Builders: Get Proactive, Increase Referrals with Mobile Customer Experience Moments!

Let's take an earlier Solutions Blog: How to Improve Your "Refer a Friend" Rate (read it here) with Eliant's Bob Mirman thoughts regarding the referral impact associated with keeping customers informed - and add Full Story's Scott Voight's thoughts, "You can win on customer experience" and "Excellent customer service can largely be distilled in two words, speed and convenience."  

Have you adopted  "proactive customer service" -- that is, not waiting for an event to offer specific, customer-focused attention.

Get Mobile and Create Proactive Customer Service moments!

A recent Innovative Retail Technologies article sparked a new thought: the value of mobile relative to proactive. 

There's a "First Dibs Opportunity" study suggesting 46% of mobile usage sessions start with no real aim! Author Christine Kern also mentions 70% of respondents use their mobile devices to "kill time." 

The study concludes "if smart phones were smart, they'd do a better job of giving us something useful!"

Software can help builders turn mobile time into proactive customer service moments! Your homebuyers can grab a minute or two, while waiting in line at the store, to check out stage of construction photos. And, can't you see your buyer getting excited to see a just-installed countertop and turning to the next shopper and saying, "Check this out! My new home's kitchen was just finished!"

That's a refer a friend moment! Or, how about the impact of a homeowner browsing their warranty service requests while getting a hair cut and seeing a completed request with a photo?  Wouldn't that be a "Wow! My builder is on top of things!" moment?

CPS' FieldCollaborate and WarrantyWatcher Portals can help you easily create these proactive customer service events -- and do it quickly and conveniently. Customer experience will improve and your referral rate will jump!

CPS will be exhibiting at #IBSOrlando next week -- drop by for a demo at Booth W5583.  Or, contact us at info@cpsusa.com and we'll schedule a demo for you!

Builders: Mobile, Proactive Customer Service & Referrals

Today, we're building on thoughts developed in a Solutions Blog How to Improve Your "Refer a Friend" Rate (read it here) and by Eliant's Bob Mirman regarding the referral impact associated with keeping customers informed.

Both articles focus on the value of what we call "proactive customer service" -- that is, not waiting for an event to offer specific, customer-focused attention.  

Mobile Enables Proactive Customer Service moments!

A recent Innovative Retail Technologies article sparked a new thought: the value of mobile relative to proactive. 

Have you heard of the "First Dibs Opportunity" study suggesting 46% of mobile usage sessions start with no real aim? Author Christine Kern also mentions 70% of respondents use their mobile devices to "kill time." 

The study concludes "if smart phones were smart, they'd do a better job of giving us something useful!"

On the other hand, software can help builders turn mobile time into proactive customer service moments! Your homebuyers can grab a minute or two, while waiting in line at the store, to check out stage of construction photos. And, can't you see your buyer getting excited to see a completed roof and turning to the next shopper and saying, "Check this out! My new home's roof was just finished!"

That's a refer a friend moment! Or, how about the impact of a homeowner browsing their service requests while getting a hair cut and seeing a completed service request complete with photo?  Wouldn't that be a "Wow! My builder is letting me know the bathroom repair is complete!" moment?

CPS' FieldCollaborate and WarrantyWatcher Portals can help you easily create these proactive customer service events --  and help your referral rate jump! We're happy to show you how!

More on Spring '16 Home Sales: Is a Reality Check Needed

Super interesting BuilderOnLine article recently by John McManus, Spring 2016 Pain Points -- with some good commentary afterwards, as well.

SalesTouch: delivering your value proposition message

McManus asks, As a builder, what's your biggest worry in Spring 2016?  And, he offers 4 possible answers: Lots, Labor, Lending, Demand. He suggests most builders would answer: demand.

But, he asks: is that really the case? There's been demand since early 2014; although, he argues, in only certain market segments. If those segments were your segments: all good!

Some builders focused their efforts (throughout the organization) on lower margin product and they've been able to find and satisfy demand at the entry level. It isn't, McManus suggests, going to be that straightforward for others to successfully satisfy the lower margin market.

Where is your organization in terms of meeting demand this year? There can be internal constraints (organization, product, execution, profitability) as well as externals such as interest rates, consumer credit scores and area-specific economic issues (such as those currently impacting oil/gas-centric areas).

SalesTouch Mobile: Enhancing every consumer touch point

And, McManus suggests, not only do you need product that meets your buyer audience but your buyer expects you'll deliver on a promise to help him/her improve their own value as a resident.  

Where are you? Is the Spring 2016 the market of 2014 or 2015?  Or, are your revamping how to interact internally and externally with the home buyer? How are you telling your story -- and is it delivering on your unique value proposition?

Take a look at SalesTouch -- we think CPS can help you effectively deliver information -- product, location, design, function and features -- in a focused manner designed so your home shopper gains confidence in your ability to deliver the value proposition.

Grab Some Construction Scheduling Benefits...here!

Did you have a chance to attend the IBS Education Forum in Las Vegas called The Best Builders are The Best Schedulers?  CPS' Troy Warr partnered with Builder Consulting Group's Noelle Tarabulski to provide an overview of benefits offered using a comprehensive construction scheduling process -- and a roadmap to successful implementation.

Good scheduling improves day-to-day-operations and your bottom line!

What benefits, you might ask.  Many builders report limited success with new automated construction scheduling software, for example. Others mention getting conflicting answers to a single question due to a variety of reports and methods.

Troy and Noelle highlighted several key improvements available as a a result of good construction scheduling practices including:

• Fewer delays -- enhancing your relationship with both vendors and home buyers
• Fewer Cost Variances -- no question, fewer variances results in more consistent forecasting and better profitability
• Improved Quality -- using scheduling milestone checklists as well as inspection templates means spotting problems sooner and minimizing the long-term impact
• Reduced Cycle Times -- improved cycle times not only improve profitability per home but mean you're able to build more homes in the same amount of time
• Accountability, Accuracy and Consistency -- good scheduling practices enable the builder to have a single source of information providing consistent results across the enterprise (builder, vendor and home buyer).

Would improving any of these key indicators be useful to you?  Tara provides consulting services to help analyze, measure and prioritize an organization's construction process while CPS offers FieldCollaborate - a cloud-based, automated scheduling software application available on the job-site with mobile tablet/smart phone access and using desktop/laptop access at the corporate office.

We can talk with you to determine how an improved scheduling process will grow your bottom line as well as enhance day-to-day operations and increase home buyer satisfaction.

Making the Transition from Mobile-friendly to Mobile-first

Kim Garst, writing in The Huffington Post, notes that it is hard to argue that social media has changed the face of digital marketing -- or marketing overall, for that matter.  She suggests that companies are finally accepting the fact that they MUST have a digital strategy to succeed.

One component of this marketing shift is the importance of mobile.  Garst suggests that the importance of mobile has transitioned from a "mobile friendly" website to utilizing mobile in every aspect of marketing including blogs, emails and social media posts.

Mobile website is the first step!

What can that mean for a new home sales person?  You'll want to consider how to catch the attention of an audience that is "on the go" either literally or in their use of mobile devices.

Jeff Shore, an expert new home sales/marketing, suggests agents use short, cell phone videos as a follow-up to prospect visits. Why not pre-record a quick introductory video for each of your models? Then, couple a short text message highlighting key points from the prospect visit with your cell phone video.

Text message?  As a way to followup with prospects?  Mobile means text for many -- and studies suggest the more quickly you're able to reach out to a prospect, the better  chance you have for meaningful contact.

The immediate text message with video gives you the third critical mobile component: personalization. 

There -- you've made the transition to mobile-first -- and, satisfied today's home shopper's need for information, delivered quickly and efficiently!