2020 Housing Industry Year in Review: Our Top 8 Most Popular Articles
This year has been a wild ride. Despite the trying times we’ve all faced, we’ve made it to the end of 2020 in good spirits and a bright outlook on the future of Avid Ratings. We have ambitious plans for 2021 and will be moving full speed ahead to continue providing our housing industry partners the tools they need to enhance their customer experience and grow their brands.
This past year we produced exciting and relevant content for homebuilders, remodelers, and building product manufacturers. From social media tips to benchmarking and everything in between.
As the new year approaches we wanted to take a look back at some of our most popular articles. Whether you’re new to our site or familiar with our blog, this list is for you.
#1. Homebuilders Guide To Creating An Effective Customer Journey Map (With Templates)
Customer interactions with brands can be complicated. Getting from point A to point of sale isn’t usually a straight line. To understand what your customers are thinking about as they interact with your brand you have to get inside their heads.
In this article, we’ll teach you the ins and outs of customer journey mapping, with step-by-step instructions to create one and templates to help you get started.
#2. Why Online Reviews Matter Guide
Online ratings and reviews have become universal. But while they might seem like a recent phenomenon, they’re nothing new. In fact, Amazon began letting its customers post product reviews as early as 1995. At the time, many people questioned the retailer’s decision. Fast forward 25 years, however, and we see many consumers “seeking stars” before making an online purchase.
But how powerful are online reviews really — what do recent studies reveal about their influence? As housing industry professionals, how do we generate more positive reviews? And what do we do about negative reviews?
#3. Why Every Homebuilder Should Use a Third-Party Warranty Provider
With the number of costs involved in building homes it’s not hard to understand why a homebuilder would forgo the additional cost of purchasing a third-party builder home warranty. But this could end up costing much more than the price of the service.
Even with the highest quality of craftsmanship and care, homes are at the mercy of nature and sometimes defects occur for reasons beyond a builder’s control.
#4. How to Build a Customer-Obsessed Culture
“The way a customer sees your business is a direct reflection of your internal culture,” says Ken Schmidt, former Director of Communication Strategy for Harley Davidson. Think about that for a minute… What message is your company culture communicating to your customers? Does it reflect a clear prioritization of them?
Developing a customer-focused or even customer-obsessed culture is key to truly understanding and serving your customers. Here’s how to build this type of culture in your own organization.
#5. How To Get Positive Customer Reviews: 6 Tips For Homebuilders
Reviews are especially important in high-impact purchase decisions. The bigger the price tag, the more carefully customers research. This means it’s imperative for homebuilders to stay on top of customer feedback!
The question is… how do you get more positive reviews?
#6: How To Manage Buyer Expectations During The 6 Phases Of Homebuilding
Understanding and managing customer expectations is one of the biggest factors in homebuyer satisfaction. Realistic expectations should be communicated – it doesn’t matter how – it just matters that the conversations happen. And, the sooner you can modify expectations to align with reality, the less likely you are to disappoint.
Here are some examples of how realistic expectations should be set during the homebuying process.
#7: 5 Ways to Attract First-Time Homebuyers
Even in these uncertain conditions, the fundamentals of buyer demand should bode well for homeowners and homebuilders alike. If you’re one of them, you could have a profitable position going forward. We recommend you don’t get too comfortable, however, as the real estate market can be fickle. Instead, now is the time to plan for the future. Focus on customer experience and create practices and processes that attract first-time home buyers.
#8. Customer Service vs. Customer Experience: For Housing Professionals
Customer service has been around forever, but customer experience has become a popular term in the last decade, gaining a lot of attention in the past few years.
The two terms are often used interchangeably, but they’re not the same thing, and understanding their differences is important for investing in the right resources and achieving a competitive advantage.
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Avid Insights Team
