Do You Convert - Mike Lyon - New Home Sales and Marketing

Follow-Up. Your First Customer Service Test

Mike Lyon — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 14:48:08 +0000

I recently attended a Nicky Joy seminar. What a powerful speaker! Nicky had a phrase that was extremely relevant. “Follow-Up is your first customer service test.”

How true! So many sales executives have trouble following up after a motivated buyer has graced their doorstep. With that being the case, one can only assume that all of those internet and phone leads are not getting the royal treatment they deserve.

Buyers are more than a little reluctant right now to walk through that door considering the economic climate. But they are still shopping! Add that to an already busy schedule full of soccer games, dance recitals and limited family time and it becomes obvious why doing their initial research on the web has become so prevalent. Your new customers are using the internet to shop, research, compare and narrow down their choices. Ultimately, they use the process of elimination to narrow down their selection to an average of 2-3 builders or homes. Then, they’ll probably reach out to you digitally and ask those final comparison questions.

It is at this critical moment that you have an opportunity to gain—or lose—a customer. You are being tested. How you follow-up is setting the standard for both you and your company. Do you follow-up immediately? Do you follow-up professionally? Do you follow-up with a friendly and assisting tone? Consider these questions and then ask yourself if you would pass or fail the follow-up test.

I know that managing your current clients as well as new leads is time consuming. But I guarantee, that if you respond in a timely, friendly and consistent fashion, you will pass the customer service test and convert more of those internet shoppers into satisfied customers.
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New Q.A. Series - Boomers and the Internet

Mike Lyon — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 15:05:22 +0000

I am beginning a new question and answer series here on the blog. I receive some great questions and hope the answers shared here will be a benefit to the homebuilding community. If you have something to add or experience that will help, please post a comment.

Q:

Mike,
I am a manager for a sales team. We sell retirement homes. I have just starting digging into your book and I was wondering if you believe that the baby boomers are inclined to jump on the internet to search for homes? We have not had a powerful online presence because we have just been involved in the old traditional marketing methods. I hope to change this and I am going to use your methods but I would hate to direct our attention to an area where our customers are not spending their time. Can you enlighten me any?

Thanks, C.A.

Thank you for the great question. There are 2 things to consider:

1st – Consider your product and the boomer buying cycle. It is my assumption that the buying cycle will last longer for your customers. They may not need to move immediately or have the sense of urgency that younger buyers will have. Most likely, their research process will be extended; which means your follow-up process will need to match. Some of the best tools you can use to effectively manage their experience is your internet presence and consistent email follow-up.

2nd – Internet usage among boomers and seniors is one of the fast growing segments of the market. The number of U.S. adults online over age 50 will soar over the next ten years. In 2008 73.7% of those aged 50-64 and 34.1% of those 65 and above will use Internet. My grandma is in her 80’s and puts her Mac to good use sending email, making home videos, Googling… That doesn’t mean you forgo traditional marketing altogether, it just means that you need to create a balanced program that encompasses the internet to attract and assist with your sales/marketing process for your specific demographic. Plus, if you give your boomer customers enough compelling reasons, they will “spend their time” online.

The internet is continually evolving and we need to always improve our offerings to keep up with customer expectations.
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Email Marketing Benchmarks for Real Estate

Mike Lyon — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 04:30:38 +0000

Ever wonder how your email blasts stack up. I stumbled across this article that reviews average open, click, bounce and abuse complaint rates by industry.

Mailchimp scanned over 272 million emails and their results are listed per industry here>>

MailChimp states: “These stats aren’t pulled from a survey of big giant corporations with million-dollar marketing budgets and dedicated email marketing teams. 70% of our customers are 1-10 employees, and they’re design-it-yourselfers. If you run a small organization, and you do your own email marketing, now you have an “apples to apples” comparison with others in your industry.”

Real Estate Averages:
Open Rate - 22.16%
Click Rate - 4.27%
Soft Bounces - 1.87%
Hard Bounces - 4.18%
Abuse Complaints - 0.07%
Unsubscribes - 0.30%

Would anyone like to share their email results? Leave a comment…anonymously if needed. I know how protective we builders can be Similar Posts:

iPhone post

Mike Lyon — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 14:58:20 +0000

This is my first post using the Wordpress app for the iPhone. I’ll have to say, pretty slick. And very easy to use. Even adding pictures directly from the iPhone is super easy.

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FREE Webinar - Lean Marketing

Mike Lyon — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 16:52:49 +0000

Blue Tangerine Solutions is hosting another FREE webinar Nov 20th. I’ll be discussing “Lean Marketing” and how to better use the Internet to maximize your marketing dollars. This is a timely topic for the industry, and will help you learn how to do ‘more’ with a leaner marketing budget.

You need to register for access - you can do that here>> Similar Posts:

2008 Southwest Builders Show Phoenix, AZ

Mike Lyon — Mon, 27 Oct 2008 03:06:11 +0000

I am heading off to the state of my birth (I was actually born in Tucson, AZ) this week

I will be presenting at the Southwest Builders Show Arizona’s largest show for builders and building industry suppliers in the Southwest region. Sponsored by the Home Builders Association of Central Arizona (HBACA).

SESSION 1: CONVERTING INTERNET BROWSERS INTO BUYERS with MIKE LYON

When: October 30 10:00 AM - 11:30 AM

Where: Phoenix Convention Center | Rooms 166 - 167

About The Show:

The HBACA is committed to making sure the Southwest Builders Show is not only Arizona’s best showcase of products and services relating to the homebuilding industry but also an educational experience for all those who attend. Each session is guaranteed to be packed with information that you can use now to improve your business. Our Educational Sessions offered at past shows have covered various topics such as safety, design trends, sales tips, green building, construction standards and much more. This year our focus is how to help you sell more homes so you can get back in the game! We know you won’t want to miss these great seminars!

This annual show offers

Cutting edge educational seminars
The largest exhibit floor in Arizona displaying the products your buyers want to have in their homes
Special events geared specifically for the building industry

Your competition is sure to be at the Southwest Builders Show. Make sure you are too! Registration opens August 4, 2008

The Show will be held October 30, 2008 at the Phoenix Convention Center in Phoenix, Arizona. And what a great show it is going to be… due to last year’s success, they have expanded the show floor to add more booths. That means more exciting products and services will be on display than ever before!

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Encounters are the new “Visits”

Mike Lyon — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 13:40:51 +0000

Myers Barnes has a great post over on his blog - Visits are Out. Encounters are In—And Encounters Can Occur On-site or Online.

He comments:

In the old economy, prospects shopped by the process of elimination. They would drive around, build their short list and eventually settle on their new neighborhood and home. In today’s economy, new homebuyers shop by the process of exclusion on the Internet. They build their short list and then visit only the neighborhoods they are seriously considering. In building a list of places of interest, they will have many encounters. Each time they log on to your website, it’s an encounter. So they could easily have had 10 encounters with your new homes/homesites before you ever get the first opportunity to meet and greet them.

I can’t agree more. A good percentage of our prospects will spend more time on our website than we will! When researching one of the largest investments a person will make, the website and other listing sites become a “power tool” for the prospect putting them in driver seat.

Don’t give them a reason to eliminate you. Keep your site fresh, up to date and full of useful information they are looking for.
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Interview on BuilderRadio.com

Mike Lyon — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 14:18:15 +0000

Be sure to stop over and check out the new podcast of an interview I did with Jerry Rouleau at BuilderRadio.com

Why Salespeople Hate Internet Leads!
Most salespeople would rather take a sharp stick in the eye than follow up on Internet and website leads. However, 30% of your sales can be from online shoppers. Learn how to sell them…

Click Here to listen NowSimilar Posts:

Nathan Keener Lyon

Mike Lyon — Sun, 13 Jul 2008 19:47:23 +0000

We’ve had a busy few days. Our 2nd son, Nathan Keener Lyon, was born July 10th at 3:17 p.m. Even though mom was a week and a half late, they both performed beautifully with our second natural childbirth!

He looks just like his mom!Similar Posts:

New Math for Builders

Mike Lyon — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 01:08:15 +0000

There is a new formula for builders. Let’s look at some of the latest numbers:

84% - The percentage of your homebuyers who use the internet to research new homes
12.1 Weeks - The average time it takes for Internet buyers to purchase a home - double the amount from 2006
94% - The percentage of Internet buyers who expect a response in 4 Hours or Less
64% - The percentage of New Home Sales Executives who DO NOT FOLLOW UP with qualified buyers
$4.00 - The average price for a gallon of gas

All these numbers add up to a Huge Opportunity!

The home buyer pool has become very shallow and competition has increased for their business. Now, more than any other time in history, buyers are using the web to research their choices. Savvy buyers are being very strategic - narrowing down their choices of homes and communities - disqualifying as they go - using the Internet as their power tool to gather information. They are shopping almost twice as long before their first appointment to a model home. Throw into the mix current fuel costs, at $4 per gallon, families aren’t jumping in the Suburban for a leisurely drive from one new home community to the next.

As builders work their way through “the dip“, it is critical to invest in online marketing and take the time to set up a process to manage the leads they receive.

Potential customers are craving better on-demand information. They expect top notch customer service while they are shopping. The builder who shows them this courtesy in the beginning will come out ahead in the end.

Home builder marketing dollars and mindsets will need to shift to this shopping phase to capture the buyer sooner - instead of waiting for the “walk in”. It makes sense to go where the buyers are, and right now they are online, trying to determine if you are the right fit.
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