Let’s face it – buyers have a ton of options these days, and just because they have a signed agreement with a builder, doesn’t mean they will follow through to closing. One of the biggest areas that home builders experience buyers remorse and the inevitable cancellation, is that period from when a buyer signs an agreement up until they go in for their first design center appointment. The wait between signing an initial agreement to purchase and the first design appointment can sometimes take weeks or even over a month in some cases! This long wait can give a buyers emotions time to cool off and they may start to regret their decision, or they may get bored and start looking around again, leading them to find something they like more. The best way to keep people from regretting a decision or finding an alternative is to keep homebuyers engaged with virtual home design technology, as it offers both a better user experience and saves homebuilders time and money!
Virtual Home Design Technology and Homebuyer Engagement
Customer engagement is usually something that is thought about at the beginning of the sales cycle, but its just as important to keep a customer engaged even after they sign an agreement. Many builders seem to think the sales process is over at this point, but in many cases it has just begun. The typical way builders keep their customers excited and engaged about their new purchase during this lull before they start the design process is to annoy their customers with unnecessary check in calls and emails. While this may work to keep a customer engaged sometimes, it’s not actually giving them anything of value. With new home design technology we are seeing an amazing new tool to keep customers both engaged and excited even after they sign their agreement to purchase. The advent of virtual tours and 3D technology has led to the ability to let customers begin choosing their finish options online!
Online customization of a buyers floorplan can fulfill many purposes, but one of the most important things it can do for a builder is help cut back on cancellation rates. Industry wide the bust out rate can be anywhere from 15% to 25% of signed purchase agreements. Now once a buyer signs up to build, their builder can give them a tool that will immediately keep them engaged, excited and help them build that emotional attachment that their salesperson originally helped create. And the great part about this feature is that it can all be accomplished at the buyers current home, without any extra effort from the builder or the salesperson. All that is required is the salesperson gives the buyer a link when they sign up and once they get home the can immediately begin choosing ALL of the finish options for their dream home! This technology can lower bust out rates by as much as 20%, leading to an overall increase in sales and higher profits for home builders!
Helping to lower cancellation rates amongst home builders is just one great thing that online virtual home design technology can help with, stay tuned to our blog to learn more about all of the exciting changes that new technologies like online 3D design tools are bringing to the home building industry!
