From Click to Key
Creating an online home buying experience
In the winter of 2020, our team was approached by the top manufactured housing company in the US to help them design a virtual home buying experience that would help users navigate the complexities of the home design-build process. With COVID in full swing, it was imperative for our client to deliver a virtual sales experience that was clear, engaging, and easy to navigate.
Up to this point, the sales process was done almost totally in person. Creating a virtual sales experience was not just a "nice-to-have", it was imperative to keep business moving forward amidst a threatening pandemic and a booming housing market.
From the ground up
At the onset of this project, the client was very focused on improving the employee sales experience, concentrating on quoting, the sales processes, and supporting technology. This "inside-out" point of view is common, especially in large companies struggling with nagging inefficiencies; however, we expanded the discovery process to also include the customer's "outside-in" point of view. By including the customer as well as other key stakeholders, we identified opportunities that helped us accomplish our ultimate goal, "to create a simplified, innovative sales experience".
Here are some of our key insights from the field:
Frustrations from disparate digital systems often lead home centers to work around the existing software and create their own analogue visual systems.
Putting it all together
After our deep dive, evaluating the current home design-build process, we worked with the client to identify the top "worthy problems" before building out the new virtual experience. Looking at desirability (what the user wants), viability (what makes business sense) and feasibility (what is possible to create) we aligned on four key solution requirements to drive our design direction.
- Quickly identify a product-customer fit
- Provide on-demand system guidance
- Make loan processing more collaborative
- Make loan processing more visible
At home in the buying process
After releasing the suite of solutions for the new "Sales Cycle Initiative", both home consultants and customers alike gave rave reviews of the virtual tools available for navigating home buying process.
Our client sustained 20% year over year growth for the following 3 years and continues to hold a clear market leadership position. Investing in deeply understanding the needs of customers and employees on the front lines has paid great dividends to our client, and we hope that trend continues for years to come!