How to: Offer a Great Home Shopper Experience!

It's Competitive Out There!

Website visits are up, sales office traffic is increasing, 2018 sales are good.

SalesTouch: Differentiating Your Brand with Information

While these stats suggest a positive market, the marked increase in customer touch points and a growing need to standout in a crowded marketplace creates a highly competitive environment.

It's a Consumer-Driven Environment

There's an increasing emphasis on providing a consumer "experience" -- which Retail Customer Experience tells us is set to overtake price and product as a key brand differentiator by 2020.

But.. what adds up to make a great customer experience?

There's Information and then.. there's a Relationship

There's absolutely no doubt that home shoppers want to be able to (1) go and look at a product; (2) evaluate quality and (3) understand the product before buying.

Sales agents are an important part of the home shopper customer experience: they offer the direct, personal relationship surrounding the purchase. Importantly, a good agent, suggests Amy O'Connor, a sales trainer in Jeff Shore's organization, helps the home shopper achieve clarity and certainty regarding the purchase.  Your agent is going to want to determine the home shoppers needs and demonstrate how your product meets those needs.

Personalize the Experience

Today's home shopper -- Millennial or Boomer -- wants to examine alternatives, analyze the lifestyle and dream.  Listening is important -- as is providing tools to understanding the product. 

Take a look at CPS' interactive touchscreen system, SalesTouch: it offers a unique journey through the customer experience. 

What's your home shopper's particular need? Lower level master? Place for the baby grand? Close-by recreation? Home shoppers using SalesTouch take advantage of a unique process called narrowcasting: every home shopper can locate and examine the information that will help them make a decision.  In the order they want, at the time they want and in the desired detail. Throwing out a wide net, hoping it meets everyone's needs is no longer.

With so many consumers seeking the ability to gain clarity and information before they purchase, the race is on to offer personalized experiences.  SalesTouch provides that differentiating experience that makes your brand stand out!

Builders: Put Tech-based Self Service to Work for You!

Transitioning to Self-Service Takes Getting Used to But.. Benefits Emerge

Great article discussing the transition to a self-service model in Kiosk Marketplace. It's fairly common for organizations to be reluctant to change and adopting self-service is no different. Not everyone knows what's expected and there may be a few lumps in the road but..once the first step is taken, benefits start to emerge and self-service quickly becomes the new norm. 

WarrantyWatcher: Self-service at your fingertips!

Where are Self-Service Opportunities for Builders?

A recent Radial article notes self-service is one of the hottest trends in customer service.

Isn't homebuilding one industry known for the value of the one-on-one interaction? There's still a place for that type of interaction -- most particularly in the sales process. But.. there's a significant opportunity to transition to more of a self-service model in a builder's warranty/customer service organization.

And, that's because recent innovations in technology provide web-based, 24/7 access for homeowners, vendors and builders to data -- anywhere/anytime!

Consumers Want Interaction, Now!

An earlier Solutions Blog noted consumers love the idea of being able to quickly and easily meet their objectives from submitting a warranty request to checking status to being able to review their warranty history.

CPS' WarrantyWatcher software, with 24/7 web-based access for homeowners and vendors, offers an anywhere/anytime process to submit homeowner requests (including photos!), review open items, track status, close work orders and analyze trends.

And, it's efficient; no double entry, calling back and forth, voicemail or misplaced emails. Everything is in one, easily accessible, location.

Consumer Satisfaction Rates Self-Service Channels #1

Self-service channels consistently outperform other channels in terms of customer satisfaction. Thnk about it for a minute: does anyone snail mail or fax over a list of issues any longer? How recently have you called-in a service issue? Consumers love self-service because it reduces friction and provides answers immediately and consistently.

Self-service doesn't have to be (and, shouldn't be) some generic, one-size fits all process.

WarrantyWatcher's 24/7 Portal provides a personalized, omnichannel experience. In other words, the Portal fits into your business operations, seamlessly. Make it available from your website, skin it with your logo and colors, include photos of your team members. It's all about providing an appealing, easy-to-use solution that fits your homeowners needs!

How to: Make Your Digital Signage Resonate

Today's customers -- especially those shopping for big ticket items such as homes and autos -- expect an experience that's on-demand and engaging. What can your digital signage project do to meet customer expectations and maximize impact?

Make Your Digital Signage Relevant to the Sale

Do you know your customers? Are you speaking their language? Boomers and Millennials, for example, are  different and unique in both their shopping and buying habits.  What is exciting and a reason to purchase for one may not be for the other. Boomers frequently want to comparison shop and examine purchase alternatives in detail.  Millennials work at warp speed, expect answers quickly and typically examined the alternatives before showing up in your office. 

Such differences don't mean your digital signage should be focused on a single group but... be aware of your audience when designing and be consistent in your approach.

Does Your Digital Signage Jump Above the Noise?

Get Above the Noise

On one hand, we don't really mean noise but... on the other, we do. Every location has noise -- people's voices, phones, construction activity and the like. Try to design your sales area so physical noise doesn't interrupt.

What we're really talking about, however, is visual distraction. Is your signage viewable as soon as a shopper enters? Is it visually engaging? Will it stop a visitor in their tracks? Are similar visuals distracting from the shopper's ability to focus on the digital presentation? 

Take a look at the Minto Harbour Isle interactive touchscreen image: doesn't it grab your attention and make you want to jump in and find out more? 

Make Sure Self-Serve is Enabled

It's frequently said today's buyer is in a rush and easily distracted. That may seem to be the case but keep in mind that today's expectations are shaped by other transactions. They're used to, for example, self-service via phone and website. 

Interactive Encourages Consumers to Get Engaged 

Shoppers want to jump into content and find answers. That doesn't mean sales agents are irrelevant; it does mean that shoppers will search for relevant information and then turn to salespeople for confirmation and the sale. 

Interactive digital content provides the on-demand, engaging customer experience that resonates with today's consumer. Interactive actively encourages shoppers to engage and locate their unique decision factors, on-demand. How would my home look with the optional study, where is the closest high school, are there yoga studios close by? 

Interested in exploring how CPS can help you create digital signage that resonates with your home shoppers, offering interactive content designed specifically to your target audience? Contact us here!