Five Steps to Happy Homeowners
The sale of a new home is a long process, during which the homebuilder has an opportunity to satisfy their customers’ needs and wants to ensure they become happy homeowners.
But creating happy homeowners is not as simple as building a beautiful new home and passing over the keys.
Right from your initial contact with a potential buyer, the impression your brand is making is being mentally noted and affecting how your homeowner views you, as well as their likelihood of recommending you to their friends and family.
This is a customer service challenge that we have been helping homebuilders with for 26 years. Now we’re sharing the five important steps you need to take, to make sure you’re hitting top marks for homeowner happiness.
Step One – Make an Early Impression on Homeowners with an Exciting Pre-sales Experience
‘One of the most difficult things for a new home salesperson is pre-sales,’ says Myers Barnes in Builder Online. The problem is that you are marketing the home, in a lot of cases, before it even exists.
All the buyer has to go on, says Barnes, is, ‘Just a promise that the developer/builder will deliver the neighbourhood and/or home in a specified time frame. The entire pre-sale strategy is based on this promise.’
In order for this leap of faith to be made by the prospective buyer, and for them to feel happy about making that leap, you have to spark an emotional attachment to a yet unbuilt home, while initiating your relationship with them as one of openness and trust.
Barnes advises, ‘When there is nothing to buy, you have to sell the joy of the home, not the price of the house. Deliver the experience and share the magic.’ This might sound a daunting prospect and a tall order for many new home sales personnel; however, you can make this ‘magic’ happen with relative ease through investing your time and resources thoughtfully. This means ensuring you have the best tools and optimal environment to bring this idealised home-living to life.
Firstly, the presentation of the information about the properties should be clear, visually pleasing and concisely written. This is not the time to fill a customer's mind with jargon and overload them with information.
If you have enough resources to supply a VR Home Tour, these spectacular visuals can add a real wow factor that makes a lasting impression.
The environment of the sales suite will also make an impression on your buyers that you can control with relative ease. Keep spaces at a comfortable temperature, uncluttered and aerated. Ensure there is plenty of comfortable seating for customers and offer refreshments, both hot and cold.
If you provide some small activities to occupy children, you can have the full attention of their parents for longer. These might include colouring or puzzles, or even a small play area for infants. The more you can supply to put your customers at ease, the more opportunity you have to win them over with the home and its features.
And remember that the rejection of high-pressure sales tactics is not only paramount for ensuring your customers feel at ease and attentive, it is also an important stipulation of the New Homes Quality Code.
Now your prospective buyer is relaxed and taken care of, they will be excited to hear about what you have to offer.
Step Two – Build Your Relationship with Your Homeowners through the Reservation Stage
The reservation stage provides a key opportunity for evolving your relationship with your buyers. The way you handle this part of the transaction can have a significant impact on how all parties move forwards in tandem, reducing fall-throughs and feelings of buyer’s remorse.
First and foremost, you must ensure that you provide a reservation agreement that satisfies the consumer as well as your requirements under the new Code laid out by the New Homes Quality Board, or the Consumer Code for Homebuilders, depending on which you are registered with.
It is important to remember the recipient when compiling the information for this written agreement. It should be written clearly, concisely, with no room for confusion about the meaning of its contents.
As well as your obligations at this point, you can increase the enjoyment for your customers at this stage by doing more than what is required. A Reservation Manual is a great way to kickstart the positive relationship between homebuilder and homebuyer. These helpful guides work to explain the reservation process, while providing a list of actions that the buyer needs to take along the homebuying journey.
This shows your customers you will be supporting them through the homebuying process, and also prevents delays from their side of the transaction, as they are aware of what they need to do and when.
Educating your customers on the various stages of the homebuying process puts them in the front seat and the feeling of control they gain from this makes them more confident in the process and happy with the purchase.
Step Three – Support Your Customers Throughout the Homebuying Journey
Through providing a Reservation Manual, you will have already demonstrated your willingness to support your buyers through the buying journey. Now it is important that this implication is backed-up by active support supplied as and when it is needed by your customers.
Your Reservation Manuals will provide contact details for key members of your organization, so firstly ensure these details are up-to-date and accurate. Providing a phone number or email address that is no longer in use is not a good message to send to a client.
Secondly, ensure that your customer care team are trained well in handling queries and complaints. A helpful list of FAQs in your Reservation Manual should prevent many of the common queries coming your way, but when they do, it is important those questions are answered correctly and consistently. If the answer will take some time to provide, be honest about this immediately. It is perfectly reasonable to tell someone you need to call them back. But it is not acceptable to never return the call.
If an answer to a query proves especially difficult to provide, a short call to update the customer on your ongoing pursuit of the answer will go a long way to secure their trust and ensure them of your respect for their time and patience.
On occasion, unfortunately, customers will get frustrated. This could be down to any number of factors, such as delays, missed timescales and unanswered queries. It is extremely important to listen to the disgruntled client, make notes on their complaint and inform them of your plan to move the situation forward. Again, not every situation will be easy to remedy, and it is important to be open and honest about this, even when you fear delivering the message. You will lose the trust of your customers if you promise to resolve an issue today, which in fact will remain unresolved by next week.
Once your customers know that you are there with an open ear and a plan-making attitude, they will feel happy and secure as your customer.
Step Four – Create Memorable Experiences at Handover to Show Homebuyers they’re Valued
Now that the new home is built, your customers are excited to move in. Try to match their level of enthusiasm by adding thoughtful touches to your handovers.
When arriving at their new home, it is always a pleasant surprise to find the front door decorated with a Door Bow. This makes the new home look like a gift they are about to open, which is a good reflection of their emotions in that moment.
Supplying a Welcome Gift on move-in day is a sure way to make your customers feel valued. If you are a homebuilder who advertises your sustainable practices, then you can choose to provide gifts that reinforce your brand messaging, such as Eco Lifestyle Welcome Gifts or Sustainable Garden Gifts.
Once all the gifting is over, the homeowner will be keen to get on and start using the property and, again, this is something you can make easier and more enjoyable for them. Supplying your homebuyer with a Completion Manual gives you the perfect opportunity to demonstrate that the levels of care you’ve been showing throughout the sales process are not disappearing now that the transaction is complete. These comprehensive guides give details of all the fixtures, fittings and appliances supplied in the new home, as well as instructions on how to use and maintain them.
If your sustainable practices are a strong component in your branding and company ethos, then supplying a Sustainability and Community Guide will enhance that reputation, while also providing a lot of useful and practical advice for your homebuyers on how to live sustainably in their new property.
And remember, this information doesn’t need to be saved for move-in day. The NHBC’s Customer Satisfaction Survey found that most homebuyers would prefer to receive their handover information on the date of legal completion, rather than on the day they get their keys.
Providing your homebuyers with everything they need to get the most out of their new property is a great way to demonstrate your ongoing levels of care and optimise their enjoyment and happiness in the new home.
Step Five – Help Homeowners Settle in with Thoughtful Aftercare Practices
Your obligation to provide ongoing support and comprehensive aftercare is a stipulation of the New Homes Quality Code and an important part of ensuring you create happy homeowners.
If you have provided a Completion Manual at handover, then you will have provided details of your aftercare procedures in writing, as well as explained your snagging and complaints processes, as stipulated by the Code.
Checking in on your homebuyers to see how they’re settling in is a fantastic way to show that you’re still around, should they need you, and care about their enjoyment of the new property and its surroundings.
You should make at least two check-ins of this type once your buyers have moved into the property. The first of these should be around a week after move-in day, and can be a first opportunity for a buyer to mention anything that might be concerning them. You might hear about a snagging issue at this meeting and be able to advise them of whether there is a defect or not.
Another check-in should take place a bit further down the line, once life is truly settled in the property. This could be between one and two months after move-in day and will be to ensure they have settled into the community and are happy in their new home.
Organising Meet the Neighbours events can be a great way to help your residents make friends and get settled into their new environment. These can be held in any shared space, even outside on the green spaces of the development if the weather is fine.
Unfortunately, sometimes there will be complaints from your homeowners. Contrary to what you might think, complaints are actually a fantastic opportunity to make your brand stand out as a conscientious developer and one that listens to its customers. So, do exactly that. Regardless of the issue, or the time frame involved in its solution, always keep your customers in the loop and updated on any progress. At all times it is about demonstrating your commitment to their happiness in the home. If you are committed to ensuring they are happy, that is exactly what they will be.