In October of 2023 our team headed over to Denver, Colorado to be part of (and as event sponsors) the Home Builder Digital Marketing Summit hosted by Blue Tangerine and Outhouse. The summit brought together marketing experts within the home builder space, and included a two-day schedule where the latest trends and tactics were presented and discussed. Additionally, breakout sessions and roundtable talks allowed attendees to get into specifics.
As a Gold Sponsor, our team held a roundtable conversation titled “From Click To Close: Combining tech with the human connection to Drive sales-ready leads and outperform in a competitive market”.
Whilst we have always advocated for the combination of technology and people to see true business results, we were pleased to see that we weren’t the only ones thinking along these lines.
The Need for Human Connection
One of the key thoughts that came up time and again from various voices and conversations throughout the summit, was the importance of the human touch. Yes, digital tactics are great and there are tips and tricks to make these work better, but the human element will never not be important in the customer journey.
One conversation, in particular, held by Teri Slavik-Tsuyuki from tsk ink titled “Let Your Human Show” was particularly insightful. She highlighted this through the story of Netflix and their news about in-person experiences coming in 2025.
Many of us know the story of how Netflix took on Blockbuster and won. Moving the brick-and-mortar movie hiring experience online, and subsequently pushing Blockbuster to file for bankruptcy in 2010. Well, the story isn’t over. Netflix has been testing in-person pop-ups and has now announced the opening of two “Netflix Houses” in 2025 to meet the demand for in-person retail entertainment.
The need for digital tactics to be optimised with a human experience is one that people are craving and we couldn’t agree more.
The Importance of the Customer Experience
Viewing the entire customer experience, from the first website visit to signed contract (and more), is imperative to building the foundation for a successful, and profitable, relationship.
Jimmy Diffy, Co-founder of Bokka Group, spoke about improving customer experience. A few points that struck a chord with our team are:
- Sales using inbound notes to stop leads needing to repeat themselves
- Having clear milestones and optimising key conversion points
- The use of multiple avenues for conversations as forms only get filled when a lead is ready to buy
Where our expertise lies in how chat improves customer experience, it was great to hear key points made by an expert in the digital marketing space that line up with how our chat solution has been built to address these.
Additionally, the Blue Tangerine Team spoke about the need to understand buyer personas to build a customer experience that translates to their wants and needs. Additionally, there are two key statistics they shared with us.
“50% of people want builders who are quick to respond.”
“74% want to buy their home in person but 40% want some of those steps to be online”
Funnily, these statistics support the role our solutions (SmartChat and InstantConnect) play in addressing market needs and creating a better customer experience that translates to business success.
The Home Builder Digital Marketing Summit was a hit, and we are pleased to see that it will be happening again in October 2024. And where these key takeaways ring true for those in the home builder space, they also ring true for marketers in all industries. Just like Netflix, creating and optimising a digital experience is more important than ever but we cannot forget the need to marry this with a human experience too.
