Navigating the changing times can be challenging, but with a few new tools to work it's possible to connect with virtual home shoppers on a deeper level. If you missed our webinar, Best Practices For Connecting With Virtual Shoppers, you can watch the recording here or follow the summary in our two part blog series! In part 2 of this series we cover mastering the virtual meeting and best practices for the 'new' new home tour. Missed the first part of the series? Learn about new CTA's to speak directly to the virtual home shopper and messaging that works in part 1 of the blog series.
Become a Virtual Meeting Master
To become a virtual meeting master you need the right tools for the job and mastery of a few best practices to ensure each meeting is a success.
Zoom and GoTo Meeting are the top picks when you need to meet with multiple people in different places.
- Screen sharing capabilities makes it easy to share presentations, files or look at a website together. The ability to record the session is a benefit that allows you to share it later.
Video Call solutions like FaceTime and Skype are great for when your calls need a personal touch.
- If you need to connect one-on-one, these tools can help you connect on a personal level and are closest to meeting in person.
- Personal virtual tours can give you the opportunity to show a physical space like a model, home, community or a design center.
Social Media usage is increasing and more people are using this as an avenue for getting information. Tools like Facebook Messenger and Instagram Direct can help you connect with potential home shoppers in an open, social setting.
- Be responsive and ready if you plan to use these channels for communication.
- Keep messages on social media messaging apps personal and conversational.
Virtual Meeting Masters know and follow virtual meeting best practices and you should too!
- While attire in a work from home setting is a little more casual, if you are going to be on camera you should consider your appearance. Your hair should be done, your makeup on if you wear makeup and your outfit should be complete. Every virtual meeting rookie has made the mistake of standing up during a meeting to reveal pajama pants with their collared shirt. Don’t make that mistake!
- When a meeting is virtual, it’s easy to get distracted by what’s on your screen, but when your camera is on you should look at the camera as much as possible to engage with your audience.
- Log on to the meeting just a few minutes early or do a test run to make sure your camera angle is right. Try to avoid cropping the top of your head off and make sure the view is front and center.
- Soft lighting can make a huge difference in how you look on camera especially when the light source comes from the front.
- Get Mic’d up to make sure that everyone can hear you loud and clear, whether it’s a full on headset or ear pods, a mic is always better than computer audio.
- Background noise can be a major distraction so unless you are talking, use pause and mute to keep background noise, dogs barking and sneezing at bay.
- Not everyone has a dedicated home office, but you can still fake a great background setting with Zoom’s virtual background. Need some tips on how to set yours up? Click here to read the full details in our blog post.
The ‘New’ New Home Tour
We are all having to adjust and rethink everything we’ve done and the new home tour is no exception. Business as usual doesn’t exist any longer and it’s important to make the adjustments now.
- In some areas, one-on-one appointments may still be allowed so instead of booking an open house, offer to meet with a buyer by appointment.
- FaceTime Tours allow you to engage with home shoppers one-one-one while walking around the model home. Buyers can instruct you to open drawers , closets and go in additional rooms making it a great tool to dig into their questions along the way.
- Facebook Live Tours are a great way to showcase your model home without having to meet in person.
- Unassisted Tours from companies like UTour offer a way for buyers to tour the model at their convenience. Just make sure that there is a protocol to sanitize between visits.
- Today, buyers can tour your model with self-service online tours. Shoppers can view your homes through technology like Matterport or they can explore unbuilt homes through life-like representations that use virtual reality.
- Personalize tours can be professionally produced hosted tours or you can shoot a video with your phone and share it with your client.
We’re Making Changes Too
You are not alone! NewHomeSource is making changes too. You can follow some of the changes we have made to connect directly with new home shoppers by visiting www.NewHomeSource.com or you can read about it here. Curious how other builders are adapting? We’ve highlighted a few builders that have made enormous adjustments to accommodate the new virtual shopper. For insight into what they are doing, click the links below to read their stories.
Lennar Homes | Cretin Townsend Homes | Century Homes
As always, if you are unsure about where to turn in these uncertain times, know that BDX has your back. Fill out the form below and we’ll be happy to do a Virtual Home Shopper Readiness Assessment to help you identify where you need to go.
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