Add Something Apple to Your New Home Sales/Leasing Office!

Great article by Carmine Gallo in Forbes, recently, How the Apple Store Seduces You with the Tilt of Its Laptops.

CPS SalesTouch Brings Multisensory to Home Shopping!

Yes, you read that correctly!  Laptop tilt!

Actually, the tilt is designed to encourage customers to adjust the screen to their ideal viewing angle.

In other words, the tilt is encouraging touch! And, not just with the monitor angle but throughout the store.  Apple wants customers to see what is available and to experiment with hardware, apps and websites as a way to learn about their devices.

Gallo suggests interactivity -- what he calls multisensory experience is built into every component of an Apple Store.  Store employees don't demonstrate items; rather, they encourage shoppers to find solutions themselves.  Gallo suggests Apple discovered customers would be more interested in buying, more loyal to the brand by creating an ownership experience!

Our brains, Gallo writes, love multisensory experiences.  The more engaged a customer is, the more likely it is they will engage with your product on an emotional level.

CPS'  interactive touchscreen system, SalesTouch, is all about interactivity.  It is designed to engage home shoppers the minute they walk in the sales office with interesting, useful, emotional images and content.  Whether exploring the neighborhood or trying on structural options, they're finding solutions (where is the local elementary school? where is the optional den located?).

And, just like the Apple store, they're creating an ownership experience!

Isn't that what home shopping is about?  Take a look at some of the interactive presentations we've created for builders and developers in the Case Studies section of our website and ask us how we can help you add interactivity to your offices!

Kick-up the Customer Experience in Your New Homes Sales Offices!

Over the last quarter, this Blog has focused on several consistent new homes-related themes: the emergence of Millennials as homebuyers, the impact of 55+ buyers on new home design, features and marketing, and the role of customer service as a referral driver.

SalesTouch lets 55+ shoppers dream and make it their own!

Have you been considering these topics and wondering how can my organization take these themes to boost our customer experience in a meaningful way in 2018?

A recent RetailCustomerExperience article by FullStory's co-founder, Scott Voigt, suggests, "You can win (sales) on customer experience." and summarizes, "Excellent customer experience can largely be distilled in two words, speed and convenience."

Voigt goes on to say, "The easier and quicker customers can find what they're looking for and get their questions resolved, the higher the conversion and the more loyalty you'll likely engender. And, loyalty means return customers" (as well as referrals!).

SalesTouch meets the Millennial shopper with focused and relatable content!

Here at CPS, we often say that home shoppers are no different than shoppers in other locations: they want information, quickly, and they're comfortable shopping via touch.

Take a look at the images presented from SalesTouch interactive touchscreen presentations. The 55+ buyer is actively engaged, trying out floorplans, dragging and dropping furniture into her dream home! The Millennial home buyer is presented with focused content and relatable images describing offered energy savings -- an item Millennials frequently cite as important to their buying process.

Voigt finishes, "The customer experience you offer is the single biggest way to compete."

We'd be thrilled to discuss how you can make 2018 the Year of Customer Experience -- contact us via our Info link!

Harness the Power of Images in Your Sales and Leasing Centers

Do you receive those 1-minute Tuesday Tips from Brian Flook? Saw an interesting one recently: Did you know that the power of images is increasing?

SalesTouch: Powerful images provide a visual cue to explore

Flook asked that question and replied: Yes; images matter!  He goes on to note that real estate listings with 25+ images sell faster than those with only 10 photos.

Here at CPS we've long believed engaging home shoppers starts the moment they enter the sales office with SalesTouch, our interactive touchscreen system.  It doesn't just happen, of course! There needs to be a visual cue to invite the prospect to explore.

Visual cues not only invite attention, they encourage the visitor to engage and obtain more information! Whatever their reason for considering a purchase -- larger home, neighborhood, on-site amenities -- powerful imagery motivates movement.

Dynamic images engage home shoppers, encourage exploration

Take a look at Bella Collina:  elegant, Italian, scenic images along with copy about The Club, Golf Course and the Spirit of Tuscany.  You can imagine luxuriating in the Spa. What's the next step? Start touching to find out!

Compare Ramblewood Forest's imagery: luxury, large homes for family, a new neighborhood. Equally inviting, the same question arises, "how to find out more?" The next step isn't unknown: start touching to find out!

Flook suggests: storytelling via images clinches the deal -- long before any copy, no matter how well written!

Attending #IBSOrlando? CPS will be storytelling at Booth W5583 with SalesTouch, our interactive touchscreen system, and Social Media Wall!

When Thinking About Digital Walls: Go BIG!

"You never get a second chance to make a first impression."

That's a well-known Will Rogers saying and in a recent DigitalSignageToday article Debbie Wilson-Dewitt suggests it makes sense to apply it to digital walls, as well.  She says these walls are intended to create a strong impression.

Since the walls are typically placed in an entry area they're designed to make that first impression as lasting as possible and, for that, you need to go BIG or go home!

Social Media Wall at Wendell Falls

CPS offers Social Media Wall-- a unique, ever-changing combination of social media content and traditional marketing copy. Many of these walls have gone big and provide a terrific entrance focal point at new home information centers. 

Apart from size, what else needs to be considered when thinking about an effective wall?

• Size matters, initially; content keeps people looking. 
• Walls can greet as well as provide information.
• Use walls to communicate and reinforce branding. 
• Answer questions through wall content and images; it keeps people engaged, longer.
• Be sure the wall is designed for your audience.

Walls, says Wilson-Dewitt, are an incredible value-add and any kind of organization can benefit from them.

Heading to Orlando for IBS 2018? Visit CPS in Booth W5583 and let us help you imagine how this dynamic communications tool can leverage your social media content and create conversations!  

Builders: Grab Millennial Interest with Pet-Friendly Interactives!

Have you heard results from the recent SunTrust Mortgage survey: 33% of Millennials purchased their new home to have more room (i.e., better space or a yard) for a dog?

Mary Cook's noted in a recemt Builder Developer, that Millennials are finally ready to move out of their parents' home and find their own. They're particularly interested in community, walkable neighborhoods, flexible floor plans and green features.

SalesTouch Highlights Your Pet-Friendly Initiatives!

Did you know a recent Builder article suggested: it's a smart bet to include pet-friendly features -- and to actively market them, as well.  

Take a look at the CPS SalesTouch presentation highlighting Hounds Hollow at the Tehaleh masterplan community in Washington. It's a key feature associated with the Parks & Trails portion of their interactive neighborhood exploration.

How would you feel, as a pet-owner, if you were shopping for a home at this new home community? Welcome, encouraged, confident you'd find other pet owners!

Lots of people have highlighted what Millennials are considering when looking for a home -- and, of course, square footage, location and amenities are factors. One jumps out that you might not have considered: Millennials love their dogs! And, pets are a key component in the home shopping decision!

Engage these home shoppers as soon as they enter your sales office with an interactive touchscreen presentation! They want to explore how your homes meet their lifestyle expectations -- and what better way than offering interactive floorplans with drag n' drop furniture that offers design opportunities at their fingertips? And, you have a great opportunity to introduce your pet features, as well!

CPS will be at featuring SalesTouch at the upcoming #IBS2018 in Orlando -- we're in Booth W5583.  Stop by and we can talk about how you can enhance your home shopper experience!

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!