Are You Bragging Enough?

While homebuilders certainly can’t use the most expensive material option for every aspect of their homes, many choose to use higher-grade products in certain areas to lower risk and increase quality. One such example is showers. On average, showers see 1,100 inches of water per year and are often the cause of leaks, call-backs, and unhappy customers. Considering this, many builders choose to invest in their waterproofing strategy. While this is wonderful news, it is often kept secret, and the builder does not take the opportunity to inform customers that they are getting a better product.   

Who should be in-the-know? Anytime a builder chooses to spend more money on a product, to maximize ROI, there are multiple parties who should be educated on the product and its benefits:

Trades and Construction Managers Obviously, those who are going to install it need to know the details in order to do it correctly.

Sales Managers Often, the mentality is that the sales team only needs to know about the options in a home to sell it. Conversely, imagine your sales team having the knowledge to tell a potential customer about the upgraded roofing underlayment that your company uses, and how it is better than that of your competitor down the street. Or that fact that your company pays for a better subfloor product, so that the homeowner is less likely to have floor squeaks in the future. If that isn’t a selling point, I don’t know what is!

Customers  Pro tip: Don’t wait until the final walk-thru to tell customers about the quality products in your homes; instead, introduce the products during the sales process. The best example of this that I ever saw was during a visit to a builder in New Mexico. They had transformed the garage of their model home into a showroom for all the products and processes that go into their homes. They had a working shower with the upgraded waterproofing installed to show that even without tile, the shower had no leaks. There were roof underlayment models, walls wrapped with upgraded housewrap, penetration flashing examples, signage detailing their quality processes, and multiple other items. If I was a customer looking to buy a home in that area, seeing the effort this builder puts into their homes would make me much more likely to choose them over the competition.

You don’t have to be a custom homebuilder to proudly advertise the products you are using. Perhaps you are using products that are similar to those of your competitors, but your company has better processes in place to ensure a consistent quality installation. In either case, is your company letting customers know about the products and processes you are investing in, or are you staying silent and letting these “best kept secrets” stay hidden in the construction process?

Typically, I’m not a big fan of bragging, but when it comes to building a quality house, if you’ve got it, don’t be afraid to flaunt it.