Since starting this consumer research company on my dining room table in 1984, I have gathered an incredible database of strategies used by over 1,800 homebuilders to delight their customers. Here’s one of the best ideas: Turn each new-home purchase into an extraordinary experience by planning a series of memorable surprises for each buyer […]
Why aren’t you a better partner? A common refrain we hear from builders is how frustrated they are with trade performance, and the main issues stem from poor communication and feedback. That’s why we developed TradeStar. Our TradeStar program is a first-of-its-kind solution in the homebuilding industry designed to strengthen builder-trade partnerships for mutual maximum […]
Don’t paint your reputation into a corner… Imagine a family of five purchasing their first home, actually it’s seven, if you include Emily and Hercules, their two dogs. With anticipated excitement, the family receives the keys to their new home and begins moving in. The kids run wildly all throughout the house testing every door, […]
How Much Does Customer Care Drive the Market? Steve Jobs once said, “You’ve got to start with the customer experience and work back toward the technology, not the other way around.” The same is true for homebuilding. While home prices and the job market are drivers of home purchases, the customer journey is also a […]
Inside the Design Center: How to Successfully Grow Sales and Referrals When you help someone design the look and feel of their new home, you play a lasting part in the way they live. A home serves as the backdrop of life’s most memorable moments, whether it’s hosting family for the holidays or having a […]
You need more than home quality to drive sales from referrals Twisted my knee a couple of days ago. Not sure how. Probably doing something extremely strenuous, like getting into my golf cart. So, at 5:25 this morning, I limped out to my community spa for some whirlpool action. Turned the timer-dial to 20-minutes. […]
“There are only three metrics that tell you nearly everything you need to know about your organization’s overall performance: employee engagement, customer satisfaction, and cash flow.” – Jack Welch, former CEO, General Electric I recently reviewed our list of over 150 builder clients, ranked in order of their customers’ willingness to recommend them to […]
Based on the results of surveys administered to hundreds of thousands of homeowners, Eliant has identified the survey categories and questions which had received the lowest level of satisfaction. Each of the survey’s ‘Quality’ categories contains a number of detailed questions which are designed to provide builders with a prescription for improving the performance […]
Several years ago, I wrote an article for Builder Digest: “Forget About Satisfying Your Customers”, in which I referred to a list of ten steps suggested by Eliant for improving homeowner referrals. Since that article appeared, we have received hundreds of requests for our list and have been happy to send our suggestions to all […]
“Learn from the mistakes of others. You can never live long enough to make them all yourself.” ~Groucho Marx You can bet your life that Groucho was right. Time is short. Why not speed up the learning curve and learn from others’ mistakes and successes? Use Customer Evaluations to Motivate Your Staff Yelp. Trip Advisor. […]