Traditional methods of buying and selling house and land packages for builders and developers are fraught with pain points which seem crazy in this digital age. Below we look at those that can be easily resolved through the adoption of a new digital toolkit.
The process is opaque
Buying and selling house and land packages is a little like a bad game of AFL - it's full of dropped passes and misdirected kicks. No one really knows what the play is, many of the players are unsure of the rules and those on the field must shout at each other to be understood which raises stress levels. In contrast, digital tools allow a transparent process that helps everyone understand what land is available, what types of property are suitable for it, and where everyone is in the process.
The process relies on one-to-one communication
For more than 25 years builders and developers have been ringing each other up and asking “hey is that block still available? How much? I might have a buyer. I'll call you back.” The games of phone tag can take days - sometimes weeks - to resolve and all information needs to be relayed to the buyers who are left anxiously hanging. Digital processes in contrast provide one line of sight to all parties ensuring a smooth flow of communication.
The process is full of bottlenecks
One-to-one communication slows everything down, especially when major decisions are involved as each new piece of information requires consideration and a change of mind or need to share or consult starts another round of phone tag. It also makes us dependent on individuals in the process who at times simply cannot be reached. Digital processes are able to automate knowledge sharing and make information visible and easily understandable which makes it easier to make better decisions from the get go.
The process is slow and extremely inefficient
Anyone who has played phone tag or waited days for an email response knows how frustrating it can be. Modern client expectations of instant service created by their experiences in other industries - from Uber to food delivery to booking a holiday stay - are putting great pressure on our industry to digitise. Because surely if you can improve productivity by tracking the purchase of a $20 pizza effectively through technology, there has to be major benefits to applying the same thinking to a house and land package worth hundreds of thousands of dollars.
The process relies on information that is easily lost or hidden
Unless you have a photographic memory, you'll struggle as a builder rep to remember every single lot available in the market from every developer, it's details and suitability for the client sitting in front of you. That means searching constantly through emails, reviewing pdfs, printing out and piles of files. That takes time and brain power. The days of sending (and waiting for) an email with a pdf attachment isn’t considered a great customer experience anymore, and of course, that perfect block that you just couldn't put your hands on while your client was present, turns up as soon as they leave meaning you need to jump on the phone. And we know how that goes!
The process relies on humans to move the information from one place to the next.
Humans are great at many things but when it comes to absolute consistency in our behaviour, we fail. That's because we get distracted, the phone rings, we need to have lunch, are thinking about an issue with the kids… the things that can take our mind off the ball are endless and result in mistakes and inconsistencies with repetitive tasks. Digital tools however follow rules that are rarely if ever broken. Therefore the information is always where it should be and easily findable and traceable.
LandNow is a digital B2B platform specially designed by industry experts to search and secure land in one easy-to-use platform, in real-time. Builders selling homes refer a large number of sales to land developers and therefore relationships between builders and developers is a crucial part of the business. Typical communication methods mean the information is distributed via weekly emails, edm, onsite presentations and company websites. The difficulty with this approach is the builders receive around 50 emails per week therefore rendering the information just white noise and ineffective in reaching its audience.