Builder - September 2008 - (Page 36) INSIDE STORY home. Pardee netted 26 sales that weekend, says Gary Probert, Pardee’s vice president of sales. “That was one of our better sales weeks this year.” “You never know when people have the inclination to shop,” says Sandra Kulli, owner of Malibu, Calif.–based Kulli Marketing. Yet, more than a few builders have curtailed their field selling efforts during the downturn and on certain days only see customers by appointment. Kulli witnessed this fi rst hand when she and a young customer arrived simultaneously at a builder’s model complex at 11:45 a.m. on a weekday only to be told by the sales rep inside that they couldn’t enter until 1 p.m. Kulli asked the customer what he was looking for and took him to a subdivision at nearby Foothill Ranch, Calif., where he eventually purchased a house. The downturn has produced its share of bizarre moments, though few have been weirder than when a top 10 builder hired temps to direct vehicle and pedestrian traffic to its sales office in Riverside, Calif. Unfortunately, observed JoAnne Williams, the builder’s sales office was closed. “That’s a lack of personnel coordination,” says Williams, who owns Irvine, Calif.–based JWilliamsStaffi ng, which provides sales help to builders. Williams also notes that some builders are leaving customers stranded when they substitute live contact with business cards on a sales office door for local resale reps “who may or may not know anything about [the builder’s] product,” a tactic she’s seen some builders resort to in Phoenix. and a former John Laing Homes executive who is now a sales consultant, thinks builders need to be more proactive about asking customers when they prefer to shop “and adjust their hours accordingly.” Face-to-face interaction is indispensable now that “conventional modes of advertising aren’t working,” says Desiree Davis, vice president of sales and marketing for M/I Homes in Columbus, Ohio. M/I “You never know when people have the inclination to shop.”—Sandra Kulli, owner, Kulli Marketing There are, of course, legitimate reasons for builders to scale back their field sales. “It’s an allocation of resources question,” explains Jeff Shore, president of Auburn, Calif.–based Shore Select, a sales training specialist. In mid-July, for example, Shore spoke with a client in Seattle whose sales office had only three visitors in the past month. But after checking in with other builders, Shore says he found that the tendency to reduce selling hours “is more widespread than I thought.” Bill Probert, Gary Probert’s brother requires its sellers to prospect for leads, and they have been joining different local networks, such as the Columbus Young Professionals Group, and veterans’ organizations through which the builder offers discounts to soldiers returning from tours of duty overseas. The Pinehills snags new leads through various events such as art exhibits and jazz festivals. These events and its other accommodations seem to be effective as Pinehills’ sales this year “have been holding up,” Green says.—J.C. ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES Bump in the Road Re-evaluating a conservation easement puts one of Pulte Homes’ active adult communities on the right path. T his June, Pulte began taking orders again for Celebrate by Del Webb, an active adult community nestled within the 2,400-acre Celebrate Virginia master plan along the Rappahannock River in Fredericksburg, Va. Pulte plans to build 1,100 homes on 240 acres here. But two years ago, this project fell into a ditch when environmental issues brought the subdivision to an abrupt halt. “The delay actually worked to our advantage and made Celebrate bigger and better,” says Shawn Evans, vice president of operations for Del Webb’s Mid-Atlantic division, who notes that initial sales have been brisk. But it probably didn’t seem that way in September 2006 when county supervisors forced Pulte to put the project on hold after the builder had presold 137 customers who expected to move into their new homes that summer. Three years earlier, Pulte had asked The Silver Cos., Celebrate Virginia’s master developer, to carve out room for a DOUBLE DUTY: A 6,000-square-foot Discovery Center Del Webb community. serves as a meet-and-greet sales office by day and a gathering Silver had previously spot for residents after hours. worked with Pulte on Falls Run by Del Webb, another active projects. “It is a drop-dead gorgeous locaadult neighborhood in Fredericksburg. And tion,” says Tony Sala, Silver Cos.’ executive Celebrate Virginia, which bills itself as the vice president. largest retail resort on the East Coast, had Stafford County approved a generalized (see page 38) emerged as one of that market’s premier development plan that illustr ation: richard borge; photo: courtesy pulte homes 36 ■ B U I LD E R sep t e m ber 2 0 0 8 W W W.BUILDERONLINE.COM http://WWW.BUILDERONLINE.COM
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