Watch the video on Customer Expectations.
When customers purchase new homes, they bring certain expectations about what they want to the construction process. Customers paint a picture in their heads of their new homes. If their real homes don't match those visions, they may be disappointed. As a builder, you have an opportunity at construction meetings to help make the picture in the customer's head matches the home you're building. If you do an effective job at construction meetings, you can help customers to better understand the homes you're building for them, and if they understand their new homes, they're likely to be happier and more satisfied.
What do customers want? When customers purchase new homes, their expectations are simple: they want the homes they ordered, they want them built right, and they want them delivered on time. When customers meet with the builder's representatives during the construction process, they typically focus on five key areas. Questions about these areas will come up time after time in construction meetings. If you can tell customers what to expect in these areas, you can build their confidence in you and create happier customers overall.
Customer expectation #1: A home that's finished on time
The question you probably hear most often at construction meetings is, "When will my home be ready?" Moving into a new home requires lots of advance planning for most families. Often a family needs to sell its current home or wants to move before a new school year starts. Or a customer may just need to know when to give notice to the landlord. Whatever their situation, knowing when their home will be available is very important to your customers.
Customer expectation #2: A home with the correct selections and upgrades
When customers buy a new home, choosing interior and exterior features is an important way for them to personalize the home. Most customers spend a lot of time making these choices, and they look forward to seeing their choices installed. These choices have all been captured in each customer's contract paperwork. Much of your time during construction meetings is spent making sure that the home customers have built in their head is the home described in their paperwork.
Customer expectation #3: A home that's "built right"
A home is one of the largest purchases most customers ever make, and it's important to them to know that the home will be trouble-free and long-lasting. During the construction process, expect customers to ask questions about the quality of the materials you're using and your construction methods. A customer who spots what looks like a problem during a site visit will usually question you about the problem and what you are doing to fix it.
Customer expectation #4: Access to the home during construction
Long before they actually move in, customers take a sense of pride and ownership in their homes. They often want to visit frequently to watch the progress of construction. Or they may ask for permission to work on their homes themselves. Whatever the reason, you should expect customers to ask about visiting their homes during construction.
Customer expectation #5: Special requests
Customers often make special requests during construction. They may ask to make changes in their selections long after the materials have been ordered. Or they may ask to have an outlet moved from one side of the room to the other. Balancing the tight schedules of production homebuilding against the desire to please the homebuyer can make these questions especially difficult to handle.
Managing expectations during construction meetings
Construction meetings are one way to help customers paint those pictures in their heads and understand what to expect from their new homes. Construction meetings are meetings between the builder's representatives and the customer while construction is going on. A typical schedule of the most important construction meetings is:
- A meeting before ground is broken (typically called the pre-construction meeting)
- A meeting after framing is completed but before drywall is installed (typically called the pre-drywall meeting)
- A meeting just after the home is completed and before the customer moves in (typically called the pre-closing meeting)
An important agenda item is educating the customer about quality. As part of the meetings, you should cover what the major structural and mechanical components of the home are, how they fit together, and what they do when the home is completed. When you tour the home as part of the meeting, you have an ideal opportunity to help customers update the picture in their heads based on what they're seeing.
The meetings also give customers a chance to ask questions about things they don't understand. Always be sure to allow time for questions at construction meetings. Answering questions from the customer gives you feedback about how well the customer understands what you said and where you may need to go into more detail.
If the customer asks, for example, "When will my home be finished?" you should clearly communicate that completion dates are affected by factors outside of your control. Vendors may experience strikes or shipping delays and be unable to deliver lumber or drywall on time. Utility companies may be behind schedule in installing utility lines. Storms or cold weather may prevent crews from working. You should also be specific about dates as work on the home progresses. One helpful technique to remember when discussing dates with the customer is to promise less than you are confident you can deliver.
Construction meetings are an important opportunity to build a customer's satisfaction with you and with the new home. A construction meeting is designed to talk about the issues that are most important to customers. If you prepare for these meetings carefully and do a good job, it can make a big difference. Remember to use the techniques that help you communicate effectively with customers about their expectations, as well as those that help you manage expectations effectively when you answer questions during construction meetings.
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