Business of Building e-Source - 12/18/2003 (Plain Text Version)

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Eight Ways to Drive Internet Leads and Sales

"Build it and they will come" isn't necessarily true for Web sites. Try these eight simple ways to make your site a more effective sales tool.

1. Put a person and a process in place to follow up on all leads in a timely manner.

Let's start at the end of your sales funnel. You have a smart marketing strategy. You have lots of Web site visitor traffic. You receive a great number of leads. Yet, if no sales come out of the other end, what's the point? Put someone in charge of follow-up.

2. Leverage builder portals (Web sites like www.newhomes.com, for example, or www.homebuilder.com that aim to attract as many visitors as possible in a niche market) to drive leads.

The number and quality of distribution options continue to grow. You need a marketing presence where home shoppers look for homes. For example, you may prefer the Dallas Morning News to the Fort Worth Star Telegram. However, if 40 percent of home shoppers are looking at your non-preferred weekend paper, you may still want to advertise there. It works the same way online.

3. Make your Web site faster and easier to navigate.

An amazing thing happens when your Web site becomes faster and users find it easier to use: You immediately see a substantial increase in both visitors and leads. Try this test. Simplify and reduce the size (in kilobytes) of your homepage and measure your visitors and leads over one week. Did your ratio of leads to visitors improve? Did you notice an unusual pick-up in visitor and repeat visitor traffic?

4. Make it easy and compelling for Web site visitors to start a dialog with you.

Make sure your contact links are where visitors can find them and be careful to name them in a way that makes people want to click. For example, "Request Brochure" will probably get more clicks than "Have a salesman call me." In addition, put an 800 number on your Web site and offer to answer your users’ questions.

Don't ask users for too much information on online forms. While you might want to know their phone number and quite a few other things, requiring this information may discourage them from completing your form.

5. Review your driving directions and update them as if your Web site visitor is relocating from out of town.

This is one of easiest physical traffic builders known and probably the single most overlooked piece of content on home builder Web sites. Is it possible that your advertising dollars were effective enough to motivate a shopper, but your driving directions were so poor that the shopper found another builder's community to visit?

6. Create a good auto-response for every neighborhood.

Every time you get a lead, that’s a chance to start a dialog. Most builders use auto-responders that spit out automatic text replies to online queries, and in most cases the copy is lame. This is your opportunity to set an expectation and sell the community a second time. You can't stop there. You still have to follow-up.

7. Call every contact who gives you a phone number.

On most builder Web sites and builder portals, users are not required to give their phone number. If they give you a phone number, it is an invitation to call. Accept it.

8. Highlight your "coming soon" neighborhoods and create interest groups for e-mail campaigns.

Turn your "coming soon" neighborhoods into backlog builders. It is a place where you have the potential to create excitement. Let your users join your VIP list or preferred buyer program.

Blair Kuhnen is the owner of Lux Solutions (http://www.luxsolutions.com/), a Fort Worth, TX-based consulting firm serving the home building industry by providing Internet-related sales and marketing solutions. He can be reached at 817-923-4026 or via e-mail at blair@luxsolutions.com.

2003 Set to Break New-Home Sales Records

New-home sales will break all previous records this year as favorable mortgage rates and solid house-price gains help us surpass the million-unit mark for the first time in history! Of course, year-end numbers have yet to come in, but based on government reports so far—including the latest on November 26 indicating sales continued above a million-unit pace in October—all signs point to 2003 as a banner year for builders.

According to the Commerce Department, new-home sales reached a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.11 million units in October. That's down 3.5% from September's heady pace, but still well above last year's record sales rate. Our best estimate: When all is said and done, 1.08 million home sales will have been contracted in 2003. See our press release. [return to top]

Builder Bright Ideas

Wasted trips to the building site when the site is not ready translate into hidden costs in your trade contractors’ bills. Get honest feedback on your scheduling from your trades and then make changes as needed. You may find your prices dropping.

Communicate with trade contractors by using weekly job rosters that contain trades’ individual schedules. Fax or e-mail the schedules on time. Once you create the format, it’s easy to update it.

You’ll find hundreds of terrific tips on accounting, personnel, customer service, sales and marketing, management, trades, production, and design in Management Ideas That Work and More! Management Ideas That Work from NAHB’s Business Management Department. Each book costs $25 for NAHB members and $31.25 for non-members. Both are available from BuilderBooks; call 800-223-2665, or visit www.builderbooks.com to order online. [return to top]

New to IBS? Learn Some Tricks of Attendance

To a first-time attendee, the International Builders’ Show resembles a crowded shopping mall on the night before Christmas. You know you need to be there, but where do you begin? With so many concurrent activities competing for your attention, how do you make the most of all those committee and council meetings, educational seminars, networking opportunities, home tours, building product and technology exhibits, computer labs, discussion panels, and special events without being cloned?

Whether you’re a Builders’ Show newbie or are sending some staff members for the first time, take advantage of orientation sessions lead by IBS veterans and housing contractors just like yourself.

You’ll learn about the best educational sessions to attend, must-see areas of the show floor, good routes to navigate the Convention Center, where to get lunch (you needn’t be prisoner of the food courts), and other vital IBS how-to’s. You’ll also learn how to make the most of your NAHB membership.

Sponsored by Sears Contract Sales, two sessions will take place on Monday, January 19 in Room N256 (that’s the North Hall) in the Las Vegas Convention Center from 8:00 a.m. to 9:00 a.m. and from 9:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. An additional session will take place on Tuesday, January 20 in Room N263 (also in the North Hall) from 11:00 a.m to 12:00 p.m.

Don’t miss this exclusive insider information. Your feet—and your business—will thank you. [return to top]

Access Mexico Opens Doors to New Business Opportunities

NAHB is the proud recipient of a Market Development Cooperator Program grant from the U.S. Department of Commerce for the Access Mexico Project, which is designed to increase export opportunities in Mexico. The project will consist of a range of activities including conferences, seminars, trade delegations, educational programs, and one-on-one meetings to expand trade links and business opportunities for NAHB members.

Make International Connections at the IBS

The upcoming International Builders’ Show offers builders, suppliers, and other housing industry professionals new opportunities to make valuable contacts and establish critical business connections with Mexico.

The Access Mexico Center, located within the International Business Center at the IBS, will be a hub of information and activity focused on Mexico’s growing housing market. It will set the stage for important networking and cross border collaboration. Be sure to take advantage of the Center and the following opportunities:

One-on-One Meetings will take place January 19 through 22. Sign up now or on-site to meet with a potential buyer or partner from Mexico. NAHB International staff and the U.S. Commercial Service in Mexico are collaborating to introduce U.S. and Mexican builders and suppliers to each other and will be on hand to facilitate meetings.
Access Mexico Reception, January 19, 5:00 to 6:30 p.m., will provide a venue for NAHB members and Mexican delegates and VIPs to meet and explore areas of mutual interest. You won’t want to miss this event.

International Education Program

A highlight of the International Education Program at IBS is a panel discussion on investment and business opportunities within the Mexican housing market. Speakers include: Sebastian Fernandez Cortina, Director General of CONAFOVI, Mexico’s National Housing Commission; Miguel Gomez Mont, Vice President of CANADEVI, Mexico’s National Association of Home Builders; Manuel Campos, Vice President of Su Casita, Mexico’s largest secondary mortgage bank; and Gene Towle, President of Softec.

The panel will take place on January 20 from 11:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. in Room N245-247 (Level 2) of the Las Vegas Convention Center.

For more information on International programs, click here. For more information about Access Mexico and to sign up for One-on-One meetings or the Access Mexico Reception, contact Matt Monjan at 800-368-5242 x8419, or e-mail him: mmonjan@nahb.com

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Stop, Log In, and Win

Have you logged in to the NAHB Web site yet? Log in to www.nahb.org during the month of January and enter to win a FREE Palm™ Tungsten T3 Handheld.

In January, simply go to www.nahb.org/loginnow, log in, and enter for your chance to win. If you don’t have a username and password, click the First Time User link and create your account today. Or, stop by the www.nahb.org booth at IBS and our staff will walk you through the process.

The www.nahb.org booth will be located in the NAHB OnSite area in the lobby of the LVCC main entrance. All HBA staff and NAHB members with active memberships are eligible to win. Entries must be made Jan. 1 through 31, 2004. The winner will be notified by e-mail on Feb. 1, 2004. [return to top]

Get Ahold of Us Pronto

This November, NAHB released a new online Contact Directory on the NAHB Web site to replace the former print version. This directory (www.nahb.org/contact), which includes both a Staff Directory and a Subject Directory, contains the names, phone numbers, and e-mail addresses for all staff at NAHB. Available only to members, these directories are fully searchable and can be printed for easy reference.

The Subject Directory contains more than 700 keywords to help members identify the appropriate staff contact for a particular topic within seconds. “I get two to three calls each week from people asking ‘Who can I talk to about X issue,’” says Bill Nolan, of the Affordable Housing Institute. Members can type in a topic, program, product, or service and the directory will automatically display the name, phone number, and e-mail address for the appropriate contact. According to Nolan, this is a “tremendous tool for the members.”

In addition to searching by subject, members can also search by name. The online Staff Directory makes it possible to look up staff by first name, last name, or department. These options are particularly helpful when you can’t remember a contact’s full name or want to see additional contacts within a department. “I prefer to look up staff myself because it is usually faster,” says Harry Savio, EO of the HBA of Greater Austin, TX.

According to Savio, the best part of having the Staff and Subject Directories online is that they can be kept current. Both the Staff Directory and the Subject Directory are refreshed daily so staff contact information is always up-to-date. Further, both directories can be downloaded for printing. To download a current version, click the green “Download Directory” button and save the file to your desktop.

Members can access either directory (www.nahb.org/contact) by going to http://www.nahb.org/ and clicking the “NAHB Contact Directories” link under “Contact Us.” You must log into www.nahb.org to access the directories.

For more information about the NAHB Contact Directories, please contact Kristine Maphis at 800-368-5242, x8121 or any of the staff in the Online Relations department. Body text here. [return to top]

Member Advantage: Save Money on Dell® Computers

NAHB members keep coming to Dell to save money on computers and equipment from one of the most respected brands in the business.

Call 888-577-3355 and identify yourself as an NAHB member. The discount will be automatically applied and will be reflected on your invoice. The NAHB discount cannot be combined with other Dell discounts or promotions.

To order online and for details on more than a dozen other money-saving Member Advantage discount programs, click here, or go to http://memberadvantage.nahb.org.

Go to www.nahb.org to explore the numerous advantages associated with membership in your local, state, and national home builders association. [return to top]