It’s not the best news. Of those who plan to purchase a new home within the next two years, only 21% say they highly trust homebuilder representatives. We get it, nobody wants to hear that. But for the brands that productively respond to that insight, the opportunities are significant.
The Current Situation
When homebuilding industry veteran, John McManus, founder and president at The Builder’s Daily, says of Wick Marketing’s recent research findings, things like, “… crazy important reveal …” and “… homebuilders’ biggest opportunity area of the moment,” you know it’s time to pay attention.
It’s expensive to operate in an environment where prospects’ trust level is so low. At 36%, trust for master-planned community reps is only slightly better.
Not only can lack of trust inhibit sales when that’s the attitude of homebuyers in the pipeline, but customer service gets tougher to navigate. Social media and PR teams may have bigger challenges, and the same may also be true for the legal department. Now, add in the impact on staff turnover and brand reputation over time. Prioritizing trust may be your ticket to avoiding some of what could be a costly ripple effect.
The Opportunity
Brands that better understand what buyers need during their homebuying process — and help them to get more of it — create an opportunity to enjoy higher sales rates than brands that ignore what buyers say they want. It stands to reason that customer satisfaction scores would follow a similar trend.
Survey respondents said they prioritize builders who answer their questions, address their concerns and are communicative. Doable, right? Some 45% say “easy to work with” is a builder’s most important quality.
Only 10% of recent buyers said they feel homebuilders understand them very well. Maybe the market stressors (for example, interest rate hikes, inflation and home prices) have changed the game. Maybe sales and marketing tactics that used to work don’t resonate today. Are we asking the right questions, and then truly listening for how we can help?
Buyers Want More Support
Builders that re-evaluate and re-tool the buyer experience stand a better chance of connecting with today’s buyers.
Among the things buyers and prospects said they want, are:
- Transparency, especially around pricing
- A clearly defined buyer journey
- Consistent, clear and timely communication
- More and better information and resources, especially around financing
Close the Trust Gap
How else can you help? Have the conversations with your sales and marketing teams. Evaluate where trust is being created – and where it’s being eroded. And create the content, tools, training and resources that bring the buyer experience closer to what they’re asking for. And do that better and sooner than your competition.
Let the buyers see you helping them. It’s powerful.
If you’d like to explore data-informed actions your brand can take now to improve the customer experience, we can help! Please visit wickmarketing.com/research, or reach out to Barbara Wray at barbara@wickmarketing.com or (512) 564-4289 to chat.
About the Study
Wick Marketing commissioned its research partner, Audience Audit, Inc., to conduct the study to gain a comprehensive understanding, backed by statistically significant data, of recent homebuyers’ attitudes and perceptions when choosing a builder and purchasing a new home.
The goal was to better understand people who, despite 10 interest rate hikes, inflation and sometimes inflammatory headlines, still bought new homes. Additionally, the desire was to learn more about what current prospects prioritize in their homebuying experience.
The study took a uniquely quantitative approach to uncover different attitudinal segments within the buyer audience. These segments encompass individuals who hold distinct but common perspectives on the homebuying process, their confidence levels, their degree of trust in builders and real estate agents, as well as their priorities in the homebuying experience.
Methodology
This 15-minute online survey was fielded March 27-April 22, 2023. The majority of U.S. states are represented by the 1,347 respondents. The margin of error is +/- 2.6 percentage points at a 95% confidence level.
To access more insights in our presentation, Beyond Buyer Profiles & Demographics: Who is Buying Homes Now and Why, as well as our free interactive Tableau data visualization tool, where you may view the data that’s most meaningful to you, please visit wickmarketing.com/research.
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