^{Options...Remember, Your Selling A Lifestyle !
By Mike Moore
Reprinted from: Builder & Developer Magazine}

^{Personal style, it sounds like another marketing phrase.  Be careful you don’t dismiss it.  It only sounds like a phrase to those not selling it, for every shopper and buyer is looking for it!  It is the combination of personal tastes and desired lifestyle.  What do you think has made, “Who wants to be a Millionaire?”  so popular?  The American Dream of riches and glamour.  The American Dream used to be to own a home, today owning a home isn’t enough, if it doesn’t reflect our personal taste and establish us as having an identifiable lifestyle.  We really do want it all, don’t we?  As a Builder, keep this in mind as you select the options you will offer.  Your homebuyers are as they consider which home to buy.}

^{The selection of options available isn’t your only concern.  Today all of us want to be entertained, informed, and motivated.  A good selection of options won’t be enough to satisfy today’s homebuyers.  Entertaining them with a presentation that’s informative and fun is becoming a necessity.  Think about how where we shop and how we buy.  From the mega malls and family entertainment centers, to online shopping, it’s colorful and entertaining and is only going to become more interactive and more entertaining.  How do you present options?  When do you present the options?  How can you make the options selection process more of an event and less of a process?  Who should be presenting your options? Are you using technology to its full capability?  Ever wonder why selling is getting tougher everyday? Think about how the shopping and buying experience has changed in the past 5 to 10 years.  Has your presentation kept up?  Interesting questions, and the answers will be even more interesting!}

^{If options are really about personal style, isn’t it a matter of personal choice?  And if it is about personal choice shouldn’t the presentation be personal and therefore private. Doesn’t a private individual presentation give the homebuyer the best chance to make their new home exactly what they want?  Doesn’t this personal attention increase the homebuyer’s experience?  It does if the presentation is entertaining, informational, and motivating.  Just getting to this point will take a total team effort from Sales, Marketing, Purchasing, Construction, Vendors, and Sub-Contractors.  Are you working with those who can help you bring all these Options Team Members together?  If you are, keep up the good work, if you aren’t don’t wait another minute to get help and get started.  Homebuyers aren’t waiting to buy new homes and they want you to offer them what they want, not what you want.}

^{Start thinking like a buyer and not a seller, and you are on the path to answering all your options questions.}

^{I will be addressing all these questions and more in my next column.  Until then keep challenging we’ve always done it that way and keep making things better for the buyer.}