Builders: Buyers are Expecting an Enhanced Sales Office Experience

Consumer Expectations Are Changing Rapidly

Our Blog has focused on SST recently --  that's self-service technology (read here and here).

Your Buyers are Looking for Information!

Self-service hasn't always had the best of reputations; however, attitudes, preferences, and expectations change quickly. One reason is changing demographics; another is technology.

In other words, today, self-service is not only a solution but a preference for many. 

Customer Satisfaction is Driving Kiosk Implementation

SST isn't happening in a vacuum, however.

Improving customer satisfaction and customers' perception of the business are top reasons for deploying digital signage. Enhancing the customer experience, improving the customer journey, is driving the transition from a static, pre-set experience to a dynamic, immersive sales office environment fueled by interactive kiosks. 

Meet Your Home Shoppers Need for Information and Lifestyle

CPS has been providing interactive touchscreen kiosks to homebuilders for the last 10 years. We understand what's involved in providing an exceptional, end-to-end experience (in this case, that includes the customer and technology).  

Encourage Your Buyers with an Intuitive Process

Here's what we've learned about improving the customer experience and interactive kiosks:

1. Interactive -- coupled with dynamic creative -- engages shoppers from the minute they walk in. 
2. Home shoppers want your product to meet their needs so give them the information to make that happen!
3. A recent Metrostudy Consumer Insights series affirmed Location & Home Design to be the most significant motivators so use interactive floorplans, drag 'n drop furniture and interactive local area maps with great-looking graphics to tell your story!
4. The kiosk process needs to be so intuitive that your home shopper wants to engage.  Don't make it too complicated or geared towards sales agent operation!
5. Interactive is age-agnostic! Boomers and Millennials want information -- the type may vary but they're both trying to visualize how to your community and homes meet their objectives!

Visit CPS at PCBC 2019

We'll be at PCBC 2019 in San Francisco starting May 29; visit us in Booth 141 or contact us for a one-on-one demo to see how we can work together to create an enhanced customer experience!

Memorial Day 2019: Remembering Service & Sacrifice

President Harry Truman's Memorial Day message to the nation is as appropriate today as it was in 1945:

Our debt to the heroic men and valiant women in the service of our country can never be repaid. They have earned our undying gratitude. America will never forget their sacrifices. 

Vietnam Memorial, Washington DC

Additionally, here at CPS we take every Memorial Day as an opportunity to recognize and thank service members associated with the CPS family:

Bob Musa's son is currently serving in the US Marine Corps; Mike is at his permanent duty station in North Carolina.

We honor the service of:

Bob Strickland, US Air Force
Bob's father: Robert Musa (US Marine Corps, retired and yes, that's 2 generations!)
Chris' father, Michael Lott (US Navy, retired)
Michelle's father, Robert DuBois (US Air Force)
Michelle's husband, Jerry Stone (US Navy)
Sean's father, Chris Miyazaki (US Air Force, retired)
Troy's brother, John (US Air Force)
Zoe's father, Charles Miller, and brother, Wilson Miller (both: US Army)

Did you realize 50% of today's high school youth aren't aware of World Warr II? Why not take the time to encourage friends and family to remember -- with a bbq, picnic, memorial park visit or concert, join a parade or run a race to support fundraising efforts?

Let us know who you are remembering this Memorial Day!

Customer Service: Expand Beyond Vanilla!!

Chip Bell Talks Out of the Box About Customer Service

Chip Bell, a well-known authority on customer loyalty and service innovation, has some interesting thoughts regarding customer service:

Outside the box customer service = retention, referrals!

Make Service Neopolitan, Not Vanilla!

Bell suggests: Walk on the wild side with your customers! In other words, provide a customer experience that is not only good but innovative -- which translates to meet customer expectations and then go for the unexpected!

Innovative Service Brings Rewards

What's interesting about customer service, from Bell's perspective, is a quality service experience will be met with customer loyalty and Tweets, referrals and all sorts of positive items for the organization.

Homebuilder Opportunities to Deliver More

How can you step out of that Vanilla box? 

1. Key customer service terms: quick, consistent and measurable! Do you know the average age of your homeowner warranty request? Can you drill down and find out how many times broken windows were installed in your community? Information (or, data) is key to being able to provide consistent, quality service.
2. Make your warranty process frictionless! Does your homeowner need to call between 8-5? Or, submit a written list of issues? How many times does your team trade voicemail messages? Do they know what's scheduled? Keeping homeowners informed is the single best way to obtain referrals!
3. Keep your vendors in the loop, 24/7 -- and make that process as easy as possible. Typically, vendors have their own processes and you can't really customize yours for each of theirs so make sure your vendors have everything they need anywhere/anytime, 24/7. Work orders, drawings, photos, contact info.

Software Will Help!

Homebuilder customer service is a day-in/day-out process. You'll want to have tools to expedite the heavy lifting so it's possible to move beyond vanilla!

Frictionless is 24/7 Homeowner Access!

CPS WarrantyWatcher provides cloud-based warranty management that's available 24/7 on all platforms (tablet, phone, desktop) so your team and vendors are able to respond quickly. And, your homeowners get a seamless process, too with 24/7 access to submit and monitor their requests!

Visit CPS at PCBC 2019

We'll be showcasing WarrantyWatcher at PCBC 2019 May 30-31; visit us at Booth 141! Or, reach out to us and we'll schedule a one-on-one demo.

Delivering an Exceptional Customer Experience

What's a Value-Unique Customer Experience?

Do you recall one of our Blogs regarding Value-Unique customer experiences? You can read it here.

Creating an environment to visualize the future!

Those experiences are when customers get more from their purchase and process than they expected and it's unique and innovative. When people encounter a value-unique experience, they're super enthused and want to talk and Tweet about it!

You not only have a happy customer but one that's actively engaged in marketing for you!

Designing for Exceptional Customer Experiences

How can you provide value-unique? Joe Schultz, VP Sales, Harbor Retail, recently provided some interesting thoughts regarding delivering exceptional customer experiences. Key, he says, is thinking about items that enhance selling probability.

It's more than product and not necessarily your sales team, in other words, although those could be critical drivers. What does success look like? Are you trying to educate, show off your latest design, provide product differentiation? Analyze your objectives: once they're clear, you're able to create an environment that makes success possible. 

Consider Customer Experience Strategies

Take a look at the photo above: aren't those home shoppers engaged in evaluating what the homebuilder is offering? In addition, don't they look comfortable?  Don't they look like they'd be happy spending time finding out more about this product?

Schultz suggests several items to consider when developing a customer experience strategy. We'll focus on two:

(1) See your space from a customer's perspective.

The interactive touchscreen kiosk that's part of the builder's customer experience center is accessible and easy to navigate -- even when there are 3 people present! We frequently say it's encouraging home shoppers to cozy up and find out more! 

(2) Give your customers a glimpse of the future.

CPS' interactive system, SalesTouch, gives home shoppers an easy-to-use way to visualize their new home with interactive floorplans and drag 'n drop furniture. 

In other words, the floorplan is no longer a brochure or an image on the wall: home shoppers are able to mix 'n match structural options (den in lieu of bedroom 3, expanded kitchen island, covered lanai) and then drag furniture into their created space.  They're able to visualize how this floorplan will live; it's become "their" home, in other words!

Interested in finding out how you can create value-unique homes shopping experiences? We'd love to give you a one-on-one demo; let us know a convenient time here!

Builders: Let's Add Pets and Up Your Marketing Program!

Furry family members are influencing home-buying decisions!

Did you see the results from a recent SunTrust Mortgage:

33% of Millennials purchased their new home to have more room (either an improved space or yard) for their dog?

Let's call this a Pet Welcoming community!

What are you doing to make this important connection for home shoppers?

A super interesting article in FusionHappens.com suggests Millennials are particularly focused on including pets in their homebuying decision-making. FushionHappens asks: what are you doing to make this important connection:

•  Are you offering low-maintenance flooring?
• How do you message pet owners?
• Do you include happy dogs and owners in your ads and on your website?
• What about dog parks?

CPS SalesTouch is an interactive touch-based kiosk system designed to engage home shoppers from the minute they enter your sales office; don't you think this pet-friendly Parks & Trails section at Newland Communities' Tehaleh encourages a new pet-focused visitor to consider their community?

Go the Extra Step: Talk About How Your Floorplans Fit Their Lifestyle!

Millennials (and Boomers, by the way) are particularly interested in how a new home fits their lifestyle. For some, a family-focused kitchen is critical. For others, it's the "extra" room that can be a craft space, or a tasting room or a "man cave."

Yes! There's a Pet Room option here!

And, for pet owners: do you offer doggie doors or dog washing areas?

There's a great way to enhance your marketing for these lifestyle-focused buyers: interactive floorplans! 

Let your home shopper try out lifestyle ideas with touch and mix/match structural options and drag 'n drop furniture. Consider something as simple as re-purposing the "mud room" label!

There's nothing better for a potential buyer than seeing that you recognize their lifestyle is important. You might not know which element is critical but offering your buyer with the ability to visualize it is critical. 

Add Lifestyle Visualization to Your Sales Offices!

Interested in finding out more how you can help buyers see how your homes meet their objectives? CPS offers one-on-one demos; use this form and we'll schedule one with you!

Builders: Put Metrics on Your Dashboard!

SST Emerging as a Preference 

Concise, actionable information - 24/7

We've been talking about SST -- that's Self Service Technology -- recently; you can review Solutions Blogs about migrating your homebuyers towards SST customer service options here.

There are a couple of key elements associated with the trend towards SST; demographics and technology. Cloud-based software applications are making information available 24/7, anywhere/anytime.

Preferences and expectations are changing, too; what was once viewed rather negatively is now seen as not only a solution but a preference!

Builders Have 2 Audiences Looking for Information: Buyers and Their Own Team

The benefits of SST apply across the builder audience:  homebuyers and your own team of field managers, operations staff, accounting, corporate management. 

Homebuyers Obtain Concise, Personalized Information via Portals

How can that be? Your homebuyers have access to information through web-based portals with data published through web-based software applications.  It's concise, time pertinent, personalized and available 24/7. 

Portals recognize their participants through credentials. So, it's straightforward for your buyer to locate stage of construction photos or warranty issue status.  They're able to use their phone or tablet and there's no digital clutter: their specific and unique information is presented clearly and concisely.

Metrics Deliver for Corporate Team Members

A business metric is defined as a quantifiable measure used to track and assess the status of a specific business process. Every business area has unique processes that need to be monitored.  Sales, for example, track marketing and social media metrics; senior management tracks key financial results and trends.

Metrics encourage your organization to become more data-driven -- and that's particularly true when SST features are built-in to your software applications.  Think: visual and interactive! 

Portals: Personalized status 24/7 for your buyers

What might your warranty team need as metrics?  Submitted requests, requests turned into work orders, open work orders?  The team doesn't necessarily want all the details at first glance; they're interested in scope and outliers.

Customer Service Rep "A" has 150 open work orders with 20% over 30 days; "B" has 260 open orders with only 5% over 30 days. That's easily viewable in a pie chart, for example, Then, drill down for details; you might find "A" has a community's worth of "manufacturer microsoft recalls" and is waiting for replacements.  

You're able to locate that type of information using a software-generated visual dashboard such as those provided by CPS' WarrantyWatcher. 

Visual Metrics Focus Attention and Investigation

SST means personalized, concise information 24/7, anywhere/anytime. Setup your dashboard to measure the data that's critical to your business -- adjust the timeframe, drill down for details, focus on what's important, offer Portals to your buyers -- that's CPS WarrantyWatcher!

Builders: Consider Value-Unique Customer Experiences

Good Customer Experience is Appreciated; Noteworthy Gets People Talking

Have you run across Chip Bell? He's an author, speaker and consultant focused on customer loyalty and service innovation.

Bell suggests that good Customer Experience is appreciated.

We knew that, right? Yet, good service rarely results in people mentioning in -- or posting or Tweeting about it.

However, when a noteworthy customer experience moment occurs, people talk, post and Tweet about it all the time.  

So..how does your customer service become Tweet-worthy?

Move-Up to Value-Unique Experiences

Today, customers expect their experience to be value-added.

Taking what your customers expect and just adding more isn't enough to generate anything beyond satisfaction and.. that's why it isn't generating posts or Tweets.

When customers get more than expected and it's unique and innovative, Bell suggests, that's value-unique.

And, value-unique has a lot more value.  That's when people start talking and Tweeting about it!

Customer Focus Also Drives Revenue Growth

A recent McKinsey & Co. study concluded that customer satisfaction also correlated with company revenue growth. One idea that emerges from that study is the importance of employees as brand ambassadors. What is your organization doing to foster this concept?

Encourage Employee Engagement

One idea is to make sure you're providing the tools to facilitate employee engagement. Implement tools, in other words, to foster employee engagement and, in turn, you'll see value-unique service.

What sort of tools? Keep in mind your customer's expectations are changing at rapid speed. 

Builders must now account for an increasing number of factors ranging from having more information on the website to conversational commerce to providing an engaging in-sales office experience. And, your employees need to take advantage of  those digital engagement tools so your brand emerges as value-unique!

Wouldn't you want to walk into a sales office featuring the Brisas interactive touchscreen system highlighted above -- and see not only gorgeous creative but interactive floorplans, what's happening in the neighborhood and an up-to-date sitemap? Leveraging digital tools such as CPS' SalesTouch doesn't diminish your sales agent's role; it amplifies it by associating the brand with a value-unique experience!