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Few builders so fully embrace the principles, strategies of, and investment in customer focus as Miami-based Lennar Corp. It may be of value to drill in for a closer view to see how concerted and action-oriented the company's commitment is. For half a century, Lennar has delivered homes for more...
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Remember, your customer's your customer, well after the deed is done.
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Quality in home building is an issue of psychology as much as it is of construction techniques. Hire a terrific architect, use the best materials, bring in a skilled superintendent, work with a highly trained crew, but you still might fall short in your customer satisfaction ratings for quality.
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Home buyer and builder converge at the big moment that the deal happens. But if your company's customer-care process starts at this big moment, it's too late. Earlier in the game, your team needs to plan how to systematically manage a buyer's experience, phase by phase, from the handshakes at the...
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"Over the next five years, the home building industry will become known as a leader in overall customer experience," predicts Dave Prolo, senior vice president of John Laing Homes' South Coast division in Newport Beach, Calif. In the past few decades, the U.S. economy has gradually shifted from an...
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Some two years ago, K. Hovnanian's CEO, Ara Hovnanian, appeared at the front of the room during a bi-annual president's meeting with a stack of letters in hand. His mood was somber as he walked up to the podium, where he paused for a moment to gaze out at the audience of senior managers. Then he...
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Marc Savitt has a bone to pick with the affiliated lending programs of many big builders. As vice president of the National Association of Mortgage Brokers (NAMB) and former chair of the association's consumer protection committee, he's seen the ugly side of these affiliations, where home buyers...
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When Heather Goss walked into her first, brand-new home, one word came out of her mouth: “Finally.” For the 30-year-old Goss, buying a new home with her fiancéwas a rite of passage. Purchasing a new home was more of a personal triumph for Goss, symbolizing her ascension into full-fledged adulthood...
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What do customers want? The answer, always vital, takes on an urgent edge in a down market burdened by too much inventory and too few buyers. Oddly, at least a substantial part of the answer may rest in a good night's sleep. Immediately after September 11, the hospitality industry was in a period...
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Each September for the past decade, home builders have been tuning in to the voice of J.D. Power and Associates, practically ringing across the rooftops. “Reduce warranty calls,” they say. “Give your customer an experience,” they counsel. “Deliver on-time, complete homes,” they implore.
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The
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Still fond of the days of clipboards and pencil stubs? Home building's subdivision culture can find mobile communications and its host of buzzwords, acronyms, and mutating “form factors” more than a little geeky scary. Nostalgia can't compete, however, with the strategic imperatives that wireless...
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“What can I do to improve my cancellation rate?” That was a question asked at the end of a presentation I gave to a group of 150 battle-ready builders in Phoenix this summer. Sales of new homes there are off 33 percent through May. “For Sale” signs have sprouted up like weeds in new and existing...
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A PROSPECTIVE CUSTOMER WALKS INTO A NEW-HOME SALES center. A sales consultant is sitting at a desk, talking on the phone. He looks up from his call, covers the mouthpiece, and says, “Brochures are on the counter, and the models are to the left. If you have any questions, just let me know.”
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Allison Grant knows, more or less, how her Mondays will play out. She'll turn on her computer, pour a cup of joe, and attend meetings like every other American worker. But Mondays also bring an assignment that is an essential part of the sales manager's job at the Fairfax, Va., office of Brookfield...
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When it comes to customer service, April may indeed be the cruelest month. This is when the dreaded J.D. Power and Associates starts to mail out thousands of surveys to people who bought new homes within the last 16 months. Suffice it to say, if you are only now trying to wow customers with a magic...
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It takes Olthof Homes six fewer days to close a house now than it did last June. But the St. John, Ind.–based builder didn't find that time in the sticks and bricks of its homes. It shaved the days from its “soft cycle,” the time between when the buyer signs the contract and the builder breaks...
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It takes Olthof Homes six fewer days to close a house now than it did last June. But the St. John, Ind.–based builder didn't find that time in the sticks and bricks of its homes. It shaved the days from its “soft cycle,” the time between when the buyer signs the contract and the builder breaks...
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It takes Olthof Homes six fewer days to close a house now than it did last June. But the St. John, Ind.–based builder didn't find that time in the sticks and bricks of its homes. It shaved the days from its “soft cycle,” the time between when the buyer signs the contract and the builder breaks...
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David Weekley is founder and chairman of Houston-based David Weekley homes, the second-largest private home builder in the United States. Known for its dedication to customer satisfaction, the company has won