Builders: Let's Explore Selling and Senses

What Motivates Purchase Decisions?

Have you had a chance to read Martin Lindstrom's Buyology - Truth and Lies About Why We Buy?

It's an eye-opening book describing what influences purchase decisions in today's message-cluttered world.

Our "Other" Senses Are Critical

Lindstrom conducted a 3-year neuromarketing study and one element he discusses is how our "other" senses -- smell, touch and sound -- capture our interest and influence purchasing decisions.

Bring the Power of Touch to your Sales Office!

Two key takeaways for us, today:

• Smell is closely tied to how we experience both brands and products. On one hand, there are the complex options such as sensory branding (the little things like perfume ads in magazines or flyers featuring shampoo and including scent microencapsules) which are becoming more and more common. Yet, just as important is maintaining the "clean and fresh" scent consumers want to associate with a new home purchase when they enter your sales office and tour your models. There are a variety of ways to accomplish this: you might try several (bowls of lemons/limes, scented (but not lit) candles, cookies in the oven). Lindstrom mentions even the subtlest of aromas can have a potent effect on shoppers.
• Touch is another key sense. Retail guru Paco Underhill wrote in his bestselling book Why We Buy about the critical importance of touching clothing before we purchase. Yet, are you familiar with how a touch screen experience differs from one using a mouse? Your brain actually processes interest differently when touching a selection as compared to clicking a mouse or hovering over the exact same selection.

CPS' Bob Musa's Book Discusses the Power of Touch in New Home Marketing

Bob Musa, CPS' President, authored an innovative book, Creating Customers with Interactive Digital Signage - we'd love to discuss how the power of touch can be harnessed in your sales offices! 

Take a look at our interactive touchscreen SalesTouch Case Studies highlighting how single and multifamily builders leverage both the power of touch and interactive technology to more effectively engage home shoppers in their sales/leasing offices. Reach out to schedule a conversation!

Adding an Emotional Connection to Your Sales Office

There's a lot of details to take into consideration during the homebuying process: beds & baths, square footage, mortgage rates and a down payment. It's frequently your buyer's largest financial decision. Yet, there's an element of emotion to consider and kindle in every person's home shopping (and buying!) experience.

Imagine the conversations in front of this SalesTouch kiosk!

Jeff Shore notes in his book, Buying the Experience, that home buyers desperately long to be emotionally engaged with the home of their dreams.

Your mission: to maximize that engagement!

Your Sales Office is Often the Start of  the Journey

Emotions are part of our nature -- and it's worth considering, analyzing and evaluating how to add an emotional component into your marketing propositon as sales/leasing offices are frequently the first place visitors encounter the full range of your brand and product.

Storytelling Initiates Emotional Connections

Storytelling is one of the best content strategies for creating an emotional connection. Stories are tactile and create a visual picture. 

No doubt you've heard stories and imagined yourself within that context.  That's what makes a good story: it pulls listeners in and actually makes them a co-creator of the message. Stories make content more interesting and more memorable. 

Stories can also open up the discovery process to address the "why" your home shopper is in your sales office!

Incorporate Social Proof

We've mentioned, in previous Solutions Blogs, collaborative consumption when discussing today's consumers.  Home shoppers like company -- just like always: friends, relatives, work buddies. But, today, in many cases, they're "cloud" friends! These advisors are available through social media -- giving feedback, offering reviews, providing info as to sales and trends.

Your story needs to be part of this social cloud.  One of the easiest ways to provide social proof, if you aren't displaying social media on-site, is to incorporate testimonials. 

Get Interactive

Scroll back to the top -- emotion is tactile.  Take a look at Cornerstone Communities' interactive touchscreen kiosk: can you imagine the conversations when home shoppers walk into the sales office and see it? Wow! What a gorgeous view! I used to run but...I could get back into it with that path! 

Interactive touch presentations encourage emotional connections.  Did you know using touch generates entirely different (and more positive) brain activity than using a mouse? Take a look at Bob Musa's book, Creating Customers with Interactive Touch Screen Digital Signage, for more on the power of touch!

IBS Gives You the Opportunity to Touch!

CPS will be at IBS2019 the week of February 18th; we're in Booth SU631. Not going to be able to make it but interested in the power of touch as a sales tool? We can schedule an online demo here!

Adding An Emotional Context to Sales and Leasing Offices

CPS SalesTouch: Adding Emotion to the Sales Center!

No matter how the numbers and facts line-up, a good portion of the home shopping experience is based on emotion.

Humans are Influenced by Emotion

It's in our nature. It's worth considering how to add emotion to your marketing messaging as sales/leasing offices are often the first place visitors encounter the full range of your brand and product.

Include Storytelling Features

Storytelling is one of the best content strategies for creating an emotional connection. Stories are tactile and create a visual picture.

No doubt you've heard stories and imagined yourself within that context. That's what makes a good story as it pulls listeners in and actually makes them a co-creator of the message. Stories make content more interesting and more memorable. 

Make Sure You've Maximized Color

While there are many psychological studies as to color messaging and impact, it's enough to say that color has an impact and should be a major factor to consider as part of your emotional context.

Incorporate Social Proof

We've mentioned collaborative consumption when discussing today's empowered consumers.  Today's home shoppers bring friends -- just as they always have.  But, in many cases, they're "cloud" friends! These advisers are available through social media -- providing feedback, offering reviews, providing info as to sales and trends. 

Your story needs to be part of this social cloud.  One of the easiest ways to provide social proof, if you aren't displaying social media onsite, is to incorporate testimonials. 

Get Interactive!

Scroll back to the top -- emotion is tactile! Take a look at Cornerstone Communities' interactive SalesTouch kiosk: can you imagine the conversations? What a gorgeous sunset! Do you like fishing? I'd love to walk that every evening! Are there restaurants on the pier?

Interactive touch presentations encourage emotional connections. Did you realize using touch generates entirely different (and more positive) brain activity than using a mouse? Take a look at Bob Musa's book, Creating Customers with Interactive Touch Screen Digital Signage, for more on the power of touch!

2016: What's New in CPS CRM?

Today's new home buying experience, for the home shopper, frequently isn't seen as too very different than any other retail experience. Of course, prices are a bit higher than in a car dealership or a furniture store but overall we see an interest in a seamless -- and efficient -- consumer shopping experience.

CPS CRM provides builders with a unique design and approach to manage the new home sales process through a single experience.  Bob Musa, CPS' President says, "Our job, as software developers, is to harness technology to help make a great buying experience for consumers along with a consistent, reliable and powerful back-end processing environment for the builder."

2016 CPS CRM: Seamless Integration is a keyword!

Several key concepts emerge:

• Supporting a seamless customer interaction: Home shoppers come into contact with the builder and specific communities through multiple channels -- builder website, mobile registration, 3rd party marketing sites, a developer information center and, last but certainly not least, the sales office itself.  No one wants to register multiple times, providing the same (or different!) information.  CPS CRM accepts registration from all sites, seamlessly, and recognizes when a prospect has previously registered, as well. 

• Cloud Enhancements: CPS CRM is, of course, a cloud-based system -- available anywhere/anytime.  We've added another cloud-based application, DocuSign, to our integration processes so agents can generate purchase agreements using CPS CRM and provide anywhere/anytime purchase agreement execution access for buyers -- as well as co-op agents, lenders, escrow agents and the builder -- via DocuSign. And, this is an end-to-end enhancement of the current contract wizard -- prospect registration, floorplan/homesite/option selections, loan program calculations are seamlessly integrated into the DocuSign forms.

• Enriched Back-end Processing: The new home sales, construction and document process is a series of key dates and steps.  CPS CRM facilitates sales processing with easy-to-maintain checklists along with automatic email reminders regarding pending or behind-schedule activities. 

We'll be in Las Vegas for the IBS Builders Show -- stop at Booth C2856 and we'll show you how to enhance your home builder sales process with CPS CRM!

Out of the Mouth of Babes or..Where is the Digital Signage??

Just returned from a quick trip to New York and visited the USS Intrepid Museum.  It was Spring Break and a gorgeous Spring day so...the lines were long and slow-moving for this very popular destination showcasing a World War II aircraft carrier complete with A-12 Blackbird, Concorde and Growler submarine.

I was behind Arthur -- an enthusiastic 13-year old from New Jersey with plenty of opinions on almost everything ... digital.  As our line zigged and zagged through the labryinth that tried to make the wait (to the ticket counter!) seem less than 1 hour, he turned to me and said, "You'd think they would have monitors above... telling us what was in the Museum, getting us excited about the special exhibits and advertising what's in the store."

Honest.. a 13-year old!

Bob Musa's book, Creating Customers with Touchscreen Digital Signage, talks about the value of digital signage in reducing perceived wait time, engaging customers and managing inventory.  And, a 13-year old not only gets it; he wonders why "adults" don't.

Take a look at the Intrepid website here: http://www.intrepidmuseum.org/