Five Steps to Create a Lasting Impression on Your Homebuyers – The Importance of Presentation at Handover
In comparison to other industries, homebuilders have more of an opportunity to impact how their customers view and remember them. As opposed to the shop retailer, for instance, who is in contact with their customers for only minutes, the sales cycle of a home is of a considerable length, providing much scope for impressions to be made, and even altered, if necessary.
Throughout the build and sale of the new home, homebuyers are forming their opinion of your brand based on customer care, timescales being met and finally, the quality of the finished home.
And then comes handover.
This is a moment that can either reinforce your brand as a homebuilder that cares about its customers and strives for exacting quality in all it does, or not. Handovers that fall flat with your buyers leave them feeling deflated rather than excited and valued.
Handover is a time when you have the opportunity to go from being a ‘good’ homebuilder to an ‘excellent’ one that your customers will recommend to all their friends and family. As the Association for Professional Builders says, ‘Referrals are the best leads a building company can get.’
And they mean a lot to the buyer, too. As research carried out by the National House-Building Council (NHBC) found: ‘The home handover process is very important in setting a homeowner’s expectations.’
So, what are homebuyers looking for from their handovers, and how can you ensure this vital stage of your homes’ sales is effective?
We’ve compiled a list of five key steps you can take to make a lasting impression at handover, all of which are easily implemented and sustainable from home to home and development to development.
Step 1 – Take Your Time Over Home Demonstrations
The first important stage of handing over the new home is the home demonstration. This tour of the property is about ensuring your buyer knows their way around the new home, as well as how to use its features, fittings and appliances.
During their research, the NHBC found that ‘70% of those surveyed found their handover experience very helpful.’ So, your performance at this meeting is valued by your customers and worth taking the time to get right. As the NHBC go on to explain: ‘The consensus from the homeowners suggests that short duration handovers and/or completion day handovers are ineffective, and providing last minute key information at this stage is poor practice.’
A great way therefore to optimise the experience of this home guide is to take the time with each new buyer to ensure they have seen everything they need to. As the Association for Professional Builders says, ‘Just as you would prioritise trades completing their works, the handover process needs to be factored in to your construction schedule.’ And to enhance the experience of this tour even further, provide them with information that details the face-to-face demonstrations you have given them. This can be provided in writing or using home video demonstrations, to provide on-demand troubleshooting while ensuring your customers can find any guidance they might need on using the new home.
Step 2 – Provide Written Information at the Most Beneficial Time for the Buyer
The customer satisfaction study carried out by the NHBC revealed: ‘Homeowners said they would like to receive more written guidance earlier in the process to allow the detail to be absorbed better.’ Homebuyers would prefer to receive vital information on the date of legal completion, and snagging issues and a defect reporting process be explained clearly: ‘The homeowners surveyed also felt that they did not have the defect snagging process explained properly and they were left to find out for themselves what this was.’ However, the NHBC warns that ‘It is critical that this final process is clear and concise to prevent homeowners’ minds becoming clouded and suffering from information overload.’
So, for customers to feel assured and informed, it is important to give them time to digest clearly written details of the home and defect reporting process.
Although it is typical for this information to be provided by most homebuilders, the time and presentation of this documentation could make all the difference between a satisfied or an unsatisfied customer.
The first impression of these informative materials will be made by their appearance. How you present this detail will imply how you view the significance of this stage in the handover process. As we have learned through the NHBC’s study, this information is important to the buyer, so its presentation should reflect that.
Using a third-party supplier to write this Content can be a great way of ensuring that the quality is of a high standard; and presenting the information in a Branded Folio, especially if personalised for the buyer, adds a touch of professionalism that speaks volumes.
Step 3 – Attractive Welcome Gifts and Properly Presented Documents
When move-in day arrives, a gesture that is widely appreciated by buyers is to be provided with a Welcome Gift.
Gifting your customers at this time reinforces your dedication to customer care and shows you appreciate them and their business. Welcome gifts can also be personalised or branded with your logo, to act as a reminder of this special moment and the part you played in their day.
Another opportunity afforded to you by welcome gifts is that they can be used to reinforce brand messaging and your company ethos. Giving an environmentally friendly present, such as Eco Lifestyle Welcome Gifts or Sustainable Garden Gifts, for instance, helps promote your company as one that cares about sustainability and wants to promote green habits to its customers.
Alongside your gift, there are certain documents that the homebuyer will need to be given relating to the new home. This includes everything from their new home warranty to their appliance manuals.
The way that you present these documents will make a difference to the impression you are making on your homebuyers. Supplying the various warranties and manuals in a branded Document Box shows your customers that you are willing to go the extra mile to ensure everything you have provided within the new home is of a quality that you, and they, can be proud of.
Step 4 – Running-in and Maintenance Advice
As with snagging issues, when the NHBC carried out their customer satisfaction survey, they found that, ‘Generally speaking, most homeowners appeared ill-prepared for their future maintenance role’ due to a lack of guidance on how to properly maintain the home and what minor issues were their responsibility to repair. ‘Home builders are unlikely to provide information on how to run-in and maintain a new home, leading to homeowner dissatisfaction when subsequent maintenance issues arise,’ says the NHBC.
The NHBC also found that homeowners grew less satisfied with their homebuilder as the weeks progressed in their new home, and that this was largely due to a lack of understanding about issues ‘such as parking provision,’ which, although largely out of the builder’s control, could be explained in more detail before move-in day.
When a homebuyer moves into their property, it is important for their confidence and independence in the new home to have all the information available given to them, both for using the home and also a guide to the surrounding areas. Providing Completion Manuals for your buyers ensures that they have all of the knowledge they need to start using their new home and local area with ease. This practical information could be supplied either in print or online, through systems such as our residential portal, Spaciable.
Whether provided digitally or in print, it is important that this information is presented and written clearly. The guidance should be easy for residents to understand and implement.
Step 5 – Aftercare and Complaints Procedure
One of the most emphasised stipulations in the new Code, which was outlined by the New Homes Quality Board (NHQB) and came into effect in November of last year, is the provision and explanation of an effective aftercare service and complaints procedure. This is something reiterated by the NHBC: ‘To provide a satisfactory after-sales service, home builders need to be aware of the information that homeowners feel is relevant to them and should be provided at handover.’
The NHBC suggests that a handover pack should contain a home health and safety file; any operating and maintenance information for the home and its facilities; guidance on who to contact should something go wrong, including emergency telephone numbers; guidance on homeowner responsibilities within the new home; information on how to get complaints resolved; the home warranty document; any other warranty documents (fridge, boiler, etc); and the Energy Performance Certificate.
We have been creating Completion Manuals and compiling all of the relevant information into these files for over 25 years. We have a wide variety of clients providing housing of all shapes and sizes, and every variety of tenure. To discuss your opportunities for improving the presentation of your handovers and ensuring they contain all of the information your buyers value, please get in touch.