Using CRM to Build Homebuilder Customer Loyalty

At first glance, it might seem a bit strange to read about brand loyalty in the home building industry.

On-site Social Media Walls encourage social interaction

You might ask: don't folks buy one home at a time?  And, don't most hope to live in their current home for years? Once they decide to move, does it even make sense to suggest buying a new home from the same builder?

While there might be some truth in each of the statements above, there's also a considerable amount of weight behind having homeowners blog, Tweet and post about their new home purchase, refer a friend and, yes, actually have their current builder be "top of mind" when considering a new home in the future.

Acquiring new customers is good, but it's just the beginning.  Businesses only win big, Jai Rawal posits in his recent 6 Ways to Builder Customer Loyalty at Every Touch Point article, when customers can be nurtured into loyal customers. Rawal goes on to suggest that providing a satisfying emotional experience helps create loyalty.

After all, it's estimated to cost 6-7 times more to acquire new customers than to nurture a current one into an ongoing relationship!

Schedule events, use CPS CRM to invite & remind

How to engage home buyers at every touch point?  While there are ideas that might not resonate too well with home builders such as adding a points-based loyalty program (think your local market, airlines and hotels), it is possible to kick-up your CRM system a notch and start taking advantage of his other suggestions -- and consider adding complimentary touch points to maximize your impact:

• Engage your prospects and buyers via social channels.  We've talked about CPS' Social Media Wall -- an easy-to-implement tool capturing and displaying social media content in sales and information centers.
• Encourage current buyers to become brand ambassadors through referrals. Nielson reports that family and friends are the most persuasive influence on buying decisions.  Use social media and a referral program so your customers can easily and confidently promote your communities.  Send letters and/or emails reminding homeowners about your referral program -- frequently.  Most people won't remember it exists after 1 month.
• Use email marketing to keep in touch with homeowners.  Here's where CRM shines as you can create pre-set pieces, schedule their delivery and dial-in recipients (only those buyers in the last 6 months, everyone with a pool, all Plan 2 homeowners, etc.).  Send a referral program reminder, invite homeowners to a summer BBQ at the sales center, offer a coupon to the new pizza place...all focused on engaging and reconnecting with your homeowners.
• Delight Your Homeowners on Special Occasions.  It doesn't have to be overly exciting -- a simple thank you on the anniversary of their closing or birthday wishes.  A recent Fulcrum study found that 75% of customers receiving a birthday message from a company thought more highly of the company.  Again, CRM excels at this type of automated -- yet personalized --messaging.

Intrigued by the concept of brand loyalty?  Interested in exploring how your organization can put some of these ideas into action? Contact us for a demo -- or visit our website.

Steps to Building Brand Loyalty

Remember clienteling? That's the blending of digital and physical worlds in order to maximize your customer's buying journey. Check out an earlier Blog for more details here.

Whole Foods blends digital and physical with a Customer Comment Board 

Without an exceptional customer experience, Chad Hendren suggests, it is very difficult to create brand loyalty.

Think about even the simplest exceptional experiences you've encountered: the Costco sample tasting stations, Nordstrom's "anytime" return policy, Enterprise-Rent-A-Car's willingness to pick you up at home. There's no doubt you'll compare your next purchase experience at a similar business to what you've already experienced and consider as an example of great customer service.

A well-known rule of thumb is it costs 5 times as much to attract a new customer than to keep an existing one. Why not focus marketing time and effort on building loyalty by creating amazing experiences with your current customers?

Do you shop at Whole Foods Market?  Have you ever asked a Team Member for help locating something? They'll walk you across the store to locate the requested item!

Think about that customer journey -- and the amazing customer service you just experienced -- and you recognize they're extending that one-on-one experience with an omnichannel customer service platform.

Whole Foods has placed interactive touchscreen-based Customer Comment Boards in their stores so shoppers can submit comments, make requests, watch video, check the latest store specials, view Twitter feeds -- and thank Team Members!  It's a seamless, end-to-end customer experience.  Store Management can extend the proactive customer service by reaching out with an email regarding the shopper comment or Thank You.

Retail Customer Experience suggests that going omnichannel -- bringing multiple channels together, makes it possible to exceed customer expectations with experiences focused on customer needs.  CPS offers interactive Comment Boards --  contact us to determine if proactive customer service can help increase your brand loyalty!

Fostering Brand Loyalty During Peak Season

Every industry, every business has a peak season: we're just about to enter retail's peak shopping time.  And, most of us can probably offer a few events from prior years that didn't exactly foster brand loyalty: long lines, no product, not enough assistance, grumpy employees ... the list might go on.

A recent Global Technology Systems article offers an interesting "twist" on how you might think about your upcoming peak season.  And, it doesn't need to be holiday shopping, either. Home builders see a spike in sales office visits and purchases in the Spring.  Home improvement stores see their peak after the beginning of the year as we all make resolutions! Everyone has a busy season, in other words.

Checkout needs to be efficient and perceived as fair

Back to opportunity: peak season brings in many people who are new to your brand.  What a perfect time to create a positive customer experience that can help foster brand loyalty and convert today's shopper into tomorrow's repeat customer.

How?  Take a look at several opportunities to enhance your customer's experience: 

• Create the optimum atmosphere -- Shoppers have more options than ever before -- set your brand apart by providing a positive on-location experience.  Make sure your consumer-facing employees have a consistent and upbeat greeting message, equip your locations with technology to enhance operations, make sure your employees know how to maximize technology use. 

• Don't make your customers wait -- Previous blogs noted that a sale is made up of a series of events -- the initial messaging, the store experience and the checkout.  It isn't complete until payment, in other words.  You can have a great shopping experience; if checkout is poor, your customer perceives the entire transaction as poor.  And, they're not shy about posting that sort of perception online.  Put technology, such as CPS' automated line management system, QuikLine, to work to not only expedite the process but to create an atmosphere of fairness, efficiency and customer-focused service.