For example, if we want to create a more favorable first impression, elements we could review include: ensuring model homes and homes under construction are tidied up each day; addressing your phone system (how phones are answered, messages on hold and voice mail); and creating an effective follow-up plan.

The design phase also helps establish priorities, timelines and budgets.  Perhaps you are already committed to having a home in next year’s Spring Parade. We would look at the design of the home, the messaging that would be placed in the home, any handouts or ads you would place in the printed Parade guide, PR tie-ins, features on your web site, training hosts/hostesses and staff, targeted marketing to area real estate agents, etc.

DEFINING
Most builders know that their female customers are usually the ones calling the shots – but they may not know what to do with that truth.  The journey to becoming a woman-centric homebuilder begins by developing a road map and getting good directions.

Of course, any journey begins with a clear understanding of where you want to end up. In this instance, that destination is to become your area’s Her Home® or Woman-CentricSM homebuilder. That may sound relatively easy – get some new signs made, add a woman-centric tag to your advertising and shout the news to the world. The problem with that strategy, is buyers will see through the thin woman-centric marketing veneer and be disillusioned by the lack of substantive difference.

To be useful, the road map must also include your starting point. In this instance, that means examining every aspect of your business through her eyes. Design Basics’ personnel are highly skilled in helping builders at this stage – identifying and evaluating the many customer touch points that all combine to influence her ultimate purchase decisions.   It is only after defining where you are, where you want to go and all of the activities en route, that you can proceed to the next phase – design.

DESIGNING
Because no two builders are exactly alike, no two interpretations of the woman-centric approach are identical. In the designing phase, Design Basics’ woman-centric team tailors the program to match the builder, the builder’s goals and the specific market.

After identifying all of the customer touch points, we start designing the overall woman-centric home buying experience as well as the individual elements. For example, if we want to create a more favorable first impression, elements we could review include: ensuring model homes and homes under construction are tidied up each day; addressing your phone system (how phones are answered, messages on hold and voice mail); and creating an effective follow-up plan.

The design phase also helps establish priorities, timelines and budgets.  Perhaps you are already committed to having a home in next year’s Spring Parade. We would look at the design of the home, the messaging that would be placed in the home, any handouts or ads you would place in the printed Parade guide, PR tie-ins, features on your web site, training hosts/hostesses and staff, targeted marketing to area real estate agents, etc.

CREATING
True marketers love the creating phase, where all of the activities approved in the designing phase come to life. The synergy becomes apparent at this stage, i.e., how creating a “buzz-worthy” new home building experience ties into testimonials and word-of-mouth marketing.

Beyond creating obvious things such as new marketing messages and flyers, the woman-centric approach to options and upgrades is developed. Few things in homebuilding can have such a dramatic effect on increasing sales, profits and customer satisfaction – all at the same time!

But first you must understand that a successful option/upgrade program is not simply selling more options. It is actually about selling more homes. Most of our nation’s new housing has moved far beyond providing basic shelter to becoming something innately personal and emotional. Home is the one place where she can truly be herself. Options and upgrades allow her to personalize her home.

Perhaps my favorite example is the humble kitchen wastebasket. Typically, it’s stashed under the kitchen sink with the garbage disposal and plumbing. This scenario usually limits the homeowner’s options to a small waste container– which creates two problems. An amazing amount of stuff aimed for that little wastebasket ends up beside it and it will be overflowing most of the time.

The homeowner’s other alternative is to purchase the most attractive tall kitchen wastebasket she can find and display it for all of her friends and family to “enjoy” when she entertains.  (It’s also easier for the dog to get into when it’s out in the open.)  A pull-out wastebasket drawer in the base cabinets is a solution most homeowners will opt for and rave about. But all too often, it is overlooked simply because she’s not aware it is available or she’s too occupied with other decisions.

IMPLEMENTING
Congratulations! The road map has led you to your destination. Yet, the most insightful strategies, executed with brilliant creative messaging, will be only as effective as their implementation.  Signage that’s slightly misplaced may be entirely missed by prospective buyers. A great radio commercial has little impact if it’s aired on the wrong stations. And an improperly trained sales team, no matter how excited by the inherent power of the woman-centric approach, can inadvertently undermine this program’s success.

Here, too, Design Basics teams up with builders to help ensure remarkable results. Based upon the builder’s unique interpretation of the woman centric approach, Design Basics can provide a comprehensive and insightful two-day training for everyone in your organization, ensuring a consistent understanding of what the program is, why home buyers like it, the
opportunities for your employees and associates and what’s expected of them.

From making media buys for our clients to helping stage events for specific audiences and setting up builders’ sales centers and design studios, Design Basics can maximize your investment in the woman-centric approach. Traditional advertising agencies talk about reaching the target audience.  Design Basics knows the secret is connecting with her – which can only come from a deep, intuitive understanding of her buying psychology.

REFINING
As with any business strategy, some of the most lucrative opportunities can only be seen once you are underway. The refining phase brings the road map into a new light, helping you see that the destination is fluid, not fixed.

At the refining stage, we look at what’s working well and what could be working better. We look at program enhancements, both subtle and significant, that could have a major impact on sales for the remainder of this year as well as next year. We also discuss strategies and tactics being used successfully by other woman-centric builders and how these might affect your business.

Customer surveying is one of the important activities at this phase. In generating the raw feedback from home buyers regarding their perceptions, expectations and satisfaction, Design Basics’ team gleans insights and knowledge of areas which should be addressed.  As with the entire process, the focus is on achieving the original goal – becoming the woman-centric builder in your area, making the competition irrelevant!