Prospects and customers need responsiveness. They also need to feel you are an on-demand home builder and an on-demand home seller. Why? 

If you think about it, what we’ve thought of as a quick response is actually slow. Quick used to mean FedEx Overnight Delivery—and we were willing to pay a premium for that speed. Today, that level of “quick” is too slow. As a matter of fact, “quick” is the new slow.

The Web has conditioned today’s home buyer to expect they can get anything they want, anytime they want—instantaneously! They can get answers from Google in an instant. So why shouldn’t you give them answers to questions whenever they want?

Voicemail is too slow; email is cumbersome. Now, it’s just “text me,” because texting is fast. How do you feel when someone does not text you right back? Texting is a conversation, and you don’t want a lapse in conversation. Response must be immediate.

With sharing sites like Docusign or Dropbox, prospects have immediate access to documents or photos. They can buy anything they want, whenever they want, from online retailers like Amazon. Who has time to visit a bookstore or even wait for a book to be shipped to you? Now we have instant downloadable e-books.

Customers have slowed down their visits to Redbox to rent a movie because they want to watch the movie immediately, without having to leave home. Now, we have on-demand and live streaming video.

So this Internet/broadband/algorithmic-based culture has programmed the customer with the idea that you, as a home-seller, should also be available on demand.

And when it comes to the single largest investment of someone’s life, a brand new home, the prospect demands instant access to you. Because when they take that moment of time to reach out to you, they expect you to also be on demand and to respond at that moment.

Don’t believe me? Try this on with a prospect: “Contact us during regular business hours.”

Go ahead. Dare to have a message that says, “If you are leaving this message after hours, please call back during regular business hours tomorrow...”

The caller thinks, “Why is your business closed when the rest of the world is open all day, every day? This is the biggest investment of my life and I want answers...right now!”

And how quickly do you think this prospect will turn to another seller who is immediately accessible? In an instant!

Buyers have options. They are not looking for reasons to buy from you; they are looking for reasons NOT to buy from you.

Remember the story of the tortoise and the hare? That’s a fairy tale—from a long-ago time before the Internet was even a vague idea. Today, that overly confident hare would hand the turtle his lunch if a slow and steady race were to be run.... because the race must be run at high speed. There’s no space or pace for the slow movers.

In today’s world, the sale goes to the homebuilder and home seller with the best service. And the best service is on-demand, high-speed follow-up and follow-through, with on-time delivery. Responding quickly is OK, but immediacy will make you outstanding—and successful.

This post has been adapted from my new e-book co-written with Mollie Elkman, PROVEN PRE-SALES: How to Successfully Launch a New Community, which guides home builders through the process of successfully launching a new home community.