Blowing Up The Marketing Funnel In New Home Sales
Recently at the International Builders’ Show in Las Vegas, I had the pleasure of moderating a panel of marketing experts both in and outside of new home builder’s offices. We talked about the changing dynamic of lead generation and how builders see the buyers journey verses how buyers really want to take that buyer journey.
At the beginning of our presentation, we blew up the notion of a funnel. Take a look at our video.
A bit apocalyptic. But in truth so many factors are changing the way people want to shop for a home. We can’t force them down the traditional narrow path of our lead funnel we’ve got to be open to change, and open to providing buyers the tools, the information, and experiences they need in order to shop for their new home. We can’t force them in the doors of our models with little or no information.
Who was on this panel and why were we so well positioned to speak about branding, lead generation, lead handling and customer experience?
On our panel we had:
Rob Krohn is the VP of Marketing for Epcon Communities and Epcon Franchising. Rob is technology nerd. He began in ad agencies over 25 years ago and started and grew three companies then ended up in the building industry. He looks at things a little bit differently than your average builder.
Jennifer Cooper is the Founder of Evolution Marketing. With over 20 years of marketing across different industries is a fractional CMO and brand strategist. She handles marketing differently on a daily basis. She’s worked with some of the big names in the building industry both builders and companies that serve builders.
Wade Miller is the Founder of Copper Builders. Wade is an experienced new home builder changing the narrative. He’s an adventurer, a strategist, and a visionary and innovator in our industry. Not only has he created a fun, engaging company culture, but their customer experience is also founded on a commitment to exceptional service.
Genevieve Benson is the Director of New Business for Milesbrand. The industry’s most awarded branding and marketing agency. She has a designer’s soul and is a seeker of solutions. She knows how to resonate with people on an emotional level. She’s always been obsessed with improving the places where we live, work, and play.
Jeff Schneider is the Founder of Velocity23. Jeff is on a mission to set a new standard for marketing in the new home building industry. He’s the creator of the Growth Engine Framework, a marketing system that has generated more than 100,000 home buyer leads and 9200 home sales. His agency builds lead generation machines and acts as an outsourced marketing department for builder and developers across North America.
And then there’s me. I am the Founder of Blue Gypsy Inc. and a national online sales counselor trainer. I’ve spent 17 years as a pioneer in the arena of online sales for the building industry. I’ve watched this role grow into a significant beginning to the buyer’s journey. But before that, I spent 13 years traveling the world as a backpacker, a dive instructor, and a sailboat captain. This opened my world view and gave me the tools to connect with people on many levels.
The six of us set out to provide a diversity of viewpoints on the Anti-Funnel. While we know that lead generation for any company starts with creating branding and awareness, branding is more than just a perfect blend of colors, fonts, and pictures. It’s also the values and the principles your company holds. The key is not just giving that lip service but infusing it throughout your entire company from the way you treat your employees to how you engage your customers. There needs to be a cohesive consistency, and the messaging needs to match your intentions.
The notion of a funnel creates the idea that there is just one straight shot from awareness to purchase. But we know there is not just one path a buyer takes down this winding labyrinth of routes to decide on your home. We need to deconstruct the typical sales journey and understand that we need different outreach not just for different channels but for different circumstances. From gated content versus non-gated content, how to give buyers self-serve verses full-service options, and how to continue that journey after the contract, all of these pathways are dynamic without a one size fits all for all your buyers. It’s important to understand this as you help a buyer decide to buy your home.
In the end if you missed the discussion you can find it in replay on IBS Education On-Demand Library.