At Fort Mitchell, Ky.–based The Drees Co., every employee, including those working for its First Equity Mortgage operations, is compensated based on customer satisfaction ratings derived from questionnaires that ask buyers to assess Drees' follow-up, the accuracy of its information, and whether it treated them professionally. Most important, buyers are asked if they'd recommend Drees to a friend. “If the percentage of customers who are satisfied falls below a certain level, compensation goes away,” says CFO Mark Williams, whose comment, while probably hyperbolic, nevertheless indicates how Drees links the incentive carrot it holds out and customer service its associates deliver.
Once they've reached the closing table, builders should know that they and their partners have done all they could to prevent what Hinkle at First American calls “the inevitable fire drill.”
The team at Classic Mortgage is convinced that just hearing a friendly, attentive voice on a regular basis helps ease customers through the financing ordeal. When Classic's home building division proposed contacting customers every week through the settlement period, Cavender was skeptical. But buyers reacted positively, and Cavender says he learned a valuable lesson about customer service. “Buyers want to be led through transactions,” he says, “by someone they trust.”
CLOSER CONTACT: Myle Phan (left), a sales counselor for The Olson Co., discusses financing options with home buyers at Olson's Fountain Walk community in Fountain Valley, Calif. Olson recently updated its closing “protocol,” which encompasses buyer orientations and jobsite walk-throughs.
Because buying a home is among the most stressful things a person will do, builders can help meet buyers' comfort levels by refining the art of financing and closing.
ESTABLISH TRUST. Eliant CEO Bob Mirman calls trust “the foundation of any future referrals,” but thinks builders and their partners should do a better job communicating proactively with buyers to demonstrate that “they are looking out for the buyer's interest without having to be asked.”KEEP BUYERS AWARE. Paul Cardis, president of Wisconsin-based customer satisfaction consultant NRS Corp., says it's critical that buyers be dissuaded from making large-scale purchases during settlement periods that might alter their credit rating. To prepare buyers, Bank of America often asks mortgage applicants to attend four-hour classes it conducts, says Michael Bradshaw, homeownership services executive with the lender's Dallas office.CREATE A SEAMLESS BUYING EXPERIENCE. JPMorgan Chase has launched “Premier Builder,” which, according to Rich Miller, Chase's senior vice president, builder division, offers seven-day coverage by loan officers, closing cost concessions, and extended document retention. Even though its buyers can negotiate a mortgage anywhere they please, Regis Homes requires them to prequalify with its preferred lender, Irvine, Calif.–based Home 123, which dedicates eight employees to the builder's customers.EXPLOIT TECHNOLOGY. Technical Olympic's Universal Land Title division will soon allow buyers and builders to log onto a Web site to check the status of the construction and settlement processes. And Linda Mamet, John Laing Homes' vice president of sales and marketing, envisions the day when its buyers will get all of their closing documents on a CD.