^{Options...Just Good Business !
By Mike Moore
Reprinted from: Builder & Developer Magazine}

^{As the baby boomer ages, generation X enters the marketplace, and women control more and more of the buying decision, personalization of new homes becomes more important everyday. The baby boomers nest is emptying and they are ready to live the rest of there life with all the conveniences available today. Generation X grew up with the best and doesn’t think they should sacrifice a thing when buying a new home. More than that they have developed designer taste, and buying habits don’t die easily. Don’t forget that today women control more of the income and dominate the homebuying decision, and their home has always been a priority.  Now more than ever, offering the homebuyer the opportunity the make their home live the way they want it to, is just good business!}

^{It wasn’t long ago I heard and wrote about builders waiting for the day when they wouldn’t need to offer options to sell their homes. Today I’m hearing different comments. Everywhere I go builders who have experience with options are looking for systems, procedures and people who can help make the homebuying experience more enjoyable, by making options programs effective.  Options programs cause construction, sales, purchasing, customer service, vendors and sub-contractors to increase there communication. Options when done well make the home building process a community effort long before the community is built. This increased since of teamwork is a side benefit of a good options program and must be part of the system that makes any options program effective. Early coordination, increased training, and heightened communication can’t be left to chance. These are every bit as important as the products you offer.  In fact without these proactive ingredients the products won’t matter.}

^{Preparation, planning and coordination are a must if you want options to be a profit center and a selling tool to close more homes. If you still think you can throw a couple of people at options and give the sales agents a list to sell from then you are probably still finding options to be painful and a cost center. You also might find that your customer satisfaction or livability ratings are continuing to drop.  Options can set you apart, but are you being set apart for being buyer friendly or buyer frustrating?}

^{Preparation is a must if you are going to be seen as buyer friendly.  Are you organizing your options, standardizing the choices you offer and making the process as controllable as possible. Have you selected a system and a sub-contractor who can execute your wishes? Do you know what to offer so you don’t get caught with excessive special requests that can cause construction delays and costs that you aren’t even noticing until it’s too late?  Do your sales people know the products you are offering well enough to serve your homebuyers or are you expecting the buyer to go down a list and make sure their home turns out just the way they want it. Should your sales people even be involved in selecting the options with the homebuyer? Most design appointments are weekends, when sales agents should be focusing on selling more homes not where existing homebuyers want additional electrical outlets, canned lights, or security features, not to mention what color or style cabinets they want or the countertops that go with them.}

^{How many times have you heard from your homebuyers, “I didn’t know that was available”, when they saw it in their neighbors home.  It takes individual personal attention to every homebuyer to make them a customer after you made them a sale, and making customers needs to be all our greatest desire. It’s not enough to make a sale if they won’t buy from you again or tell anyone who’s listening to buy from you. Stop the pain by finding the help necessary to make options profitable in everyway possible. I was encouraged today to hear a superintendent say,” I’m optimistic about options! ”. This happened only after a solid commitment from purchasing, sales, construction, marketing, and sub-contractors to work on options as a team. I’m excited about what I hear our industry saying today!  I heard a Director of Construction say, “ I thought one person should have the final say on options and be in complete control. Until I got more involved and realized it would take good communication and everyone’s cooperation to make options work.”}

^{There are too many wonderful options available today not to take advantage of them. Electronics and computers offer amazing opportunities for options, and did anyone else see the Koehler sink with the pasta cooker and drainer at PCBC.  Plumbing options are nothing short of entertainment! Moen Price Pfister and many others offer incredible choices for the homebuyer. Appliances offered by all the manufacturers make the kitchen my favorite room in a home. Sub Zero, Viking, you name it, they all have it. Get organized and offer the fun stuff that makes buying and owning your homes an enjoyable experience.  Don’t get so familiar with what you do that you loose sight of how fun what you do can be.}  

^{The idea of options for profit sounds great. Giving the new homebuyer choices seems to make perfect since. The reality of executing an effective options program with limited staff has been a different story. Look for partners who can help. It’s just good business to look for experts to help you get what you want out of your business. No industry does this better than the building industry. It’s at the very heart of contracting, to find the sub- contractor, you can work with, who can deliver and help you make your homes the best they can be.}

^{US Homes found when they separated options sales from home sales they increased both the home sales and the options sales and improved their efficiency in options.  Anyone who attended the PCBC seminar, “Managing Options & Upgrades for Profit Not Pain”, heard about their experience.  it is becoming more evident that managing the options process must be a marriage of outsourcing and internal commitment, and that it is not only worth the effort but a necessity in today’s market.}

^{I asked an industry veteran how far along they thought the industry was in the evolution of options. They said, “ about 50%, yea half way to understanding and delivering effective options programs and systems.” There are always those a little farther along the learning curve and those who are almost complete in their ability to deliver options successfully.}

^{If you aren’t optimistic about options call me. Come to think of it, if you are optimistic about options call me. I’d like to hear your options stories.}