Builder- March 2009 - (Page 72) AMERICA’S BEST BUILDERS 2009 good is seamless integration between online marketing and the sales department,” Stevenson says. “Most builders have a plan for what they want to have happen when prospects come into the model. They don’t have a similar protocol for online leads. … We’re seeing nimble and immediate response to online leads.” He’s also seeing big results from two other sales initiatives. For the fi rst time in the company’s history, Estes Builders opened a sales center in 2008 in Sunland North, one of its production home neighborhoods. While Kevin would prefer to have sales handled in-house, the company’s volume doesn’t justify it yet. Instead, he presented his proposal to the area’s top five real estate brokers. Today, his sales center has three dedicated agents who provide daily coverage. Estes Builders provided them with training and owns all the leads. For its custom home division, Ste- venson has been hard at work on building relationships with the people in the area, such as Realtors, bankers, engineers, property managers, and septic tank installers, who are influential with land buyers who will be looking for a builder. Those influencers get a personal tour of the custom homes they helped deliver—a treat for people who rarely get to see the finished product, Kevin says. “We want to be the first name that comes out of their mouths when a customer asks about a builder,” he says. “When they are there, we are asking for referrals.” Stevenson has conducted in-person and online training sessions for real estate agents, both on what the agents’ customers need to know about buying land to build a house on and various aspects of construction that will help the agents be more effective in their business. “The modern electronic marketing is very effective, but what’s almost as effective is good, old-fashioned personal marketing,” Stevenson says. “It’s not only inexpensive, it’s also super-effective, especially when it’s in conjunction with electronic marketing.” When the electronic marketing leads to a prospective buyer’s visit in search of their dream home for retirement, Estes Builders educates them about the benefits of building a custom home, as opposed to taking advantage of what buyers perceive as tremendous savings in existing homes. “We’re selling against the perception that there are these screaming deals out there,” Kevin says. “We decided to let the buyers be aware of the distressed properties and pick them apart. … I’m thankful we worked really hard a long time ago on delivering a great home on time and building a great reputation because we’re being scrutinized now more than ever.” EYE TOWARD THE FUTURE PERSONAL TOUCH: Part of the marketing for Estes Builders is offering tours of custom homes to real estate and building pros, who rarely get to see the finished product. TO LEARN MORE ABOUT PAST AMERICA’S BEST BUILDER WINNERS, VISIT OUR WEB SITE AT W W W.BUILDERONLINE.COM/BUSINESS. Kevin and Jo Anne Estes also have taken a very systematic approach to succession planning. With a long-term goal of playing a less-active role in the company, they’ve identified a management team and are each currently mentoring the people who will someday replace them. But that’s not in the plans for 2009. This year, the company is expanding into two new markets, each within an hour’s drive of Sequim. The decision came, in part, because the company can use 90 percent of its core trade partners and current personnel in the new markets. “In a booming market, you have to hire new people,” Kevin says. “In this scenario, we can just focus on how the new market works. … It’s definitely a bootstrap operation, but it’s cost effective. As the market returns to normal, we’ll have the ability to create real divisions in those areas. We’ll go get the business first, build some homes, and then go get the overhead. We’re pretty pumped about it.” The expansion will be a step toward his goal of building 50 houses a year. That is a benchmark that he believes will allow his company to bring design and selections inhouse, which would give it more control over the customer experience and yet another point of differentiation from the competition. One thing is certain. When it happens, there will be a system in place to make sure everything runs the way it’s supposed to, and an on-going effort to make it even better. B Photos: Joan Consani 72 ■ B U I LD E R m a rc h 2 0 0 9 W W W.BUILDERONLINE.COM http://WWW.BUILDERONLINE.COM/BUSINESS http://WWW.BUILDERONLINE.COM
For optimal viewing of this digital publication, please enable JavaScript and then refresh the page. If you would like to try to load the digital publication without using Flash Player detection, please click here.