Builders: Tips for Migrating Buyers/Owners to Your Self-Service Options

Self-service is a Preference for Many

We've been blogging recently about the paradigm shift in the self-service concept.  Frankly, it wasn't that long ago that self-service wasn't popular -- for either businesses or customers.

However,  attitudes, preferences and expectations change quickly. One reason is changing demographics; another is technology.

Self-service is one of those quickly evolving expectations.  Today, self-service is not only a solution but a preference for many -- regardless of age. Take a look at the 55+ community in the photo!

It's About Customer Experience and More!

Good self-service platforms can both improve the customer experience and save businesses money.

And, effective organizations are pushing forward with new customer paradigms as they recognize the need to engage customers amidst the current digital clutter is a way to enhance their brand.  

Get Proactive About Offering Self-Service 

It goes without saying that it doesn't much sense to just drop a self-service function into an organization.  The result would probably be similar to that of Coke Classic back in the day!

There are a few ideas that will make self-service work more effectively for your customer and your organization:

1. Make Self-Service Visible (and Visual, when possible): Sales offices have been challenged to enhance the home shopper experience.  Jonathan Wilhelm suggested, in a recent Builder article, that interactive kiosks provide an enhanced buying experience. Not everyone considers them to be self-service; yet, they're a tool to engage your home shoppers and provide all sorts of sales/marketing capabilities. CPS SalesTouch starts with interactive floorplans and goes from there with drag and drop furniture, local area maps, etc. Design is critical to engagement -- as well as functionality.
2. Offer Features that Will Maximize Use -- and Solve Problems: Self-service platforms are like any other product -- the more they satisfy a customer's needs, the more they'll be utilized.  Take a look at CPS WarrantyWatcher, as an example.  Not only do homeowners have 24/7 access via a builder-branded Portal to submit requests, they're able to see request status and history. No more calling, voicemail messages, emailing!
3. Get Employees On Board: Increasing employee buy-in involves showing how your new self-service platforms provide more streamlined processes -- for everyone.  Sure, a phone call might resolve a specific issue for one homeowner but.. help your team focus on how the new self-service platform adds customer value (such as allowing homeowners to submit photos illustrating their warranty issue) as well as business value (employees are better able to focus on "high touch" situations).

Use CPS' Self-Service Tool for More Info!

We try to practice what we write: reach out through our Portal to schedule a discussion or demo here!

What Does Friction Have to Do with A Builder Sales Office?

Why Are We Talking About Friction?

Actually, we're going to discuss the lack of friction -- meaning ease and less hassle during a transaction.

How Many Frictionless Features Do You See?

The term "frictionless" as it relates to customer experience has gone through several evolutions according to a recent retailcustomerexperience.com article by Sheryl McKenzie.

Today, the definition has moved beyond less hassle (everyone expects that now!) to greater personalization and wow! experiences. It also means anticipating -- not just meeting -- customer needs.

Customers Expect Great Experiences & Leave When Friction Appears

Consumer expectations regarding friction impact their level of engagement and their brand experience.

A recent Rules of NextGen Loyalty suggests consumers expect a great experience -- and will won't stick around a brand that doesn't deliver.

McKenzie suggests, "Consumers who encounter friction will run the other way fast, and second chances don't come easily."

What's Next?

McKenzie suggests brands need to create experiences that stay one step ahead of the consumer.

From a builder standpoint, Jonathan Wilhelm says in a recently BuilderOnline article, "builders have the opportunity to distinguish themselves in (today's) challenging period." 

One way, Wilhelm suggests is to stand out with a state-of-the-art sales center that can enhance the buying experience and make a lasting impression.

Isn't that the definition of frictionless!?

Let's Get Interactive!

Wilhelm goes on to say builders should create an experience that engages and informs home shoppers. He explains the necessity of detailed, visual and concise information, the value of interactive presentations, comfortable workstations, etc.

Take a look at the CPS SalesTouch interactive kiosk at a Minto sales center above. Home shoppers are able to review the community, select floorplans, drag 'n drop furniture, mix and match structural options -- basically, start dreaming about their new home and putting the pieces together to make it happen!

That's a competitive edge that helps you, the builder, make a frictionless homebuying experience! 

More? Look for CPS at IBS2019

CPS will be at IBS2019; contact us for an onsite demo.  If you're unable to attend, we can provide a one-on-one online demo, starting now!

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!

How to: Make Your Digital Signage More Effective

Are you a digital signage fan -- or evaluating digital signage as a part of a newly energized marketing program?

Designing to Maximize Engagement!

Interested in reviewing a few tactics to improve your digital signage program? We're not even 50% of the way through 2018 so... there's time to evaluate and plan for success!

Make Sure You've Identified Your Audience

It makes sense that even digital signage can't be everything to everyone.

There's no benefit to repeating a message or including dynamic video in the hopes that your audience will accept it. Be sure to design and build for your target audience -- their wants and needs relative to your product.

Here's an example: a new home sales office (or, a multifamily leasing office). Home shoppers are looking not only for a new home because their family is growing (or shrinking) -- they're interested in the details that will motivate the purchase such as features (does the Master Bath include a Jacuzzi?), options and upgrades (outdoor kitchen, den in lieu of bedroom) and whether their bedroom furniture fits into the new master suite.

Then, you want to be sure to address the other factors impacting their purchase decision. What's going on in the neighborhood? How about schools? Are there parks and playgrounds near for the children?  Answers to the ancillary items build their level of interest. 

Have You Determined Your Objective?

Everyone wants their audience to engage with digital signage.  But, there's another objective out there for your project; do you know what it is?

Let's take a look at the home builder idea mentioned above -- that's CPS' target audience for the interactive touchscreen system, SalesTouch. We like to say builders have several objectives with their sales office touchscreen system: engage, inform and kick-off the dream.

Basically, SalesTouch guides the home shopper's journey towards a home purchase. The touchscreen engages prospects from the minute they walk into the sales office -- it's colorful, typically provides an interesting initial view and large enough to attract attention. Then, the home shopper is presented with choices: explore the neighborhood, find out more about the particular community and examine specific floor plans and their options/upgrades.

The last objective is to encourage the dream of home ownership: select a floor plan, mix/match structural options and upgrades, drag and drop furniture -- take that standard plan and make it your own, in other words! 

Make Sure You Are Designing for Engagement

Digital signage varies from small monitors to large touchscreens -- with video walls in there, too!

What platform are you utilizing and how do you maximize its potential? As an example: we've found home shoppers really like large touchscreens mounted into a slightly angled table. They're able to step in and get close -- some people lean in, occasionally, there are special purse and drink stands. It's all about making your audience feel comfortable and exploiting the physical hardware as appropriate.

Regardless of the physical platform, focus on grabbing audience attention -- right away.  Remember: visuals are key as they spark the imagination. And, we're back to kicking-off the dream!

Does Your Marketing Program Include Clienteling?

Clienteling is the blending of digital and physical worlds in order to maximize the customer experience.

Brick-and-mortar retailers have had a fair amount of experience putting together physical point of sale contacts along with ecommerce and back-end CRM touch points. Homebuilders are just starting to put together end-to-end sales channels.

Think about your CRM system: does it include information derived from a prospect's web visit (registration, for example, including which floor plan is of interest or what makes up their purchase motivators)?

Utilizing that "back-end" information is part of what is called a prospect's omnichannel experience -- no one, in other words, wants to have to verbally repeat what has already been input in a digital encounter.

iPads and Kiosks: alternative tools for "self-starter" prospects

When you have a be-back prospect, can you retrieve previous discussions?

Do you offer different types of on-site shopping experiences?

Some home buyers like talking with sales agents, walking through models, taking a site tour, reading a brochure.

Others, suggests Matt Rhodus in a recent Innovative Retail Technologies article are "self-starters" who may not want or need a salesperson's assistance initially but do want an enriched shopping experience.  Having an interactive kiosk or iPad presentation provides that alternative information-gathering experience -- which is much more rewarding for them than passive signage or static information.

Some buyers want immediate feedback from their on-site visit.  That's where the text follow-up with a video really pays off. Others want to take home your brochure to browse later.

Rhodus suggests understanding your individual customer and responding to their unique needs is key to creating a best in-class buying experience.  Having multiple tools, digital and physical, in place and available to your sales force is what facilitates your clienteling!  CPS has been providing sales and marketing solutions for 30 years; let us help you enhance your clienteling experience!