Why does trust matter so much in a new home buying experience? Why does trust matter to every single brand in existence? One word -- relationships.
I am reading the book, The Experience, by Bruce Loeffler and Brian T. Church. Both are veteran executives from Disney. They've put their 5 principles of Disney service and relationship excellence into a pragmatic book with relatable and elegantly simple ideas you can apply to any business where exceptional service counts.
About half way through the first chapter, the authors describe what customers want from their relationship with a brand. A light bulb went off, for me, because it sounded a lot like what everyone wants from any relationship! It seemed particularly relevant to Builder Marketers because buying a new home involves such a large degree of trust by consumers. Here's what the authors have to say: "Customers want to feel welcomed, valued and that they matter to you." It's simple and if you think about your own relationships, it's pretty true - isn't it?
While it's an elegantly simple idea, expressing this to prospects and customers is intentional work. How do you give employees operational definitions of what it means to deliver "Welcomeness", a feeling of being Valued and demonstrating that customers really Matter to you? Do you have a language for this internally? Are you intentionally creating a culture around trust? I think these are questions worth asking ourselves.
For the most part (with the exception of move-in ready inventory), a new home purchase involves a significantly high level of trust by the home buyer. A prospect that chooses a new home over a resale home is purchasing a current vision of a future home yet to be constructed. And... it will likely be their singularly largest purchase ever. That act requires incredible trust. To earn that trust new home builders must be exceptional relationship builders. We work for many top Builder brands who take this very seriously.
We are in the process of assessing and inventorying all of our business activities against these three customer wants to bring our whole team into the process of customer experience design. We want our clients to continue to feel that our brand is worthy of their trust.
How does your company take action to build trusting relationships with prospects and customers? Check out the brief Forbes article on our FB page to read more about what trustworthy companies do.
Thanks for visiting! Have a great week.
Cheers!
Leslie Bridges, Chief Blogger
Marketing Blueprints is sponsored by Builder Promotions, Inc. the leading builder-centric e-Commerce platform and group buying service. Builder Promotions centralizes and consolidates purchases of marketing supplies used to support the entire new home buyer journey.
While it's an elegantly simple idea, expressing this to prospects and customers is intentional work. How do you give employees operational definitions of what it means to deliver "Welcomeness", a feeling of being Valued and demonstrating that customers really Matter to you? Do you have a language for this internally? Are you intentionally creating a culture around trust? I think these are questions worth asking ourselves.
For the most part (with the exception of move-in ready inventory), a new home purchase involves a significantly high level of trust by the home buyer. A prospect that chooses a new home over a resale home is purchasing a current vision of a future home yet to be constructed. And... it will likely be their singularly largest purchase ever. That act requires incredible trust. To earn that trust new home builders must be exceptional relationship builders. We work for many top Builder brands who take this very seriously.
We are in the process of assessing and inventorying all of our business activities against these three customer wants to bring our whole team into the process of customer experience design. We want our clients to continue to feel that our brand is worthy of their trust.
How does your company take action to build trusting relationships with prospects and customers? Check out the brief Forbes article on our FB page to read more about what trustworthy companies do.
Thanks for visiting! Have a great week.
Cheers!
Leslie Bridges, Chief Blogger
Marketing Blueprints is sponsored by Builder Promotions, Inc. the leading builder-centric e-Commerce platform and group buying service. Builder Promotions centralizes and consolidates purchases of marketing supplies used to support the entire new home buyer journey.
Brands express themselves in colors, typeface fonts, photo imagery, voice, and they have a "mood" and a set of characteristics that reflect their personality. Brand guides help to centralize all this information and make it "turnkey-simple" for your company to reproduce and speak for your brand in a way that delivers a consistent experience to your customers and prospects. If you are looking for Brand Guide inspiration, grab a cup of coffee and check out these graphically inviting links to brand guides of every kind.
I love this visually enticing 
I won't mention names, but we have brand guides that approach 80-100 pages for large Builder brands (and yes, our team reads them). It's a critically important piece of Marketing infrastructure that informs employees, stakeholders and partners so that the Builder brand is experienced consistently by homebuying prospects as they engage along their journey to purchase a new home.
However, if you are a regional or mid-size builder, you may not need an 80 page document. You can actually get exactly what you need in 6-10 pages. I like this 
Pacific Highlands Ranch, San Diego, CA
In the context of new home marketing, a flag's main purpose is to create movement that attracts prospects. Secondarily, they identify your brand and differentiate your Community from others in the area.
Lastly and most importantly, flags are important signage that direct visitors to your Sales Center and Models. As digital shoppers begin to align with your brand, it's important to ensure they can find you easily in what often is a sea of new home communities built in expanding and crowded regional markets.
Here are the main design components and flag styles used by our Home Builder clients. These serve all three purposes; signaling, decoration and signage.
Flag Designs: Flag Styles:
Custom Builder Flags Custom feather flags (138" x 27")
American Flags Vertical Adbreeze flags
State Flags Horizontal rectangular flags
Solid Color Accent Flags
Buyers often mistake flags as permanent signage when they are in fact a perishable product. They are often at the mercy of mother nature and that is why its important to refresh them every 3-6 months. Everything from intense sunshine (Florida/Arizona) to high winds (northern California) to hurricane weather (gulf coast), can impact the life of a flag. The good news is that by far, flags are one of the best brand investments because they cost pennies on the dollar for each brand exposure. This is especially true of poly flags which create movement and attract the eye with the slightest breeze. Gone are the days of a heavy nylon flag wrapped around a flag pole hiding your brand. Europe has been ahead of the curve on this for years and most builders have shifted to the Poly flags because they do the job better, last as long as nylon and are 
If you are using the smaller rectangular flags, the math is even more compelling - 30 3' x 5' flags at $10.95 each or a total of $328. That's 22 cents per brand exposure for 1500 visitors over 90 days.
Signage is permanent and flags are perishable. It's important to refresh flags and recognize that they are dollar for dollar, one of the best values there is in brand advertising for new Home Communities. Builder Promotions has a JIT (just-in-time) Flag program that helps you manage your needs and keep community merchandising fresh, cost-effectively. Flags can be shipped to communities directly or to installers locally.
Thanks for Stopping by! We appreciate you sharing your time with us.
Cheers!
Leslie Bridges, Chief Blogger
Marketing Blueprints is sponsored by 
BP Custom Shopper™ is a signature service of Builder Promotions, Inc. It's like a personal shopper and a virtual marketing assistant combined. Clients can quickly brief our BP Custom Shoppers™ with information about their Realtor event, grand opening, closing gifts, new Community launch, etc. BP Custom Shoppers™ generate ideas, shop for enticing products, create custom virtual images and email a digital creative presentation to clients with products they can use to sell new homes. While we are doing this work, our clients are busy attending to the tidal wave of tasks required to market a New Home Community.
What makes this service so popular is that it's fueled by enthusiastic, creative and dedicated professionals like Anna Jimenez. We recently stopped by Anna's office and sat with her for an interview about her work with Builder Marketing clients. We thought you'd enjoy getting to know her!
Marketing Blueprints: What's your favorite part about delivering BP Customer Shopper™ creative services to Builder Marketers?
Anna: I love talking to our clients! And what I love even more is taking their ideas and turning them into something real and amazing. I've worked in this business for years, and it is still such fun to see a client's excitement over the finished product!
Marketing Blueprints: What's one of the most creative projects you've worked on for a client?
Anna: I've worked on so many over the years! From custom beach towels to beach kits with towels and custom flip flops to completely custom umbrellas with a full color imprint on both top and bottom. There is a trend in custom packaging right now which gives our clients another creative dimension to deliver their community branding. A lot of our clients are packaging products together to create really beautiful welcome home gifts, too. The wonderful part of this business is that if someone can dream it up, most of the time, we can make it happen.
Marketing Blueprints: How do clients respond to the digital presentation we provide?
Anna: Happiness is what I get most! The idea that you can take our custom graphic presentation and share it at a meeting with Division team members, really excites our clients. We've saved them a lot of time and helped them with their job, too. Most of our clients are super busy and if we can provide creative support and save time, they are always really happy.
Marketing Blueprints: What's the wackiest request you've received?
Anna: Flashing Headbands, crazy Mardi gras beads and light up ice cubes. I have great visions of the event where these were distributed!
Marketing Blueprints: Can you share a few things about yourself?
Anna: I am a lucky woman who has a fabulous husband and two of the most amazing children ever (I'm not just saying that, they really are)! I live in San Diego, one of the best places on earth and have two great jobs -- one at Builder Promotions and the other (one day a week) at the San Diego Natural History Museum. And lastly, go Dodgers!
Hope you enjoyed getting to know a valued member of our team. You're in luck because she's a member of your team too, if you are using the BP Custom Shopper™ service. Thanks for reading our blog, Marketing Blueprints. Come back soon!
Cheers!
Leslie Bridges, Chief Blogger
Marketing Blueprints is sponsored by 
When was the last time you got a chance to let your mind wander and think about your overall Marketing strategy? It's refreshing and productive to get above the details, but it's often impossible to find the time.
The digital house hunt has upended the way Builder Marketers spend their time at work. Home buyers have reinvented the home buying process using technology to shop when and where they want 24/7. Our amazing and savvy Builder clients are designing buying journeys around home shoppers' preferences for engaging online and on site. As a result, Builder Marketers have had to evolve into Digital Marketing Experts in addition to everything else they do. There is endless content about Marketing and little time to sift through to what is relevant right now for your Communities. We thought we'd share a few resources we like here in today's blog post.
Here are three resources where you can find Marketing Hacks that may save you a little time and help sell New Homes too:
Professional Builder Magazine 
And when it comes to their furry companions, here are three things that influence 33% of millennial home buying prospects:
Thanks for stopping by!
Cheers,
Leslie Bridges, Chief Blogger
Marketing Blueprints is sponsored by 
You are sitting at your desk with a cup of your favorite, thinking about what you will add to your upcoming Community Marketing event to make it memorable for prospective home owners. You think you'd like to use a branded gift to keep them connected to your community after they've toured your Models and met Sales Consultants. What to do? You have a million other details to handle to be ready for your event. If this is you, read on!
Here are Five of our Favorites for New Home Community Event Marketing:
1.) We love this stylish vintage laminated grocery tote which works triple hard carrying groceries, reminding your home buying prospects about their connection to your brand and advertising your communities to everyone one else in their midst as a small billboard. Under $3 for all that promotional power! Consumers love the all-over print look on these laminated bags, proven by the many upscale retailers who currently sell laminated shopping bags in their stores.
2.) The Fidget Spinner is a hot trend right now and there's nothing like it to entertain younger family members while Parents are taking time to explore your enticing Sales Models. Under $2 with hours of entertainment value and fun. Packaging creates completely custom presentation options for $1.25 extra (min. 200 pieces). Promote schools, outdoor play space and family fun in your new home communities.
3.) Hot off the press and and arriving this month! We love this well-priced pop-up lantern for Outdoor Family Summer Movie nights in your Community. It's a reminder to prospective homeowners that their new home in your community is full of promise for making endless family memories. Under $8.
4.) Trendy soda bottle-shaped water bottles are being used by consumers everywhere. High performance construction keeps liquids hot 12 hours and cold for 24 hours. As low as $13.55 for 26 oz. bottle. (retail brands are selling this at $35+ in stores). Consumers cannot get enough of this product.
5.) If great schools are a draw for your communities, align your event gifts with Fall back-to-school promotions. These compact recycled tubes carry a pen, pencil and wooden pencil sharpener, all for $2.15. Super easy to store and distribute.
Our BP Custom Shopper (tm) team works on Home Builder Event marketing projects daily. They love shopping for you and creating a complimentary digital presentation you can use to review creative ideas. Feel free to reach out at 800-388-3565 or via email at info@builderpromotions.com if you'd like the support of a personal marketing assistant while you handle all the other details of getting ready for your event(s). And, if you love a short creative break to shop for your events, enjoy surfing our event themed stores here:
#1.) Artisan deep etched bottles filled with Italian balsamic and Virgin Olive oil, packaged in a sleek wooden box with a slide top. Laser engraving to personalize the wood box creates a welcome gift that presents beautifully and is reusable for years to come. Price point: $85 - $90.
#3.) These on-trend reusable bottles are a current favorite with the Builder Promotions' sourcing team. We are seeing these everywhere at retail which is always a sign that home buying consumers will love receiving this branded bottle as part of your Opening, Event or Tour.
Welcome to Marketing Blueprints, a blog of Builder Promotions. Grab a cup of coffee and enjoy a quick read about the marketing value of "refreshment".
Refreshment is such an easy way to create delight. It's a gracious way to say "welcome please stay awhile". And it can be an effective marketing tool too. Builders are using refreshment in many creative ways to compliment their events. One quick scan of my Builder Instagram account tells me that Builder Marketing teams are using everything from the Summer BBQ to Food Truck Festivals to draw crowds to their community events. They offer bottles of water or hot beverages to help home shoppers relax and enjoy wandering through a Sales Center. If you look to the retail world, savvy marketers are finding ways to provide refreshments in stores to keep shoppers looking. Here's one of my favorite examples.
There's also a better than a good chance that they are pushing through their house hunting "list" very efficiently so that they can be finished in time for their children's game or social event that evening. How can you borrow a page out of the Pirch playbook to encourage them to "stay awhile"?
One BP client recently purchased their own branded Tea and Hot Cocoa packets to make people feel welcome during the winter season. Another uses a Popcorn machine to keep the youngest family members entertained, and they brand the fun with their own custom popcorn boxes. These are small ways to make visitors feel welcomed and provide a little refreshment too. We think it also buys a little extra time with prospects because they get refreshment at the Sales Center rather than departing for the nearest Starbucks.
By leveraging gorgeous Builder photos, water bottle designs become another delivery point for rich lifestyle images of your communities. It's another way to welcome your visitors and offer much needed refreshment in a busy day of house hunting.
While we love Pirch's espresso bar idea, we realize you may not be ready to hire a full time Barista at your Sales Centers! Here's a list of budget-friendly refreshment ideas to help prospects enjoy their experience at your new home community:
"Yes is a tiny word that can do big things - say it often." Eric Schmidt, Google
During his commencement address at University of California at Berkeley, Google Leader, Eric Schmidt spoke about the magic of saying yes. He summarizes his advice well in this excerpt.
"Find a way to say yes to things. Say yes to invitations to a new country. Say yes to meeting new friends. Say yes to learning a new language, picking up a new sport. Yes is how you get your first job, and your next job. Yes is how you find your spouse, and even your kids. Even if it's a bit edgy, a bit out of your comfort zone, saying yes means you will do something new, meet someone new and make a difference in your life, and likely in others' lives as well. … Yes is a tiny word that can do big things. Say it often."
At Builder Promotions, we talk about the importance of saying "Yes" to clients and the power of the positive response it engenders. Yes can magically lighten the workplace and deliver delight to clients all at once. If we can deliver customer happiness, we feel we've fulfilled our brand mission.
This blog post is part of our "Yes Campaign" designed to help us deliver more Yes and less stress for our busy Builder Marketer clients. We rarely say no, but when we do, it's disappointing to our clients and pains our Production team that they cannot say yes. The culprit is almost always tight scheduling, so we set out to become part of the scheduling solution!
To overcome scheduling challenges for a very important client, we recently collaborated with her to create a promotional calendar so that she could relax knowing we would contact her in advance about upcoming Openings, Events and Customer Closing needs for her Communities. It reduced her stress around last minute ordering and helped us to say yes 100% of the time.
After saying "Yes" to working on the scheduling solution, I started to think about the magic of yes and how this tiny word can set off a positive chain of events at work and elsewhere. So here's my list of things that deserve a yes and more often than not, produce positive returns - what's on your list?