“We see our customers as invited guests to a party, and we are the hosts. It’s our job every day to make every important aspect of the customer experience a little bit better.” – Jeff Bezos
Your website looks great. Ads and posts on your social channels are rocking. You are the king or queen of the mobile home internet.
You’ve got the right inventory at the right price, and lenders are standing ready to buy some deals.
Where is everyone?
Does that sound familiar?
I was looking at a client’s marketing data last week, and I couldn’t believe what I saw. This retailer is advertising just like everyone else, yet their web traffic, phone traffic, foot traffic, and their SALES, are 2-3x the nearest competitor. They get 100s of leads per month, and hundreds of sales per year, at ONE STORE. They’re getting all the business and advertising no differently from anyone else in their market.
What’s the difference?
It’s their experience. Home buyers in their market know that they will get the best experience at this store, no matter what. That is their reputation. Whether someone is buying a $75,000 single, or a $350,000 double, this particular retailer will give them the best buying experience possible. Their marketing and advertising may look like everyone else, but their in store experience feels VERY different.
Do you want to get this kind of business in your store or community? Here are a few things you can do to improve the experience in your store to help you sell more homes:
1. How’s the parking?
Take a look at the picture above. This is from a Walmart parking lot. I chose Walmart for this example because they have the reputation of having some of the most affordable items, much like our industry. Yet they actually have pretty nice stores, all things considered.
Do you see any gravel in that parking lot? Mud? Dirt? Or grass?
Of course not. That is a paved, well lit, and well marked parking lot. There is no standing water, and the parking spaces are clearly marked. No one is going to accuse Walmart of creating a poor experience in their parking lot.
How does yours compare? This is important. Your buyers are shopping at Walmart, so they’re making the comparison. When a potential home buyer steps out of their car, your parking lot is the first experience they have. What does it say about your business?
2. Home buyers are comparing you to EVERYONE
Did you know that Apple has a 55% market share of smart phones, even among lower and middle income earners? This means that more than half of your customers use an Apple product, and it’s VERY likely they’ve been to an Apple store. These stores are modern, well laid out, and are full of associates eager to help out anyone who enters the store.
Apple has an exemplary in store experience. In fact, Apple has the highest sales volume per square foot for any retail store in the United States, from auto dealerships all the way to luxury jewelry stores. They do this by creating an environment in which the customer feels comfortable, welcome, and ready to buy.
How does your lot or community office compare? Is everything laid out in an organized manner? Is everything is easy to find? Are the associates knowledgeable and eager to help? Have you created an environment in which the customer feels comfortable and encouraged to buy?
3. What’s in a name, anyway?
Everything.
If you’ve ever been to a Starbucks (and who hasn’t), you know that when they take your order, they ask for your name. And then when your order is ready, they write your name on your cup, and call you by your first name to come get it.
They don’t do this by accident. They do it so that every customer feels important, and feels as if the barista and everyone else in the shop personally care about them. The baristas have their first names on their uniforms too – this ensures that customers AND baristas are on a first name basis, making everyone more comfortable.
The same can be done in a manufactured home sales center or community office. Learn everyone’s name. Make sure your employees are telling everyone that comes in their name. Get everyone on a first name bases so that everyone that comes into your store is coming into a welcoming, comfortable, first name environment.
4. Appearance Matters
Does your sales team look the guy above, or the team below?
Who would you rather buy from?
Cullman Liquidators may have the ‘common man’ image going, but customers of all demographics are more accustomed to employees and teams like you’ll find at Chick-Fil-A. Don’t make the mistake of thinking that simply because your buyers are buying affordable homes, that appearances don’t matter. Appearances matter very, very much.
National brands like Chick-Fil-A have set the standard for employee appearance and behavior, and anyone selling consumer products (manufactured homes included), has to rise to those standards.
Our industry doesn’t live on an island, all alone. The manufactured home buying experience is being compared to every other retail store the home buyer visits, and they’re judging you by how well you treat them. Whether your customer spends their hard earned dollars at a coffee shop to get a latte, a sales lot to purchase a car, or a salon to get their hair cut, they are comparing those experiences to their home buying experience. If you’re selling anything to modern buyers, you are being held to a very, very high standard.
As an industry, we are asking our customers to make the largest purchase of their lives, and we need to treat them accordingly. They should NOT have a better experience purchasing a $2 coffee than they do purchasing a $200,000 manufactured home. When they leave with a new home after a great purchase experience, they will tell everyone about it. And that is what will really make your marketing, traffic, and your sales, pop.