This week on The Home Builder Digital Marketing Podcast, Leah Fellows of Blue Gypsy Inc. and Carol Morgan of Denim Marketing join Greg and Kevin to discuss the 4th Annual Online Homebuyer Mystery Shop Report and how home builders can use the results to improve their follow-up process.
The data in the Online Homebuyer Mystery Shop can help home builders understand what questions to ask when evaluating their follow-up procedures. Carol says,
“You know, I want to know how I’m performing. So, of the leads you’re getting, you know, how many of those came in for an appointment or how many of those have you been able to close? What is the quality of the lead that we’re driving to you? And it’s sometimes surprising how many builders can’t really answer that question.”
This report helps home builders assess where changes can be made in speed of follow-up, frequency of messaging, and diversity of touch. Leah says,
“You’ve got to constantly take a look, audit, evaluate, figure out where the areas are for improvement, and that’s really what this report is all about. What are the areas where we could focus on improvement? And for those builders that really want to get ahead of these other builders that are on this report, there are plenty of ways to do it. There are plenty of ways to stand out in the crowd.”
Home builders can boost follow-up practices with email. Carol says,
“…set up drip campaigns. You know, set up a campaign for your company as a whole, and then if you have new communities coming online that you’re setting up VIP lists. Set those up individually for different communities as well. There’s a lot you can do with drip email campaigns. And I think as an industry, we still have lots of opportunities there. I think that email works and we need to work it better.”
Management of leads can determine how valuable a follow-up program is. Leah says,
“Make sure you have a lead nurturing program, not a lead distribution program. And when I say that, what I mean is there’s one person or one department, depending on how big you are, that all the leads go to, there’s one way, there’s a method to the madness on how we’re going to develop those leads into viable appointments and then send them off. When we are just a distribution center, when those leads come into the marketing person or the overworked person that deals with contract management and everything else, and they just get the lead and then forward it to the salespeople, we’re going to have mixed results, as we can see, on how well that person actually ever gets followed up with. So, be a lead nurturing program, not a lead distribution program.”
Listen to this week’s episode to learn more about how home builders can make the follow-up process better for potential home buyers.
About the Guests:
Leah Fellows
Leah Fellows is a national online sales counselor trainer, speaker and the founder of Blue Gypsy Inc. a boutique training company for new home builders. BGI specializes in online sales counselors, providing recruiting, training, coaching, auditing, and strategy options to help builders create new programs or optimize and grow existing programs. The OSC is the beginning of your buyers’ journey and plays a key role in customer experience. Leah Fellows has been a pioneer in this niche since 2007.
Carol Morgan
Known as a trendsetter, Carol Morgan, founder and president of Denim Marketing, has been blogging since 2006, podcasting since 2011 and is currently working on Google Helpful Content and AI strategies for marketing. She focuses on marketing strategy and integrating public relations, social media and content creatively to tell engaging stories for clients that garner measurable ROI. She often says, “It’s fun to have fun, but you have to know how.”
Carol is the author of four books, including, “Social Media Marketing for Your Business,” published by Builder Books. She is the creator of the nationally-ranked www.AtlantaRealEstateForum.com, Atlanta’s most popular real estate news blog. Her Atlanta Real Estate Forum Radio podcast features movers and shakers in the real estate industry.
Highly involved in NAHB, Carol has served as chair of Public Affairs, Associates, Membership and Professional Women in Building. She served as an advisor to NAHB Chair Greg Ugalde in 2019. She is the recipient of the 2016 Woman of the Year and a member of the Society of Honored Associates. An Oglethorpe University graduate, she is the recipient of the 2008 Spirit of Oglethorpe Award, PRSA Georgia Chapter’s George Goodwin Award, the Greater Atlanta Home Builders Association’s 2008 Associate of the Year, 2012 Council Chair of the Year and 2013 HomeAid Atlanta Trade Partner of the Year. Carol holds the MIRM (Masters in Residential Marketing) designation from NAHB.