We’re on to our 3rd “P” in Elon Musk’s rules for navigating a recession: Persevere

In this week’s episode, we share the 5 key moves home builders & remodelers need to make to “Persevere” through the impact of a recession on their local housing market.

The 5 moves we review are:
1. How you should scrutinize your offerings to maximum appeal to your target market
2. What to do with your website so you can start pulling more leads from it
3. How to boost your lead’s confidence in choosing you as their builder
4. Recession-proof follow-up tricks
5. How to build your Strategic Partner Network

Watch/Listen/Read this week’s episode below. Apply the 5-key moves, persevere, and you’ll find success!

Builder Lead Lead Converter captures & converts leads for home builders & remodelers so they can grow sales revenue and margins. Find out how https://www.builderleadconverter.com/

Transcript:

Today in Conversations that Convert, we’re gonna talk about persevering through a housing recession and giving you five key moves that you can make as it relates to your marketing and lead generation efforts. What do you say? We 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: Good morning or afternoon, everyone. Welcome to conversations that convert. Hello, Daiana, how are you doing? 

Very well, thank you. Good morning, everyone. And how about you? How are you this morning? 

Rick: Ah, very fine. I don’t look as bright and cheerful as you do in your yellow t-shirt which, by the way, I understand that you just got from your swimming competition. I don’t, I don’t want you to brag, but, I understand you did pretty well. 

Daiana: Yes. it’s actually, it was, I was number seven, so I’m very proud to say that it was my first open water competition and got number seven and this nice yellow t-shirt.

Rick: So congratulations on that, we’re always neat to try and, and do new things. So what are we talking about today, Daiana? 

Daiana: Today we will adjust marketing and lead generation. And of course, we persevere with Elon Musk Strategy. 

Rick: That’s right. Yeah. This is the third part in our series of a builder’s guide to recession-proofing your business. So what we’re gonna do today is break down five key marketing and lead generation moves. If you’re a home builder or a modeler you can make to persevere through the impact of a recession on your local housing market. And, Daiana also mentioned that this is part of Elon Musk PPP strategy for navigating through a recession. So the first thing we do is predict the impact in our local market. Then we prepare for it. And now we’re gonna talk about persevering through it or pushing through it. And this goes back to, a statement that I learned from one of my mentors that, prosperity conceals your genius and adversity reveal it. So, this is where we really start to get smart with our business, it’s been a very prosperous market the last couple of years. Home builders and remodelers really haven’t had to do a whole lot to generate new business. The challenge has been more, how do I produce the business, and do it in a manner that I can be profitable? So now we have the added challenge of the leads starting to dry up. Markets are changing. markets are coming more in balance. Every market is different, which is why we always encourage you to look at your own KPIs or key performance indicators to predict if a housing recession is either on the way or perhaps you’re already in, in your local market. All right. So let’s talk about these, persevere moves. There are five of ’em. Move number one, if you are a home builder, what you wanna do is start scrutinizing your offerings. And so what I mean by this, Daiana is that a lot of builders get lackadaisical with their plan with their home plans. So the first thing we wanna do is we want to remove stale plans and we wanna update or add more relevant plants so plans are like anything else. They get old and stale. They wear out people’s taste. You see competitors doing things in the marketplace and you have to continually sort of reinvent yourself when it comes to your plans. The other thing as a home builder can do is do something that I’m really a fan of is, is create option bundles. And that’s where you, say, take a room within the home and you put together a list of items that are normally individual options and you bundle them together. And then you saw ’em at a reduced price. So as an example, a kitchen is a perfect room. Perhaps, a master bathroom, maybe there is an outdoor living option bundle. So the way you present this is that you would itemize ’em all out and shows what they would cost individually. Then you bundle ’em together and show ’em what the savings are. The key thing here is a simplification. when things get tough, you want to simplify your offerings and really streamline them. And that’s what the scrutiny is all about. Now, one other note, if you’re a remodeler, a lot of remodelers too, they, they talk about, well, we do certain types of projects, but those projects it’s always designed built. So one of the things that you can consider as a modeler is bundling your projects to hit price points and attract new business. So, one thing we came up with years ago for a design-builder, and modeler was creating an express division. And so an express division was just. It was a way that if the budget didn’t allow them to do a design build on a specific room or rooms within the home, they could, they could express that project, and reduce the cost, but it’s not a design to build. It’s simply changing out with it in an existing space. So it’s just an idea, of YouTube to be able to keep the phone ringing thoughts, on any of those, Daiana?

Daiana: I, first of all, like the naming, like scrutinize your offerings. I think it’s something that you, you, you, you really remember to do after you hear that. So I think, it’s good to hear that. So for me, it’s very impactful and powerful when I read that. You should be your own biggest critic. 

Rick: Yes.

Daiana: You know, and, and again, we oftentimes get lazy because we’re in the industry. We understand the terms, we understand our process, but the consumer doesn’t and what you have going on now is that the market changes, you’re gonna have a lot of pressure to not do something or to wait. 

Rick: Yeah. 

Daiana: And so you’ve gotta create reasons and you’ve gotta, you’ve gotta really streamline that path and scrutinize your offer offerings to make it as simple, as possible, as easy as possible to get involved and get that project done because people are still gonna wanna do stuff. There’s just gonna be less of them and there’s gonna be more competition for them. 

Daiana: So don’t avoid. Yeah. And don’t postpone. Because we have a specific context.

Rick:  Exactly. Yeah. When’s the best time to S your offerings today? 

Daiana: Yeah. 

Rick: Yep. Do it today. Okay. 

Daiana: Let’s see. What’s move number two?

Rick: So number two, which relates to marketing and lead generation is, you wanna rebuild your website? Now, what I tell builders all the time is look, your, your website is like a building, a model, home it, the model home, the designs, the products, the colors, all of that changes all the time. And after about two years, that model is no longer relevant. Websites are the same way. The look and feel of websites change, the functionality of websites change, and technology improves, all of this adds to updating the look and feel of your site. So you look relevant, but also in enhancing the usability or the user experience of your website. So, if it’s been more than two years, you need to look at your website right away. That’s really the hub of where all your leads should be coming from. And of course, from a marketing standpoint, it’s your value proposition. It’s the first thing that people see typically. And they’re either going to add you to their consideration list, or they’re going to add you to their exclude list based on what your, what your website looks like. So let’s just give you a couple of things here that you should have on your website now, number one is lead magnets. So lead magnet is simply an opportunity for a lead to create a permission-based relationship, or it’s called an opt-in relationship. They put their contact information in and that’s usually in exchange for something else that they find of value. Typically that’s an educational piece based on what is my project gonna look like. How much is it gonna cost? And do you build in the location that I’m interested in? Okay. So I’ll break these down for the lead banks we typically use, number one is design or floor plans. Number two would be just planning. So let’s just say I’m 3, 6, or 9 months out. help me plan out my project. Number three is pricey. Okay. I wanna get an idea of how much stuff costs and we developed a tool it’s really cool called the scoping wizard. So it allows the lead actually to go on there and scope out their project so that they can get a budget established for that project, lots, or find the location to build. So if you’re a remodeler, a service area, if you’re a home builder, where do you have communities? Where do you have lots? Quick question. This is something that you, need to, get SMS or short message sequence. I believe it stands for text messaging. You need to get that involved with your website. Everyone likes to text today. They also respond to text messages. So allow them to send you a text message to ask a quick question on your website. scheduling a call. If you do, if your target market is a busy executive, they want you to call them at a certain time, allow them to be able to, you know, go in on your calendar, pick a date and time when you should call them. And then finally schedule a tour. Even if you have for your floor plans, that you do not have built, even if you’re a custom builder and you do not build spec homes or model homes, put a call to action on there to allow them to schedule a tour. Obviously, you have similar homes, and you can get them in your clients, but you want them to actually be able to, to take that first step to wanna schedule something, to see your, your work. So those are the lead magnets that we typically work with and the ones that get the most play. Oh, Daiana, I’ll let you guess which ones you think to get the most play and have the most amount of people taking advantage of them.

Daiana: Well, those with the specific call to action. I’m saying so. And I remember you mentioned the two years, period to change them and update the website last week. So yeah. 

Rick: Yeah. So, so the call to action on there that, that a client usually opts into number one is design or floor plants, right? Because, because people can’t visualize. They can’t visualize what the space could look like or what their new home will look like. Number two is they want to get pricing information. You know this is the second one. And then the third one is typically gonna be planning or a quick question where they’re gonna use the text messaging, sequence. And then lastly for content, the most important content that you can have on your website is number one is testimonials and reviews. Those are confidence builders. Those will help increase your lead generation. So the best testimonial is always gonna be a video of a live client telling about how great you are.

Daiana: Yeah. 

Rick: The second best will be a written testimonial with a photo. The third is going to be just the written testimonial. However, just a written testimonial. Typically, I mean, it’s, it’s better than nothing, but it has the least effect on building confidence. Now, the other thing you can do is you can integrate a widget to actually bring in your Google, my business reviews, onto your website. So people can see live online reviews, too. That works very, very well. floor plans, project photos, your service area, or the communities you build in. And then finally, if you’re a home builder and you build spec homes or model homes, you’re available homes, that’s the content you wanna have on your site, along with a fresh, easy to navigate, layout with plenty of lead magnets to help increase those lead conversions. Any thoughts, Daiana?

Daiana: See, those are my thoughts. So very, very variable, variable strategies. And, it’s, it’s, it’s, it’s easy to implement and I think it’s important to keep it simple and, and choose what’s working and do at least one call to action. 

Rick: Yeah, that’s a good point. You test everything. Yeah. You know, we’ve tested stuff for well over a decade and so that’s how we, we know that information. so we make sure, we also make sure we’re tracking what the leads are. Most ed or most used pages are on that website. And that’s where you wanna put your call to action, as well as your confidence builders, like your testimonials, and your reviews.

Daiana: Right. Let’s see. What’s move number three? 

Rick: Yeah. So move number three is to build your online reputation. Okay. So this is very, very simple. The reason you do this is that it builds confidence. Everyone today wants to see reviews. However, you don’t get reviews without asking for them. So. This is a great time to go out and get reviews from your current past clients. And if you’re a builder too, don’t forget about getting reviews from the realtors that you have worked with, or just are aware of you. The number one place to get reviews is Google my business. Why? Because that’s going to help your search engine rankings. The more reviews you have on there, you’re gonna show up in local, and very, very important. So someone searches for home builders in your local area. that they’re gonna show up anybody who, who is on a Google my business, local listing. So if you have a listing in that particular area, as a home builder, you’re gonna show up in that search. And if you, the more forward five-star reviews that you have, the higher you’re gonna rank there. So you can get a lot of business off of Google. Google. My business is also a chat feature that you can also do, posts on there too. Just like social media. So you can show some relevant, imagery on there as, as well. It’s a really, really powerful tool and the best news is it’s free. Okay. So that’s the first place. Second place HOUZZ. H O U Z, Z. So if you don’t have a HOUZZ account and you want to get a HOUZZ account going, you wanna get some idea books on there, and also you wanna get reviews on HOUZZ house is a great way to add traffic to your pipeline because it’s a way, again, a lead can search, buy Builder types. So home builder or remodeler and by geographic location. And it’s a great way where you can showcase your stuff. and then the third is gonna be Facebook, your Facebook page, getting reviews on there. And remember Google will also aggregate your hows and your Facebook. So they’ll show ’em all together. So the more reviews you have out there, the more positive they are, and the higher you’re gonna be in the search rankings. And that’s just gonna help you build your organic leads. Any thoughts, Daiana? 

Daiana: Well, so my idea is to stay in the game and build your online reputation ongoing. So not just from time to time or when you, you think you need it for, for sales or just do it like a, a habit.

Rick: It’s a really good point. Think. Yeah, it’s a really good point. I, if you haven’t done it, most builders I’ve found is that they don’t have really a good process for getting online reviews. 

Daiana: Yeah. 

Rick: So now is what you wanna do is you wanna start that process and then you wanna continue it going forward and don’t, don’t stop. Continue to build that. 

Daiana: All right. Let’s see what’s move number four. 

Rick: Yeah. Number. Yeah. Number four is going to be automating your follow-up. And this is something that still blows my mind is that a lot of builders still, do a manual follow-up. So lead comes in and then a lot of times they review it. Maybe they give it to somebody else and it can take days.

Daiana: Yeah. 

Rick: To get back to that lead. So we asked this question last time. I’m gonna ask it again. How soon should you reply to a new lead? 

Daiana: As soon as possible that’s why.

Rick: As soon as possible. Yeah. And I, and my, my answer is one minute.

Daiana: One minute. 

Rick: It’s always one minute, right?

Daiana: One minute. 

Rick: Cause if it’s immediate, it looks automated. Yeah. If it’s one minute, it looks organic, and ideally, I wanna get you when you’re still on my website. So, if you’re still looking at my website, I wanna follow up with you because I know that, that emotions are at their highest. If I’ve done my job, I’m showcasing beautiful projects. I’ve got floor plans on there. I’ve got testimonials and I’ve got reviews. And you just opted in. I wanna reply in one minute and I wanna try to book you an appointment. So number one, you wanna automate your follow-up, starting with a booking campaign. There’s no reason why you have to book your own appointments anymore, or chase leads. You can automate all of that. And number two, you wanna automate your nurturing campaign. So these are more for your long-term leads, leads that have gone cold, but you wanna nurture that relationship over a period of months, sometimes it’s years so that when that lead is ready, you will be their builder of choice. They’re gonna think of you first and you get the opportunity, to make that sale. So a lot of you may have a Cold lead. You may have leads that are sitting on a spreadsheet. You may have leads that are in your database. Now is the time to go in and reactivate those cold leads. We do something called database reactivation where we’ll send out 300 test me messages at once with a specific offer and call to action. And then we just book appointments using our artificial intelligence. And so we can, a lot of our clients, we can book 10 or more appointments over a period of a couple of days. And that gets ’em right back up, you know, into the game where then they can convert several appointments into site visits and ultimately, ultimately sales. Thoughts, Daiana?

Daiana: One minute. I’m always struck by how fast I forget about that minute. And I, I think my automation starts immediately, so I definitely have to go there and, and, and change that. So that’s, that’s my takeaway. So automate the follow-up and. Just don’t send it immediately after.

Rick: The best, best follow-up is a text.

Daiana: Best.

Rick: Yes. An SMS. Yeah. A text message. And then we also something, as far as follow up, you gotta incorporate, phone as well. So there’s something out there we can do called voicemail drops. Voicemail drops are where you take a prerecorded message from our clients. We drop it right into that leads voicemail, and it’s like, wow, these people are on the ball, you know? And of course, there’s email, as well. if somebody comes in through Facebook messenger, Instagram, or even, Google my business as a chat feature. We can automate those responses as well. So you’re just never letting any opportunity fall, to the side because you, you, you automate all of this. Yeah. 

Daiana: And number five? 

Rick: Yeah. Number five is probably the most important one that you can focus on right now, too. I mean, they’re all important, but building a strategic partner network. A lot of again, because business was so prominent in the last couple of years, we really haven’t needed strategic partners, but we definitely do now, now a strategic partner is simply somebody who is associated with your business, and who can bring you more than one buyer. So, a Classic example is your current and past clients. Those are the first people you should go to. If you wanna create a strategic partner network with all those people, and create a rewards program for them. You wanna communicate with them on a regular basis and you have to ask for referrals and also you have to reward them for sending you a referral, not only them but the people that get referred to you. You, you just, you gotta stay top of mind with, with those folks. Number two is if you’re a home builder and even remodelers realtors, you know, a lot of realtors if you’re a remodeler, they do sell homes to people that they need to remodel their home. And a lot of people will remodel their homes before they move in. So having those realtor relationships is very, very important. And home builders, obviously it’s the same thing you want to get back and start outreaching out to those realtors again, making sure they know what your offerings are, partnering with them, however, you can so you stay top of mind. Now a strategic partner network is not something where you’re gonna see fruit immediately. It’s like you just said with, reviews that it takes time and you have to be consistent at it, but when’s the best time to start building your strategic partner network, Daiana? 

Daiana: I can say yesterday.

Rick: Yesterday.

Daiana: Now it’s a good answer.

Rick: Yeah. Yesterday. Exactly. And then don’t forget trades and suppliers is another good one too. you know, we, as when, as a home builder, when I, when I worked as a, as a GM, as well as a sales manager, we would build lots of homes for our trades and suppliers, and we would get referrals from them, as well. So you just, but you have to, you have to create a program for it. You have to ask for the business and, reward them for setting you a, a. So I hope, those five things were helpful for per persevering through a recession next week, we’re gonna talk about things you can do to adjust your sales process. So if you’d like to schedule your strategy, call and find out how we can help you prepare and prosper and persevere in a recessionary housing market, go ahead and click that link right below the video here today. Thanks so much for joining us and for my brothers and sisters in Christ made the grace of a Lord Jesus Christ. The love of God and the fellowship of the holy spirit be with you all. Always, we will see you next time on Conversations that Convert.