At 995,246 lifetime frequent flyer miles with United Airlines, I’m anxiously waiting to cross the magic million mark. As a veteran traveler I have experienced my fill of turbulence, missing flight crews, broken planes, screaming children, sinus-infected seat mates without any tissues, and bad coffee.
This is a love-hate relationship. I’ve come to expect these and other potentially aggravating details to pepper every trip. I’m pleased when at least some of them do not occur; my tolerance quotient has risen along with my mileage total. Mostly, I am delighted when the wheels touch down.
On several occasions, United has really come through: getting me safely out of Ft. Lauderdale hours before the first 2004 hurricane or getting me home from Cleveland promptly when my Dad took ill. Interestingly, I am always surprised when such things happen. Clearly I expect the worst and, therefore, it takes only civility and reasonableness to delight me.
What does this train (or plane) of thought suggest for home builders interested in pleasing their customers? One idea is that you should deal with experienced home buyers—those that have gone through the home-building process before—differently than you deal with first-time custom clients. Today’s home-buying population has a greater diversity of experience and home construction knowledge than ever before. Builders need to factor that diversity into their systems for working with customers.
For instance, a seasoned customer will likely understand many of the typical events of new-home construction: days when no one is working, a broken window that takes four weeks to replace, a stud with a knot hole, the wrong light fixture not just delivered but actually installed. The list of possible concerns goes on and on. The experienced new-home buyer has survived such happenings before and can expect to survive them this time.
Then again, having been through it all before may make a buyer less patient with it this time around, as if a raw nerve has been created and lurks waiting to be stimulated. While you might lament the failure of other builders to better represent the profession, their failures can only make you look better. And what if the home buyers in front of you had an outstanding experience with their last new home? You will need to be at your best to impress them.
Which brings us to this conclusion: Having this background information—whether it is positive or negative—can be significant as you work with your buyers. Inquire about your buyers’ experiences as a matter of routine. Get beyond demographics. Learn not just how many bedrooms and what style home they’ve had, but what their previous builders did well. Where could they have improved? What have previous builders done that impressed them? Offended them? Which processes and procedures pleased them? Which caused aggravation?
Knowing about your buyers’ home-history can help you look after details that are particularly significant for them. Taking time to truly get to know what kind of customer sits in front of you may result in your deciding to follow columnist Al Trellis’advice and refer them to your competition. On the other hand, you might learn exactly what keeps this customer content.
Carol Smith offers customer service assessment, consulting, and training programs for home builders. She can be reached at csmithhomeaddress@att.net.
