As a Home Builder and Remodeler- How do You Move Your Business Forward in 2010? Maybe it’s Time for a New Hammer
November 16, 2009 by Coach Rick
As a Home Builder and Remodeler- How do You Move Your Business Forward in 2010? Maybe it’s Time for a New Hammer
No I’m not talking about MC Hammer (but how about those pants)!
Can't Touch This!
It’s getting to be the time of year to look back on 2009 and put together a strategy for 2010.
I hear the same old arguments from people who have ‘been through this before.’ I’m not so sure what worked in the past is the answer to our future.
Here’s an alternative “hammer” you may want to consider to finally beat this housing market….
~Rick
My wife tells me I’m the “ultimate planner”. I tell her she’s the “ultimate live in the moment person.” I guess that’s why we’re good for one another.
A couple of days ago “the ultimate planner” was lying in bed contemplating the future of housing? Specifically asking…
- How will this recession effect people’s behavior as it relates to housing? As it relates to purchasing behavior in general?
- Where are the opportunities today and 3 years from now?
- How will government continue to effect housing in the future?
- If I were a home builder or remodeler what strategy would I employ moving forward?
These are not easy questions- nor are they answered in a day. But I have this gut feeling that our industry is still going in the wrong direction.
Specifically- were still trying to use the same old “hammer” to shape the future.
Hammer Time
This morning I received a blog from Seth Godin titled, “Hammer Time” (thanks for letting me borrow the title Seth!).
You can see Seth’s Blog post here
Here’s an excerpt from the post…
“When the market changes, you may be seeing all the new opportunities and problems the wrong way because of the solutions you’re used to. The reason so many organizations have trouble using social media is that they are using precisely the wrong hammer. And odds are, they will continue to do so until their organization fails. PR firms try to use the new tools to send press releases, because, you guessed it, that’s their hammer.”
To summarize the blog- we (companies) are still trying to use our “hammers” (solutions) that we’ve always used.
Build a Better Mousetrap
So what is the contractor’s solution? Build a better home of course. That’s what we do.
We focus on better…
- Home Design
- Products/features
- Built Homes (Green)
- Sticks and Bricks!
Now I’m not saying these things aren’t important- they’re incredibly important. I just don’t believe they are at the top of your prospect’s mind.
What IS at the top of your prospects mind, without a doubt, is their own reality- their own problems. Until they feel you understand these problems better than anyone else and can provide a one-of-a-kind solution, they won’t buy from you.
Could it be that your product (hammer) of the future will NOT be the homes you build and remodel….
Rather, you’re product will be your actual customer
What if you spent as much time trying to understand what was going on in the head of your next customer as you did designing & building your next home?
How would you change your approach if you know the intimate details in the mind of your prospect?
My grandparents lived through the depression and I grew up watching how they, along with my father and uncles, were fundamentally changed for the REST OF THEIR LIVES because of it.
How will the current recession affect the housing decisions of the current and future generations? How has it affected you?
Maybe I’m completely wrong but I’d love to get your take on this topic.
Do you think our hammer for the future is the homes we build and remodel or is it something else?
Do you think our hammer for the future is the homes we build and remodel or is it something else?
Please post your opinion below (and don’t sugar coat it!)
Happy Selling!
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Comments
9 Responses to “As a Home Builder and Remodeler- How do You Move Your Business Forward in 2010? Maybe it’s Time for a New Hammer”
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Rick – You nailed it! Thanks.
Rick: I agree with your thinking that it will we will need to become more of a psycologist in dealing with customers. Yes the baby boomers are for the most part still thinking the old way, but are becoming more and more techy. We live in what I call a “Right now society” X & Y don’t wait for anything, so other age groups are becoming similar. This is very tough to respond to especially in the remodeling when it takes a few days to get back with prices. We have to let them know that in order to give them the best value for their dollar we need a few days to come up with a solution. Works sometime, and sometimes they will not wait.
My 2 cents.
Dale
Rick,
I do agree with most of the post but am a little unclear about the social media part. I view social media as a way to get our name out there further, and keeping our name out there. Maybe I didn’t fully understand what Seth meant, but how could any social media be a bad thing? We as Accent Homes are constantly trying to do things differently to set ourselves apart from the rest, and people seem to be finally catching on. I couldn’t agree more that doing the same thing over and over again will not work anymore. It is quite obvious by looking around and seeing what seems to be less and less builders in business, and most of those builders were chugging along doing the same thing over and over again.
My 3 cents.
Ed
Rick: I believe you have a point! Using an old hammer won’t work anymore. I believe that builders need to focus now on the consumers and not completely on the housing plans. As a New Homes Lister and an architect’s daughter, the new generations are all focusing on finding everything via internet. We find everything from the best deals to where the best place is to live! Social media can help lead the consumers to you, but the builder needs to figure out how to get them to come see a home. And the best way is a fully finctioning website that can give the builder real time results. The generations are more internet savvy and also, sadly, a bit lazy in getting more information. We need to provide them with that information to make them driven to come see the homes.
Just a bit of my mind.
-Jessica
As an energy efficient home builder we are concentrating on building low maintenance, high quality, affordable homes with low utility costs. With the right insulation package and careful air sealing, the right windows and ventilation systems and careful details we can sell everything we can make with our small crew. People like small heating bills! (We live in zone 7). The home we are currently building has been modeled by an Energy Star consultant, is 1800 sq. ft. and heating costs for a year will be around $200. Our design temp is -22 degrees F. It is not difficult to do, it is mostly attention to details.
Tim,
Good for you- you’ve found a niche! Now you need to ask your customers how the rest of their lives will be enhanced with the extra money they AREN’T spending on utility bills. Great job and thanks for sharing!
Great thoughts Jessica. Thanks for sharing!
Ed,
I thinks the analogy for you would be trying to sell a home on Facebook. Seth was pointing out that distributing a press release through social media is not the best use of the medium. A PR firm needs to come up with a new “hammer” with social media just as a home builder or Realtor needs to use social networking/media for maintaining a building relationships that will lead to a face-to-face meeting- AND THEN to a sale.
Thanks for posting and keep up the good work!
Dale,
A suggestion for your problem- as a company, define what you do best and WHO you do it best for…
Focus on that demographic and don’t look back. You’ll never miss the prospects that don’t see the value in what you do- they’re not going to buy from you anyway.
Thanks for posting and happy selling!