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.
Pirch Home Store is a beacon for customer experience design. Consultants in our city take new clients on a tour of the local Pirch store to understand what great customer experience design feels like. Pirch says they are in the business of delivering "a lifetime of joy". They describe themselves as follows:
"We are not here to sell you what we want, rather our focus is to guide you to discover and fall in love with the best products that best suit how you live. It’s your playground to explore before you buy as you sample complimentary chef-prepared sweet and savory bites and hand crafted coffees, ensuring a lifetime of Joy."
The Pirch espresso bar (pictured above) is always full of spouses waiting happily while their other half is finishing their shopping for a wide spectrum of kitchen, bath and outdoor home products. It's brilliant marketing and such a simple tactic using refreshment as a tool to extend the time customers spend shopping in their store.
Could Builder Sales Centers take a page out of the Retail playbook?
Yes! Builders have intentionally designed their Sales Centers and Models to help home buying consumers experience the ideal of what their new home could be. When busy house hunters begin their in-person home search on a weekend that is already jammed with kids activities and house chores, there's a good chance they haven't planned their refreshment breaks.
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.
Private Label Water is another simple marketing tool that offers refreshment and delight to weary home shoppers. 
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:
- Builder Branded Trail Mix Packages
- Builder Private Label Power Bars
- Builder Custom Label Coffee, Tea, Hot Cocoa
- Private Label Water
- Custom Breath Mints and Chewing Gum
