Top Five Tips for Increasing Sales with CRM
Selling more homes and making more money seems to be on just about every home builder’s mind these days. How can a customer relationship management (CRM) and sales system help boost revenue in today’s housing market? Here are our top tips for increasing sales with CRM:
1. Improve communication & keep buyers engaged with automated follow-up plans.
According to sales gurus Bob Schultz and The New Home Specialists, builders can increase sales 20% by using a structured follow-up system and methodology. To make it easy for sales associates to stay in touch with buyers, select a CRM/sales system with customizable follow-up templates or simply create your own within the system. Builders can then segment and target prospective home buyers with personalized scripts and copy for phone calls, emails and letters.
2. Capture web leads automatically in your CRM system.
The NAHB reports an astonishing 50% of homebuyer leads are not followed up on. By funneling leads from a builder’s web site and Internet Listing Services, such as NewHomeSource.com and Move.com, directly into a CRM system, builders can ensure no web lead gets lost and sales representative can follow-up with buyers immediately. When builders automatically capture web leads in a CRM system, they eliminate manual data entry, saving time and reducing errors.
3. Regularly report on sales, traffic & marketing so you can work smarter, not harder.
With dashboard analytics and customizable reporting, builders have the insight needed to close more sales and make more money. CRM systems enable builders to track home buyer follow-up to learn what communications are working; quickly see where leads and sales are coming from; and determine where marketing dollars should be spent for the best ROI. Builders can customize CRM reports to gather the information that is critical to their company’s success.
4. Integrate your CRM system and website to display homes and engage buyers.
What tools do you have on your website to attract prospective home buyers and engage them in the home buying process? With 86% of home buyers using the Internet to shop for a new home, a builder’s website must provide buyers with the information they are looking for, get and keep their attention, and make it as simple as possible to request information. This can all be done very easily with CRM–website integration by allowing builders to display homes and options stored in a CRM system, connect with prospective home buyers, and schedule sales appointments online.
5. Use home buyer portals to increase options revenue and enhance the home buying experience.
Home buyer portals provide builders with a competitive advantage and help keep prospects excited during the home buying process. When builders integrate home buyer portals with their CRM system, they can enable buyers to conveniently access personalized sites to select options as well as monitor the progress of their new home 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. As a result, builders will have more satisfied home buyers, shorter design center appointments, and increased options revenue.
Tags: Bob Schultz, CRM, CRM for builders, customer relationship management, follow-up plans, home buyer portal, sales automation, sales software for builders, sales system
