are approaching their builders with greater expectations that their home will come with a high lever of customer interaction and service from their builder.
Instead of a one-time home purchase transaction, buyers now are expecting an extended relationship with their builder that doesn’t end when the contract is signed and the keys are handed over.
Builders can address this need and commitment with a reliable customer relationship management (CRM) solution that can be a part of any sales team’s toolkit and include robust support for mass e-mail marketing before and after the purchase is made.
Whether builders use their CRM system to send an e-mail to residents to notify them of an upcoming event or, a year after a purchase, to automatically remind a salesperson to call buyers and congratulate them on their home buying “anniversary,” these touchstones will help build a stronger buyer-builder relationship — which can lead to referrals and repeat customers.
Enthusiastic referrals and repeat customers have long been the Holy Grail of every builder. In the current downturn, such endorsements are more critical than ever.
Builders who renew their emphasis on customer service can help ensure that their buyers will recommend them to friends and family when they are in the market for a new home.
Print Advertising Is a Dying Medium
Placing ads in the local newspapers as a primary marketing tool is a thing of the past. According to the National Association of Realtors® 2006 “Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers,” 85% of home buyers use the Internet as a resource when searching for a home. Potential buyers are not only searching builder and community Web sites, they are also searching online home directory sites and Internet advertising, some of it in the real estate sections of local newspaper Web sites.
The survey also indicates a growing role for today’s most popular Web sites, the social networking sites such as Facebook.com, MySpace.com and LinkedIn.com that cater to a massive, albeit a primarily younger, audience.
As members of this audience become home buyers, they will use these same social networking sites to find information and guidance on their potential new home purchases. Information can come from a builder’s presence in these forums to simple word-of-mouth advertising between friends.
The fundamentals of real estate marketing have undergone a noticeable shift. The old, traditional methods of advertising can no longer be relied upon to deliver expected results. In the new marketing climate, builders must meet buyers where they are seeking information and utilize the latest techniques to create positive, enduring relationships.
Dave Clements is the CEO of Lasso Data Systems, a developer and marketer of innovative “on-demand" CRM software for the real estate industry. For more information, e-mail Clements, or visit the Lasso Data Systems Web site at www.lassodatasystems.com.
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