This week on The Home Builder Digital Marketing Podcast, Brian Kernohan of Lumin.ai joins Greg and Kevin to discuss what Lumin.ai’s Mystery Shopper Results show about home builders’ lead follow-up times and responses.
Lumin.ai conducted a mystery shop of over 50 commercial home builders and the results were eye-opening. Brian says,
“I submitted a form on their website with my real contact information, so my name, email, mobile number. I recorded each outreach back to me from every builder via email, phone, or text for the first seven days after submission. The numerical responses were kind of in line with what I was expecting. So, 40% of the companies phoned me, 67%, about two thirds of them emailed me. Only 27% texted me. And they were all manual, so either from a handset or a console on their computer. The surprising thing was that only 12% did all three.”
Other concerning results showed a lack of response and no request for an in-person appointment. Brian explains,
“So, of the 52, 15 or 29% did not respond at all. Twenty-seven percent only did, we’ll call it one modality. So, they either phoned or called or texted, but they only reached out to me one way. Thirty-three percent did two modalities, and as I mentioned before, only 12% did all three. The other thing that was kind of fascinating was that where the form fills on the websites allowed for detailed information, no one offered me a model center appointment. The only option was for an online sales coordinator appointment.”
Home builders should use a multifaceted method when responding to leads. Brian says,
“Based on our experience in working with leading companies in other industries, I’m going to give you three keys to successfully responding to builder leads. The first is use an omnichannel approach to follow up, give them choices in how they want to communicate with you. You should always email, call, and text.
Listen to this week’s episode to learn more about how Lumin.ai’s Mystery Shopper Results can help home builders examine lead response and improve.
About the Guest:
Brian Kernohan serves as the Chief Revenue Officer at Lumin.ai, where he spearheads customer development initiatives and cultivates high-impact strategic partnerships. With over 25 years of experience at the intersection of technology and business, Brian has consistently delivered innovative solutions that address complex organizational challenges.
Under his leadership, Lumin.ai has redefined the way businesses approach communication, leveraging real-time Conversational AI to foster genuine human connection. The platform accelerates lead conversion by automating follow-up and scheduling via intelligent, conversational texting—ensuring 24/7 responsiveness and seamless integration with calendars and CRMs. Thanks to Brian’s vision, sales teams can now engage prospects instantly, building relationships faster and driving revenue growth.
