You’ve captured a lead and now it’s time to convert them into a phone appointment- what’s the best way to do this?

With the right strategies, builders can grow their client base by connecting with more high-quality online custom home & remodeling leads.

In this latest episode, we dive into the the power of using marketing segmentation to turn leads into actual phone calls. We shared how to strategically release information, utilize multiple communication platforms, and create a sense of urgency that will have potential clients lining up to schedule appointments.

Watch/Listen/Read on to discover how best to nurture relationships with your new prospects in order to build profitable long-term engagements!

Builder Lead Converter ATTRACTS, CAPTURES & CONVERTS high-quality leads for builders so they can pick & choose their clients & jobs. Find out how at https://www.builderleadconverter.com

 

Transcript:

Today on Conversations That Convert, we are starting a new series called Digital Lead Generation Secrets. Today we’ll be talking about custom builder and remodeler website content that attracts high quality leads. Let’s get started.

 

Welcome to Conversations That Convert. Every week, we’ll spend about 10 to 15 minutes tackling relevant lead generation marketing and sales topics for remodelers, home improvement companies and home builders Conversations That Convert is brought to you by Builder Lead Converter, your perfect sales assistant.

 

And now here’s Rick and Daiana. 

 

Rick: Welcome to Conversations that Converts everyone. Hello Daiana. How are you today? 

 

Daiana: Hello. Very well, thank you. And you? 

 

Rick: Ah, doing well. Thank you. It’s another fun week. And what are we talking about today? 

 

Daiana: Today we start a new series of custom builder and remodel website content that attracts high quality leads. So excited to start a new series. 

 

Rick: Absolutely. The series is called Digital Lead Generation Secrets. We will be taking you through a ride and looking at why some builders get chosen over other builders as it relates to the online lead journey. So this is a journey and we will start today with looking at content. And of course, all of this is predicated on the number one marketing challenge for custom builders and remodelers. And of course, that challenge is, generating high quality leads. It was just a, a survey released by the Association of Professional Builders called the State of the Residential Construction Industry, and every year they survey about 1000 custom builders and remodelers between us, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand, and more than 50% of the builders reported in 2022 that that was the number one marketing issue, which was generating high quality leads. And of course, where do leads start their journey? It’s always online. So why would we not take up this, this topic, right, Daiana, any thoughts? 

 

Daiana: Yes. That’s exciting. Yes. Let’s, let’s dive into this topic. 

 

Rick: All right, so here’s where we come up and we, we lay out the unique challenges that a custom builder and remodeler has. The vast majority of you do not build model homes. You do not build spec homes. So if I am a new home lead or, or a remodeling lead, I don’t have the ability to walk into a model home like I do for, say, a, a spec builder, production builder, semi-custom home builder or perhaps I don’t have land set aside to be able to attract leads to it. So I am super reliant on my website. Almost a hundred percent of my leads will come through my website versus if I’m a, a production builder where I’ve got model homes, spec homes, I have land and lots. I’m attracting all sorts of leads that way. So that’s the unique perspective that custom builders and remodelers have is that you don’t have that physical entity outside of maybe just your office where you can be attracting leads in future business just by building a spec home and by buying a lot and putting a, a sign on it. So with that unique perspective in mind, we will start with understanding what is going through the mind of your prospective client, your lead in, in this case, every lead comes to the table with three questions. So the content that you have on your website must answer these three questions. And more importantly, if you have content on your website that does not answer these three questions. You can be losing leads because of that. So yes, you can have too much and the wrong content on your website. More is not always better. That is for sure. So question number one, Daiana, let’s test your knowledge and see how, how well you remember this question. Number one is?

 

Daiana: Location. 

 

Rick: Well, that’s one of ’em. Yeah. So we’ll call location. Where can I build my new home? Or if I’m interested in remodeling, do you come to my neighborhood? Okay, question number two.

 

Daiana: Price. 

 

Rick: Price, exactly. That’s typically the number two question. And that is people wanna know, how much will it cost to remodel my kitchen or build my custom home? And question number three is?

 

Daiana: No. I don’t know…

 

Rick: What design… 

 

Daiana: Product. 

 

Rick: Product, yes. Product or design. In other words, what will my new home look like? What will my completed project look like? So, and this is the order that they asked them in. It’s number one, they cannot visualize. So they wanna know what will it look like? Number two. Once I, once I get an idea of how much, what it’ll look like, how much will it cost, and then number three, where can I build it or do you come to my neighborhood? So that is the information that we need to add to our website to answer those three questions. And the really the most important thing that y’all understand is this, is that everyone is looking for a local expert to answer those three questions. And when they find a builder that will answer all three, they will stop looking. That is the key here is that we want to keep them on the website long enough to stop looking. Now, lemme give you a simple analogy here. I used to work model homes a lot, and one of the things we understood with the model home is that the longer you could keep someone in a model home, the higher the likelihood that you could actually convert them into a lead and ultimately an appointment to move ’em into your sales process. Your website is nothing more than a virtual model home or a sales center, or a showroom, however you wanna look at it. The longer you keep them there, the more likely you are to capture them. So you have to have high quality, relevant content that will be based on answering all three of those questions. All right. Are we good so far? 

 

Daiana: Good. Product, price, location. 

 

Rick: That’s right. Yes. So the question here is why leads pick one builder over another? And this gets into the specific content that you need to have on your website as a custom builder or remodeler. The first thing we need to understand is this, is that 19 seconds, that is the amount of time according to Ehrenberg Bass Institute of Marketing Sciences report shopping only takes, only takes seconds. It’s the average amount of time a consumer makes a decision to buy or not buy from you. 19 seconds, which blows my mind, Daiana, because a lot of these people, they’re making hundreds of thousands of dollars or multi-million dollar decisions, and it’s, it literally, our brain is wired so that if we do not see the content that we are looking for in 19 seconds, we’re gone. So that is why some builders get picked over others is simply because they’re offering that content that answers one of those, or all three of those questions for your leads, while other builders are not. It’s just, it’s really as, as simple as that. And of course you have to be found as well, and I can get into search engine optimization and visibility in, in the search engines, but we will, that’s a completely different topic. We will get to that, but not, not today. All right. So how many pieces of content does the consumer engage with prior to making the purchase? About 11.4 pieces. So think about that content as your location pages, your floor plans, your project types, your available homes, your photo galleries, about 11.4 pieces of content. And for us, a purchase is simply an opt-in. It’s a, it’s a, it’s a conversion from an opportunity. Somebody just visiting your website or your online store to an actual lead. Thoughts, Daiana?

 

Daiana: I, I’m impressed about the numbers 90 seconds and 11.4 pieces. So somehow if, if I look back, I realize that this is a confirmation and it’s true. It’s working. 

 

Rick: Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. And, and it’s, it’s really amazing to see when we work with a new client. They have a website up and the content, it might be missing some, some content. It might be just not in, it’s not a good layout. That’s easy to find. And so the first thing that we focus on is really plugging those opportunity leaks cuz every builder has a, a built-in set of organic opportunity. People that are already visiting their digital footprint. So that’s your social media channels. That is your, your website, your blog, perhaps and it’s your, your paid ads if you’re doing that. So you already have opportunities there. So the first thing we wanna do is just plug those opportunity leaks and see how many leads we can generate, and ultimately how many appointments we can convert into a phone call. So there’s three. The, the, the three kinds of content. This is, you know, there’s different types of content, but the three kinds of content that are most influential in the leads journey. The first type is what we call expert content. This is, this really boils back to sales 101. So let me explain here. Expert content is case studies of your clients. So a case study is simply taking somebody that you’ve done a project for. Breaking down what that experience was like, and then finally showing them what the end result was. And there’s a formula that goes with that. You start off with their problem. So what were they not able to do because of their current home? Number two, you, you agitate that problem. How did that affect their lifestyle? Number three, you introduce a solution. Okay? That’s your design, that’s your expertise. Number four, you show them what were the results. What were the results of that solution? And it’s all based on lifestyle. So case studies and video testimonials of your clients is really the most important expert content you can get. Now, you can also do third party articles, public relations, and ironically, Daiana, I dunno if I told you this, but I graduated with an emphasis in public relations, so I, I literally know a little bit about public relations, and this is many, many years ago, but I know a little bit about it and, and if you go to a public relations firm, And you want to put out a press release. The first thing they were asking you is that they’ll say, we need a subject. And you say, well, what is a subject? We need a person or persons to write this press release about. In other words, if you can say, Here’s my client and here’s their photo and here’s some video of them and here’s their testimony. They can write a public relations piece around that and they can submit it. And oftentimes that will get traction. If you look at any newspaper article out there or any online article that’s, you know, written with newspaper content, especially as it’s local news, it always has a subject. So it’s a person or group of people that the article is written about. So, the most important thing to understand is this. How do people buy Daiana? Where do they start? They start with making an emotional decision, right? So emotionally, I decide that I want to buy a car, get a new dress, buy something you know, it’s always emotional. And because I’m always thinking lifestyle or how will this improve my life by making this purchase. New Homes Remodeling is, is no different than that. So expert content will focus on emotional appeal. Now, the second type of content is what’s called brand content. Now this is content that you generate. So what is this? It’s your floor plans. It’s available homes, or to be built packages. It’s locations, your service area, it’s your photo galleries. Now, this is really important to understand is a lot of the clients that we work with, we look at their websites to start with and they say, well, we’re a custom building. We don’t have floor plans. It does not matter. You have to show a representation of the homes that you build. So you have to have plans on your website. Well, Rick, we don’t build spec homes. It doesn’t matter. You have to show examples of homes and or to be built packages and give them price ranges because why? The second most important questions on every lead’s mind is how much, and you can show examples of that work. Remodeling’s a little bit different. We’ll talk about that more as we get into lead generation. And then thirdly is locations and service area. They wanna know, do you build where I have my lot or where I would like to acquire a lot? Or will you come to my neighborhood, you know, my zip code. Photo galleries are also very, very important for emotional appeal and, you know, and if you’re a remodeler, you don’t put before pictures in your photo galleries only after. There’s no emotional appeal to before pictures. There is a time and place to use those. It’s just not here on your website. Brand content here. All right, and Daiana, any thoughts here? Anything you that I missed? 

 

Daiana: Well, no, but I think it’s important to check all those points and have that list and be aware of, of that and and add it and do it in a conscious way. So just not lose opportunities just because you miss some of those areas. 

 

Rick: Now a lot, if you’re a builder and you’re looking at this, you’re saying, well, what about about us and what about our process and what about our wars? All those things. It’s fine if you have that, but it should not be the focus of your website. Yes, you can have an about us section. You can put all those things in your About Us section and some leads as they get a little bit farther into the sales process, they will look at that, but a new lead. That does not know if you have a floor plan for them or if you build their project type or what price points you, you focus in what locations or service area you have. If they don’t understand that first, they do not go to your About Us page. They don’t care about your process. They don’t care about your awards. They don’t care about you until they understand that you can help them with their problem. Okay? So anything and everything that you have that is not related to these items can be a hindrance to actually. Capturing leads online or high quality digital leads. So yes, you can have too much content on your website, but more importantly, you can have the wrong content in the wrong areas. If these, if this information is hard to find on your website, and by hard I mean if it’s more than one click away, you will have a problem, you will lose leads. Alright, so let’s look at the third type of content here. This is user generated content and professional associations. So reviews, obviously Google My business, Facebook House, any place where you have digital reviews. It’s very, very important. Professional Associations, National Association of Home Builders Association of Professional Builders, your state and local HBAs. If you’re lo- if any sort of local associations you’re part of, such as a local chamber of commerce some of you are maybe a better business bureau, that sort of thing, those are important. Why Rick? Because this is the logical justification step. Remember, we, we buy emotionally and just justify logically. So with our expert content and our brand content, we created a lot of emotional appeal. But now in order to bring it home, to get that high quality lead, to actually take the next step. We need to logically justify it. And we do that by showing we are a professional organization. These are the associations we belong to, this is our reviews from our happy clients. And these are, these are. Reviews that are active. In other words, they’re not three or four years old, they might be three or four months old. So you have to have a review generating process. You’re always showing fresh reviews. And that’s when people see that, that’s when they will say, okay, I’m ready to take the next step. And that’s where you create the opt-in or the lead capture. Any final thoughts, Daiana? 

 

Daiana: Well those are very valuable and especially the to, to just take time to read those reviews and just connect with professional associations, and then it’ll bring a lot of clarity, so…

 

Rick: Absolutely get the logos on your website. We recommend putting ’em in your, in your footer. If you wanna put awards on your website, that’s fine. Just don’t let them gobble up. The valuable real estate where your leads are looking for, again, answering those three questions, what, where and how much. Now, lastly, we’ll, we’ll throw another question out to you, Daiana, see how well you’re listening here.

 

Daiana: Yes. 

 

Rick: What percentage of the, of a custom home or remodeler’s buyer’s journey is completed prior to engaging a builder? In other words, before they have that first conversation, what percentage of that buyer’s journey is complete just by a builder’s digital footprint? What do you think the percentage is?

 

Daiana: I have no idea. 80.

 

Rick: 80 to 80. That’s pretty, that’s pretty much it. Yeah. 70 to 90%. 70 to 90% of the journey is complete prior to engaging the builder. And this is what I always tell people and our clients, is that trust and value are established online and they’re confirmed onsite. In other words, they will begin to trust you. They’ll see the value of what you’re doing from your digital footprint, specifically your website, your blogs, your social media, and then they will confirm that once they actually meet you face-to-face and have that phone conversation. So the good news is, is that if you do this right, this online part, right, you only have 10 to 30% of the way to go in order to get them to a, a contract. So very, very important to remember. Now, if you would like to find out how we can help you attract, capture, and convert high quality leads so you can pick and choose your clients and jobs, go ahead and just click the link below. Be happy to schedule a strategy call with you, find out more about your business and see if we might be able to help you do just that. Next week we’ll start to look at layouts, so we’ll be getting into different layouts of websites for home billers and remodelers, and where you put this important content. Final thoughts from you, Daiana? 

 

Daiana: Well, it seems like I, I was exactly in the middle, so 70 to 90, and I chose 80. So I, I’m proud of myself.

 

Rick: Absolutely. You did, you did great. Absolutely. So if you haven’t done already, please give this video a, like a share, a subscribe. So you, we, you can get this other content to you. We take these videos, we put, we create them shorts out of them. So if you like one to three minute videos, you can use those just for a daily dose of helping you attract, capture and convert high quality leads so you two can pick and choose your jobs. For my brothers and sisters in Christ, may the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be with you all, always. We’ll See you next time on Conversations That Convert. Bye-bye.