Lockdown Pivots And How They’ve Made Our Service Stronger Pivot: it’s the word of the pandemic, as companies all over the country – and the world – change the way they think about their offering, and how they deliver it to clients. Sentinel Homes was no different. While our core work – building houses – can’t change much, we worked hard behind the scenes to move everything else online. Like others in business, we’ve found that the changes lockdown required us to make came with a raft of benefits – and fewer downsides than we expected. Here are the pivots and innovations we implemented to make sure we could keep serving our customers – wherever we were. ZOOM MEETINGS AND PRESENTATIONS Our business is very much about relationships. To design and build a house that suits your family and lifestyle, we need to understand you – how you live your life, what you care about and your family dynamic. Meeting face to face has always been an important part of that process. In person, we can get a feel for each other through body language, which often communicates more clearly than words! Shifting our meetings online might have meant we would lose a lot of that insight. Instead, we found that what we lost in body language, we gained by being beamed into people’s homes. Seeing inside clients’ houses and how they dress when they’re relaxing at home (PJs, in one instance!) gave us a new level of personal connection. We could use Zoom’s functionality to replicate an in-person meeting. We shared our screen to go through designs, proposals or consenting documents and could even set the design renders of a client’s new home as our Zoom backdrop. This let them see it from all angles so we could easily talk to different features. The process was extremely well received – simple enough for people who might otherwise struggle with technology, and so convenient without travel time or fighting traffic. While we still love catching up in person, our virtual meetings will almost certainly become a permanent option when it best suits clients. VIRTUAL SHOW HOME TOURS While lockdown meant that our offices and show homes were closed, our virtual tours meant people could still ‘walk through’ them and experience the feel and layout. The tours are set up much like Google Maps, with simple navigation tools allowing users to explore the space, peer into cupboards and take a long hard look at fixtures. They also allow people who live in areas without a show home the opportunity to check out our builds, and clients from all over the country can explore more layouts – rather than just being limited to their local show home. Want to see it in action? Click here to take a tour of some of our show homes.
WORKING FROM HOME