PCBC Permission Marketing Seminar

Are you going to PCBC?  If you are planning on attending PCBC, I have a session that you will want to put on your calendar.  It’s not that I am speaking, but it is the team I share the podium with.  Good permission marketing is hot and making a great impact upon the profitability of many builders in this time of changing markets.

Bill Probert, EVP Marketing & Sales for John Laing Homes, will tell you how they have changed the way they market and sell homes.  John Laing was recently named “America’s Best Builder” by Builder magazine and has captured top rankings by J.D. Powers. Laing’s results in both strong and soft markets speaks volumes.  Bill will also give you the details of their “Lost Looker Program” which he feels all builders need to have in place.  Come learn from Bill’s experience at one of America’s best new home builders.

Jeanne Stot, Stot Marketing, is the former SVP of Marketing for MBK Homes.  Jeanne led the development of MBK’s highly acclaimed Very Important Buyer (VIB) Program.  Her mixing of high tech and high touch led to one of the most successful permission marketing programs in the home building industry.

Read about some of their successes in Professional Builder’s GIANTS:

“'Permission Marketing' Buzz Is Building”

http://www.housingzone.com/article/CA633832.html

Program:   Permission Marketing - How Top Builders are Changing New Home Sales

Date:          6/22/2006               

Time:         2:30:00 PM - 4:00:00 PM

Facility:      PCBC Campus at Moscone West

Location:   Room 2004, 2nd Level

Learn more from our article archive at: http://www.realtyinfolinks.com/RIL_resources.html

Buying New Homes vs. Resale

Steve Zurier from Hanley-Wood pointed this link out to me the other day: http://www.lennar.com/build/buildhome.aspx

We both agreed that it was a good idea for a builder to have something like this on their website.  We know the real competition to Pulte and DR Horton is not Centex or Lennar.  Their real competition is what most homebuyers buy, resale housing.  So, why don’t builders try to do a better job of selling the benefits of new housing?

My opinion, 15 years ago there was not a huge difference.  You gave up proximity and big trees for new and the power to choose.

Today it’s different.  New homes are simply better than existing housing and in many cases retrofitting is not really an option. Let’s highlight just a few things that you generally could not get in new housing just 10 years ago, that are all but standard today:

• House wraps like Tyvek from DuPont to improve heating and cooling efficiency.
• Hugely more efficient HVAC systems
• Low energy glass to save even more energy
• Cat 5 wiring to connect your home
• Widely available roof tile products that are affordable
• Siding products like Hardi Plank that are low maintenance
• Better foundations, smart airflow, and healthy home options

On the option side there are even more items to put into the walls that are only relevant for new housing.

So, it’s time for home builders to unite to acknowledge the advances in housing that make buying new better than resale.

Use the Internet to Juice Your REALTOR Marketing

Getting one more REALTOR-related sale per community per month can have a dramatic impact on your gross profit.

REALTORS can be hugely important to a builder's success, but many builders neglect to include them in their Web sites and interactive marketing plans. Yet, with REALTORS involved in 30% to 50% of builders' closings, they can be a huge portion of the business. However, not all agents are created equal.

Read about it in the National Sales and Marketing Council’s eNews: http://www.nahbmonday.com/nsmc/issues/2006-05-25/index.html