Thursday, May 24, 2007
Can technology really improve my business?
Whenever I meet people in the industry at conferences or tradeshows, one of the most common questions asked is can technology really improve my business? The answer obviously is yes, but what most people don't realize is that technology is not the golden secret or unbreakable rule of thumb. Instead technology serves as a key aid in effectively deploying your sales and marketing strategy. In today's post we'll talk about 3 common myths regarding technology and how you can avoid falling in the anti technology trap like many other builders before you.
Technology is simply too expensive.
Although it's true that multimillion dollar companies spend millions of dollars on technology, it doesn't mean that it is an absolute across the industry. Spending on technology is directly related to companies needs. Sometimes these needs can be addressed by technology for a cost far less than the equivalent traditional method costs today. A true measure of the value technology can bring you is not in the cost to implement, but in the value of savings the technology will bring to your company over the course of its lifetime. Technology creates efficiency, smoothes operational processes and reduces time spent on administrative tasks. The time and effort saved by technology can amount to significant cost savings. Always make sure you do the math before purchasing a technology based solution, you may find that the cost upfront is significantly less than the savings produced over the long run.
Technology Complicates Simple processes.
Over the course of time, builders have become set in their ways of how to operate their business. At the time these processes were efficient and kept the business running smoothly. However, as the building industry grows and more and more homes are built traditional administrative and sales and marketing methods have begun to fall by the wayside. These simple processes while efficient on a small scale have become vastly complicated and time consuming as more and more sales occur. Technology enables us to perform these simple processes on a large scale level, eliminating the headaches and time constraints encountered using traditional business practices.
Implement and let Technology do the work for you.
Technology can be a great tool to aid your business in its performance. However, by no means will technology be the savior of your company. At the end of the day if your company has a poor sales and marketing strategy or your employees refuse to buy into technology then the venture will fail. Technology should be incorporated within your strategy to ensure the company's overall success, here are a few rules that you should follow.
Before implementing any new technology based system, solicit feedback from your employees; ensure their comfort by eliminating any concerns that they might have.
Your new solution should cater to your existing sales and marketing strategy, not vice versa.
Any system you purchase should be adaptable and grow with you and your company as market conditions change. By having an adaptable system changes in strategy can be made on the fly while maintaining uninterrupted service to both your employees and clients.
Frank Guido
President and CEO
Construction Software & Real Estate CRM
Thursday, April 12, 2007
Consumer Centric Interior Design
In today’s housing market, consumers are more educated and aware of their choices than ever before. No longer can a builder offer a small range of model options in hopes of fulfilling a purchaser’s appetite for home customization. However, with more options available for selection there comes a greater challenge in terms of effectively integrating the consumer into the overall selection process. The selection process doesn’t need to be complicated, time consuming or costly to be effective, by switching to a consumer centric options selection program you will find that you not only enhance the customer’s experience but at the same time drastically improve the efficiency of your sales center and team.
The majority of sales centers today feature the same typical concept and design, walls upon walls of options stacked as high and as far as the eye can see. Through this tangled mess, consumers are expected to actively seek out their desired material and then are forced to envision how the product will tie in to their newly purchased home. On top of this the whole experience is usually limited to a few brief hours. In all, the current options selection process is flawed to say the least.
So how can the overall options selection process be improved? For starters, ensure that the sales center is organized in a logical and flowing manner. Ensure that cabinetry for the kitchen is located in close proximity to the counter tops. This allows your design center visitors the ability to easily compare and contrast different materials quickly.
Consumers usually are better able to relate to a product when it appears in an environment that they are familiar with. For instance, a shower, toilet and basin sink would all be more appealing if they were laid out in a traditional bathroom arrangement. The key is to mimic or mirror real life situations wherever possible, this ensures that the consumer is at ease and is free to make a confident decision.
As mentioned earlier, one of the major problems faced by new home purchasers is the lack of time they are presented with when making their option selections. There are only a finite amount of hours in any given day. Given that, design center teams must find creative ways to lighten their work load while still giving consumers ample amount of time to make their choices. For many the solution is to hire on additional staff to meet the increased demand. For others larger, more complex design centers are built. But the solution is actually a lot less complicated than you think. For creative way to solve this problem we have to look no further than our own computer.
For the past several years home furnishing stores and big box retailers have offered their consumers the ability to browse their catalogue online before ever visiting a physical store. Via the companies website visitors are offered a wide range of services including but not limited to product comparison, customization and most importantly comparative pricing. More recently builders have begun to step into this online world offering virtual options selections to their consumers.
Minto, a large home builder from Ottawa is one of the first builders in the industry to make the jump to online options selection. By making their options catalogue available online, Minto’s consumers have the ability to select and review their options online before ever entering a physical design center. The benefits to this are two fold, one it drastically reduces the amount of time spent in the design center by purchasers and two it gives consumers ample amounts of time to make their selections. The end result is that consumers feel empowered and since they made the selections themselves are more inclined to spend the extra money on options purchases.
What makes this process so successful is the integration between the physical and the virtual. Ensure that your online content helps to facilitate the actual sale. Give your consumers access to the information they need and let them make their own informed decisions. When it comes time for them to visit the design center, spend the time finalizing details and closing the sale. A healthy integration between the two must always exist because in the end purchasers still need to touch, feel and test the products they will ultimately end up buying.
All of the strategies discussed above are fairly simple to implement and carry a long way in terms of creating a consumer centric options selection program. In the end purchasers must be given an adequate amount of time in order to make an informed decision. The end goal is to ultimately put the power in the consumer’s hands making it their own personal purchasing decision. If you take the time to centralize the process around the consumer you will be handsomely rewarded with increased options sales and your design center staff will thank you for it.
Frank Guido
President and CEO
Virtual Home Design
Creating an Effective Online Options Strategy
Overview:Over the past several years, many large builders have made the jump to online options systems. The benefit being that their massive upgrade inventory can be managed easily and conveniently from one central location. However, in creating this organizational system these same builders have created a by product which may prove to be even more powerful than the system’s original intent. By moving the options system online, builders have not only ensured convenient and steady access to the system by employees, but also to consumers as well. This strategy guide will outline for you how to take your online options system and mold it into a powerful virtual design center tool.
The Importance of Upgrade Options:If ever there was a time to focus on upgrade options sales, now is that time. With the slowing marketplace and diminished amount of potential buyers in it, increasing the bottom line of each home sold has become vital to a builders success. One only has to look to the marketplace to see the rise in upgrade interest. Thousands of options are offered ranging from cabinets to marble tiles, home entertainment systems and home automation. The fact is, consumers are willing to pay more for upgrades than ever before, it’s time to take advantage of this trend and increase your company’s overall bottom line.
Implementing Your Online System:As noted previously, the majority of online options programs are nothing more than elaborate order tracking and management systems. In order for you to truly be successful in the online options world, you need to break the trend and set yourself apart from your online competitors.
One of the biggest complaints from consumers during the purchase process is not having enough time to pick their upgrades. This detracts from the overall purchase experience and leads to a tarnished reputation for your company. An online options system is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week ensuring that your consumers have plenty of time to thoroughly pick and finalize their upgrades.
Offering upgrade options online to your purchasers is great, but it really doesn’t reach its full effectiveness if it isn’t visual. At the very least you should offer your users thumbnail pictures of each product offered so that your consumers can get a visual perception of how the product will look.
Ensure that each product contains features and benefits that help aid the consumer in his or her decision. The more information that you provide, the more informed of a decision the purchaser can make.
Lay out your products in an organized and cohesive manner. Ensure that your optional upgrades are grouped in logical hierarchies that allow for easy accessibility. This minimizes the risk of confusing the consumer and ensures a greater overall customer experience.
Eliminate pricing objections through the use of mortgage based pricing. Most consumers when presented with an overtly large number will immediately tend to shy away from the product. An easy way to alleviate consumer’s uncertainties is to provide them with upgrades priced in relation to their monthly mortgage.
Integrating Your Online Options System:In order for your online options system to be successful, it needs to be firmly integrated within your sales and marketing strategy. No matter how great your online system is, it is no substitute for physical product samples or expert design center advice. Your online options system should compliment your existing physical sales center allowing customers to make initial selections. This ensures that the small amount of time that a consumer is allotted in the design center is used for more significant options questions.
Make sure that the online system is firmly tied within to your website and that it is easy to navigate to and from. Incorporate the options system in your sales and marketing literature. Tout it as a benefit and an additional reason why a home buyer should purchase from you.
Get your sales team to buy into the online options system. If you can’t get your team on board and 100% behind the product, the system will fail. You need each and every one of your associates to embrace the product and put it to work, only then will you reap the rewards of a successful online options system.
Frank Guido
President and CEO
Virtual Home Design
Creating an Effective Sales & Lead Tracking System
Overview:Sales/Lead tracking has always been an important segment of the overall sales and marketing process. However, with the recent diminish in growth of the real estate market, effectively utilizing advertising and marketing expenditure has become all the more important. Now not only is sales/lead tracking important in establishing good customer relationships, but it also aids in selecting the appropriate marketing channels. When it comes to lead and sales tracking, the more information you can gather means the more information you have to make crucial strategic decisions. This strategy guide will outline how to create an effective sale and lead tracking system allowing you to monitor all aspects of the consumer, purchase process and utilized sales and marketing channels.
The Importance of Sales and Lead Tracking:If ever there was a time to focus on sales and lead tracking, now is that time. Diminished sales have lead to a cutback in marketing budgets forcing companies to spend their marketing dollars carefully in highly targeted locations. As well, sales tracking has also become much more emphasized. With the numbers of potential home buyers in the market decreasing, active leads have also become more valuable. To ensure that a lead is successfully converted to a purchaser, the entire purchase process must be treated with care and a high level of attention and detail must be paid to the contact.
Implementing Your Sales and Lead Tracking System:Before you can even begin to track your leads you must first establish a method in which they can be measured. Unfortunately, documenting the number of ad impressions under conventional circumstances is often a frustrating and rigorous ordeal. The internet on the other hand is an invaluable tool for gathering and tracking information on contacts across a wide variety of channels. Imagine being able to gather information on a wide variety of tracks at the click of a button. With a proper lead tracking system it’s possible. The key to making the system work is to include track able URL’s on each of your marketing materials that you send out into the marketplace. Each URL contains a special identifier tag that distinguishes the channel where each contact came from. When a URL is entered by a contact the information can then be automatically captured allowing your sales and marketing team to conduct detailed reports and analysis.
Integrating Your Sales and Lead Tracking System:
In order for your online sales and lead tracking system to be successful, it needs to be firmly integrated within your overall sales and marketing strategy. Your sales and lead tracking system should serve to compliment your existing strategy, allowing you to utilize the information gathered to create refined campaigns.
Once a URL has been entered and a contact has navigated to your site, provide them with quality informative content. If the content offered is strong enough to persuade a visitor to seek out further information, you can also use the site as an online registration tool. Through the online registration tool you can query your consumers on a variety of different topics, allowing you to obtain personal preference information which can be applied to personalized product offerings.
Get your sales team to buy into the sales and lead tracking system. If you can’t get your team on board and 100% behind the product, the system will fail. You need each and every one of your associates to embrace the product and put it to work, only then will you reap the rewards of a successful sale and lead tracking system.
Frank Guido
President and CEO
Real Estate CRM
Tuesday, December 19, 2006
Aareas is the Official Renderings Provider of the International Builder Show
The International Builder Show is only a month and a half away. This years show is going to be the biggest yet for
Aareas and myself, we just keep finding ways to top ourselves. This year
Aareas is the official renderings provider of both
IBS showcase homes. The renderings look spectacular and I can't wait to see how the actual homes turn out.
This year marks the first year that two homes have been built, The New American and Renewed American homes both feature the latest in industry technology and are entirely energy efficient.
If you would like to learn more about the homes visit the official Builder Show website at
www.buildershow.com or visit
Aareas' website to view the
architectural renderings of both homes.
Hope to see you at the show
Frank Guido
President and CEO
Architectural RenderingsLabels: IBS Showcase Homes
Monday, December 18, 2006
Acquiring Information on Potential Leads
Detailed lead information can mean the difference between selling and not selling a home. Detailed information about your contacts can help you to create better marketing campaigns, personalized literature and sales visits and even enhancements to future models and communities. In fact, detailed personal information is so valuable that companies regularly spend a considerable amount of money purchasing it.
In recent years, consumers have become a lot more aware about lead buying and as such have become a lot more hesitant in giving out their personal information. With this becoming more and more regular, the
responsibility of information gathering now belongs in the hands of each individual builder.
There are about a half dozen ways in which to acquire quality lead information, the first of which we already discussed. A second common form of information gathering are surveys. Surveys allow you to gather
relevant information for your development including
in depth qualitative answers. This data can go a long way in improving not only the
individuals purchase experience but the purchasing experience as a whole. The surveys can be distributed in the sales center, in shopping malls or any other public place containing your target demographic.
As beneficial as surveys are, they do have their drawbacks. Surveys take a great deal of time, effort and dedication from your workforce to design and to implement. What this means is that although you are obtaining a wealth of information, the potential costs associated in obtaining it may not be
worthwhile. If only there was a way to obtain the same information that surveys provide without all of the costs attached to it.
Fortunately, we live in a technologically advanced world where information is available at our fingertips. The
Internet is a perfect channel to capture potential purchaser's information. Whenever a visitor browses to your site in search of information, allow them to register for information that they can not access on the website. This provides a perfect opportunity to capture specific purchase information and preferences. Ensure that the data captured is measurable and has a purpose within your overall sales and marketing strategy.
Join us later this week as we cover how to gain detailed statistics on individual leads and prospects. See you then.
Frank Guido
President and CEO
Real Estate CRMLabels: lead information
Wednesday, December 13, 2006
Effective Lead Management
Over the last several years Ive attended numerous
trade shows and have spoken with countless builders at the seminars Ive taken part in. One of the biggest concerns raised is how do I effectively manage my leads?
That's a good question and the answer is one that is fairly easy to comprehend and easy to implement.
In
to days high volume high interest industry, it is common place for builders to have several thousand leads available to them at any given time. The problem with this is that due to the massive size of the contact list, individual leads become more and more difficult to maintain. The key to effectively managing your leads is through categorization and lead strategies for each category that is defined.
Categorization of contacts allows you to easily determine serious buyers from those that are just casually interested. Serious buyers are where your sales team should be spending the bulk of their time. Begin by asking your contacts a set of specific questions geared towards their new home purchase. Questions such as, what is the
time frame for your new purchase? what price range are you looking at? and others. Define the importance of each question that you add and assign a value from 1-10 for each, 1 being the least important and 10 being the most. Once the contact has answered all of the questions, take the score for each question answered, multiply it by the weight assigned to the question and then add up all of the questions to obtain a total score. The higher a person scores on the test the more likely they are to purchase.
Once you have defined your contacts, you can then proceed to group them into defined categories. Categories might be defined as , A prospect, B lead, C Purchaser and combinations of all three. Whatever you decide to name the groups is up to you, as long as they are descriptive and clearly define the group and their status in the home buying cycle.
In order to utilize the grouping to its fullest ensure that strategies are put into place to address each groups buying needs. For example, top prospects may require a followup call as well as a consultation visit while low prospects may only
receive an email or letter in the mail. No matter what your strategy entails it should always contain the necessary components to address each purchasers needs with the end goal of creating a purchase.
Starting this week be on the look out for Housing Starts a weekly informative newsletter covering the latest in new technology based sales and marketing products in the real estate market.
Join me next week when I cover tips and techniques for acquiring information on potential leads.
Frank Guido
President and CEO
Virtual Design CenterLabels: How to effectively manage leads and prospects
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