If you follow me on Facebook or Instagram, you likely know that I’m an avid gardener and fan of growing as much of my own food as possible.
So late last fall I invested in an acre of farmland about 15 miles from where I live. Recently, I decided to put a new modular home on the property and move there full time (once the deep well is in, which is a story for another time).
Last weekend I went house shopping and narrowed it down to two floorplans, each from a different builder.
Builder #1: Salesman Rob was super friendly, asked a ton of questions before showing me anything and took me through every house that met my “must haves” and two others that he thought I’d like to see. He had ice cold bottled water for me (it was in the 90’s while we were walking in and out of demo houses, which had electricity but not A/C) which made it even nicer.
We ended it with him knowing I was going to check out Builder #2 and him having a few things to get back with me on.
Wonderful experience overall.
On to Builder #2 and Salesman Dustin.
The lot wasn’t as fancy. None of the demo houses had electricity meaning you couldn’t see everything with the lights on. No ice cold bottled water.
Dustin started with the same questions and had four houses to show me.
As we were going through the houses, Dustin shared that because the houses were Energy Smart®, there would be no tax on the purchase price.
“WHAT?!?!?” That was huge.
Then Dustin shared that if I wanted to sell my current home, they’d look at it and make an offer so the whole process could be done in a package and I wouldn’t need to sell on my own.
“HUH?!?!?!” This is fabulous!
While the overall experience could use a little tweaking, I left Builder #2 thinking “WOW! They’re going to make this easy and less expensive.”
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The two houses I’m looking at are very close in price. Before making a final decision, I decided to go back to Builder #1 and look at their house again (I slightly prefer it).
Upon arrival, I discover that Salesman Rob is out for a week (never told me on Saturday). Grumble grumble.
I run into Saleswoman Amber in the lot and she lets me know the demo is locked and she’ll come with me to unlock and answer any questions.
I asked her if the house is Energy Smart. It is, and it’s higher rated than Builder 2’s. I asked her about the tax. Yep… waived. (Rob never shared.)
I asked her if they would sell my house for me and bundle it all into a package. “Of course,” she says. (Again, Rob never shared.)
We go inside to review a few things and I tell her my experience with Builder #2, “less fancy, lots of incredibly helpful info” and that Rob shared none of these things with me. I also shared that, even though I slightly preferred their house, I was ready to go with Builder #2 because of all the “extras” that I didn’t know Builder #1 offered. And that I only stopped in because I was in the area.
She said he may have thought I knew (???, I had shared that I’d never done this before) and that she would have a training session with all the sales team to ensure they were letting prospective buyers know (I suggested an FAQ sheet).
You get the point of this…
Never assume that your prospects know everything about what you do, your offer, pricing options, etc. If it affects them, tell them about it or have an FAQ page/video.
Share more, not less and let them decide what they need.
P.S.: To close the loop: I haven’t picked one yet. Both Builders will give me their “best price” for their house and mine and then I’ll decide.