Heat Up Prospects Despite The Cooldown In Sales
31 low cost ways to jump-start traffic at your model home.
With home sales falling in nearly every region of the country, the competition is heating up for the remaining buyers. To stay competitive, get buyers to visit your model home with these cost-effective strategies. Not all of these will be applicable, depending on where your model is located. Pick and choose the ones that are right for you and develop a plan to get more face time with prospects.
1 Install two or three 4'x5' flags roadside or at the entrance to your model home. These flags—for example, Welcome, Open or Model Home—are proven to increase traffic. Ensure the flags are taken down each day when you close.
2 Update your website weekly, with industry news, mortgage rates, whatever is interesting and informative. This will create a better search ranking for your company and help drive visitors to your physical model.
3 Create a calendar of events link on the website. The majority of consumers are more apt to visit your site before they visit your model, so make sure you have all your activities listed online.
4 Distribute penny flyers in local area attractions, such as restaurants, hotels and other businesses. Ensure the model home’s location and hours are featured prominently.
5 Tack up business cards on area bulletin boards. Post them in delis, restaurants, lumberyards, paint stores and big box home improvement stores.
6 Invite schools to tour your facility to learn how homes are built. Guess what the topic of conversation will be when the kids get home from school?
7 Expand your public relations exposure. Invite area editors and TV producers to visit your model or a home under construction. In slow news seasons, this is a winner.
8 Send area newspapers articles on new home building. Story angles should cover the basics, such as finding land, getting financing and selecting a builder.
9 Invite realtors to visit your model. Plan a monthly realtor caravan to stop by your model, and be sure to provide lunch.
10 Invite area bankers to visit your model. Provide an incentive, with a special seminar, program, luncheon or social.
11 Connect with local chamber, BBB, Welcome Wagon, builders associations and other civic organizations to conduct programs at your model.
12 Develop a presentation on new home construction. Contact area organizations about your availability to present your talk. Make the program generic and informational—not a sales pitch. Sell your professionalism instead.
13 Invite Boy Scouts or other youth groups to use your parking lot for car washes, bake sales or similar activities.
14 Conduct new home-planning seminars at your model home. Schedule regular seminar events every 45 to 60 days at your model. Send press releases on the seminar to area newspapers, advertise it and post it in various calendar of events listings.
15 Conduct various community events at your model home, including public safety demonstrations, motorcycle driver training, CPR, blood pressure checks, etc.
16 Obtain lists of recent land purchasers from the city or county and then mail them information on your model home.
17 Host a model home cooking event. Partner with a local store that sells cooking equipment and conduct a seminar at your model home after regular business hours.
18 Install directional signs to your model home early Saturday morning. Consumers actively shopping for a new home will check out your model.
19 If you are a scattered site builder, build up a bank of parcels to offer buyers. Run small classified ads looking for property. Purchase options to hold the land.
20 Keep a busy schedule for your model home to make it a focal point of the community. Offer its use to town councils, civic committee meetings, charities, etc.
21 Increase interest in other home designs you offer by asking past customers to use their new homes for open houses. A nice thank-you gift may help convince them.
22 Encourage visits to your model by promoting the local attractions on your website.
23 When exhibiting at a local home show, invite homeowners to be at the booth and talk to prospective customers. Some consumers consider it fun and will love the extra perks you might give them. Bonus move—keep the model open late for show attendees. Beverages and desserts make it even more appealing.
24 Conduct customer appreciation barbecues. How many past customers do you have? What would happen if you had a customer appreciation barbecue and invited your staff, subs and vendors. Think of the good will you could create. Also, inviting a few potential customers might help you close the deal.
25 In thanks to clients, offer to cater a picnic luncheon at their new home for 30 to 50 of their closest friends.
26 Got a gourmet kitchen in your model? Invite a guest chef to do a cooking demonstration. Develop a recipe of the month to send to past and potential customers.
27 Collect favorite recipes from each of your past customers. Then compile them into a cookbook to raise money for a local nonprofit group.
28 Your model home is a great place to conduct a craft show with local artisans.
29 If you need to remerchandise or refurnish your model home, conduct an auction to clear out the current furniture and goods.
30 Work with your area or state real estate association to conduct a new home construction course for realtors. Provide the space for two-hour classes each week, with attendees certified after five weeks.
31 For a winter promotion, rent snowmaking equipment and coat the model’s front lawn and roof with snow. A builder recently did this successfully in late October, earning front-page coverage in the Sunday paper with the headline: “First Snowfall of the Season.”
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