The house and land industry is known for being dynamic, fast moving and quick to respond to changing market dynamics, so its reluctance to embrace technology has always been counter intuitive. The CEO of LandNow, Tony McEntee provides advice on how to innovate.
1. Look to industries that have successfully made the change
There’s no shortage of examples across Australian industries that have adapted to innovative new ways to do business, whether that is direct to consumers or business to business.
The disruption, innovation, and success of platforms like Carsales in auto, the real estate portals like Realestate.com.au and Domain in the established property market and even Amazon for retail have shown that relationships don’t change, but business can be done more efficiently.
Quality online platforms shorten the buyer journey, provide greater choice and understanding of the market and deliver significant efficiency benefits for the businesses that use them to sell through.
2. There’s rarely ‘one size fits all’ when it comes to good solutions
The house and land market has enjoyed an increase in innovation in B2C platforms that help buyers. Some of these platforms are very good as they can measure where leads are coming from, can target marketing accordingly and provide valuable information for buyers. However, the space has become very crowded.
As a B2B platform, LandNow delivers a live inventory solution that focuses on the relationships between land developers and builders. It provides the tools they need to track and trace leads and do business more quickly while in front of a client.
Transparency, delivering important information that is essential for decision-making in formats that are easy to use and understand, and supporting the end-to-end process of marketing, selling and buying land are just some of the B2B tools needed by the house and land industry in addition to good buyer-facing tools.
But live inventory that updates regularly is the game changer as it replaces the need for constant phone calls and emails asking “is that lot still available?” that is such a time waster in our sector.
3. Good technology should enhance relationships not replace them
Personal relationships are key in all industries and are essential in the house and land industry.
It's about drawing on the fact that relationships are essential and always will be and providing the tools to strengthen those relationships and allow sales teams to have more quality relationships should be the goal of your technology play.
Good innovation should empower you and your team to service more clients, shorten the buyer journey, and make more sales. Making more sales should equate to making more money, and no business will say no to that.
4. Change your people metrics to change behaviour
Traditional selling methods relied on customers walking into sales offices, and developers would measure how many brochures were taken over a week, how many people you spoke to, and the conversion to sales from those figures. The thinking behind increasing sales was to advertise and source more leads.
The new platforms are changing how we measure success. So make sure you align your team’s day to day, weekly and monthly behaviour to support the workflow of your technology.
5. Markets are cyclical so avoid the excuses
Property markets have always been cyclical, so when the market declines, it’s normal human behaviour to return to what we know and what has worked in the past. Change is also hard, and so at a time when the market environment already feels fraught with risk, adopting something new can feel like a step too far.
Or is it? What got you here, won’t get you to where you need to go and innovative technology can often pull you out of downturns faster. Cutting heads is not the only way to help the bottom line. Use the time of a slower market to invest in future growth.
On the flip side, bullish markets may feel too busy to run a change program in as it can be all hands on deck. But making the most of a hot property market and strong sales can give you a first mover advantage when the tide turns again.
6. Recognise the cost of not changing
Making the decision not to innovation is one of the costliest decisions you can make. Your team need the right tools for the job and expecting them to hit ever increasing targets and deliver better customer service with outdated and increasingly ineffective tools is a recipe for frustration, resignation and failure.
Look to drive efficiencies, and use staff more effectively. Real innovators focus on growth and take a first or early mover advantage. Keeping things done the way they always have done means you will quickly be left behind, so what are you waiting for?
LandNow is the easiest way for developers and builders to buy and sell land. To book a demo, click here.