New platform fulfills customer aspirations as never before

[WHETHER THEY REALISE IT or not, construction companies and developers offer homebuyers a customer journey. That journey used to be filled with Excel files, emails, faxes, phone calls, papers and notes: large amounts of manual work. With manual work come mistakes and mistakes create uncertainty, whereas digitalisation can improve efficiency and help eliminate mistakes. Work that used to be done manually can now be automated and digitalised. Data can be shared in real-time with all stakeholders, including the customer.

Digital Customer Journey – an online portal from GBuilder, the BIMbased customer journey management platform for property developers – takes homebuyers from the sales process to material configuration, then onto the building process and warranty period.

Although software can never replace good customer service, it can help customer service allocate their resources better and allows them to focus on their true mission: serving customers and making sure that their customer journey can reach perfection.

Customer service should work with a digital customer journey solution that helps serve homebuyers better on one of the most challenging of customer journeys. Today’s consumer expects to play a more active role in the purchase choices that they make. A home is probably one of the biggest decisions of a lifetime on both financial and emotional levels. That explains why buyers expect that what they buy should be on their own terms.

With modern software the buyer can be presented with a variety of customisation options that the developer can offer: a choice of colours, materials and finishes for various areas of the property. They can test those different options within the 3D visualisation or through a VR headset, settling on their preferred choices which are then fed through to the construction team for integrating into the build. That’s good for the buyer and great for the sales team, who are given the opportunity to upsell on each unit of the development. Once the buyer has decided on their options and ordered their custom upgrades, they are able to share the visualisation of their new home with friends and family.

The benefits of such software go beyond the buyer and the sales suite. The real-time use of BIM-based information benefits all stakeholders within the development, from the builder and subcontractors to the worksite and beyond. The builder, for example, is offered real-time access to the actual material configurations that go into the building process, as well as punch lists, room cards, orders and quantities. Correct and up-todate information is always available in one, centralised location, accessible on numerous devices simultaneously – even from a mobile.

Prospective buyers can now see exactly how a property will look before it has been built: a boon for marketers and developers as it facilitates the movement of the buyer into the sales funnel. For buyers, it raises enthusiasm and gives them a feeling of security in their choice of property that may otherwise have been lacking.

Customer experience, when buying property off-plan, should be a delight. When selling a product that is not tangibly available to view at the point of sale – in this case a property – it is crucial that developers explore ways to excite and capture the buyer’s imagination. Customisation, as a concept alone, is a very persuasive strategy – and where you can go above and beyond, not only to suggest what could be done with a property but actually make the buyer’s dreams come true, they place themselves at front and centre of the industry.

Delivering a valuable customer experience begins on the building site; and with a cohesive platform that’s updated in real-time for all stakeholders to use, the building process is facilitated beyond any level previously possible. Accuracy, speed and efficiency are optimised, allowing completion to be achieved to a higher level, faster – ultimately maximising customer satisfaction with their finished home.

One cannot overestimate the value of delivering an ideal customer experience, and in a world where buyers want their own way more than ever, we must be ready and waiting to give it to them.

It is up to those working within the industry to step up to the plate, to use new technological developments and strategies and deliver unique, quality homes bespoke to each individual buyer. q • Visit GBuilder in November at London Build on Stand D60