Housing Giants - April 10, 2008 - (Page 19)

that time people may decide they want something else.” 3. The buying experience matters more than anything. “People are willing to pay more if they can get what they want now, and the relationships they have with people all through the process are pleasant and fun,” Horne says. “You can see the power of this in the success of Southwest Airlines. They even make flying fun.” His strategic planners decided masscustomization should be the centerpiece of their strategy, and to increase the speed of delivery, the firm should find a way to go from contract to construction start in 45 days, regardless of how many changes customers made. The final piece to the puzzle — a world-class customer experience — is the hardest of all the goals they set, Horne says, “because it involves everyone in the company — from sales to administration to construction to warranty service — and everything that happens to a customer from the first visit to the model homes to five years after closing.” So the computerized business processes Wilshire developed had to be built on a thorough understanding of what makes its move-up customers tick. One of the WWW.HOUSINGGIANTS.COM THE STATS Wilshire Homes 2007 GIANT 400 rank: 147 2007 Closings: Type………….SFD, SFA Units…………620 Operations: Austin, San Antonio, Houston, Texas Strategy: “Built Around You”: CAD and proprietary estimating software that drives electronic pricing of custom changes right in sales office. Unit pricing allows Wilshire to sell what it buys and buy what it sells, reducing hard cost variances to less than 1 percent. Organization is structured, empowered to build close relationships with customers. benefits of customization is that it gives Wilshire insight into consumer thought processes. Wilshire learned to think like a custom builder, even in a production building environment. “We learned that families with young kids want different things than people with teenagers,” Horne says. “We learned that Mom wants a command center kitchen, and that it’s good for each member of a family to have a destressing space to chill out. There’s just no 4.10.08.HOUSING GIANTS 19 http://www.housingzone.com/probuilder/index.asp?layout=giants http://www.housingzone.com/article/CA6398092.html?q=giant+400+2007 http://WWW.HOUSINGGIANTS.COM

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Housing Giants - April 10, 2008 Contents Viewpoint News and Moves Market CEO Spotlight The New Housing Demographics

Housing Giants - April 10, 2008

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