Scenario: Charlie Brandt builds mostly upscale custom homes for nouveau riche clients. He builds three or four houses a year in the multi-million-dollar category, and makes an excellent living. He has a good reputation for quality and dependability, and prides himself on handholding demanding clients. So imagine his surprise when John Byer, one of his potential clients, a customer he thought was nearly a sure thing, told him he had decided to build with someone else. Not another custom builder, mind you, but a high-end production builder.
“Why did you choose them?” he asked John. “They aren’t even custom builders.”
“Well my wife visited their model home,” John told Charlie. “And she liked what she saw. She had a hard time visualizing what the home would have looked like from the blueprints you gave us, but when she walked into the foyer of their home, she said, ‘Yes, that’s what I want.’”
“But I thought she wanted a custom kitchen, with a Sub-Zero refrigerator and Viking range,” Charlie said. “And a double shower in the master bath, with his-and-her walk-in closets with closet organizers.”
“They said they could do all that, and worked out a revised price right there. Then Molly decided the dining room was too small, so they added two feet to the width of the room, and computed a new price. It was pretty amazing,” John said.
“Were you able to get all the custom millwork you wanted?” Charlie asked.
“To be honest, I didn’t know what I wanted. I just wanted something a lot nicer than the standard millwork you see in production homes. They showed me three different trim packages and let me take my pick. Then they walked us through the flooring and hardware selections, helped us add fireplaces and extra lights where they thought we would like them. They were so helpful it seemed like a dream. We got the house we wanted, with the custom touches we desired, without having to drive all over town making selections and agonizing over every decision.”
“But it’s not really a custom home,” Charlie pointed out.
“What difference does that make?” John replied. “I got the home I wanted, modified to meet my needs, without the hassles and uncertainties of building something from scratch. Man, that’s the best of both worlds.”
What can Charlie do to stop losing more sales to this competitor?
