The summer is always an interesting time of year. Including decisions on how active to be and how much money to spend, developers and suppliers are also busily preparing for the fall market. Whether you are gearing up for a project launch, re-launching an existing project or changing direction altogether, preparing for these events should be done months in advance to accommodate planning and lead times.

Regardless of your market situation, the campaign needs to address the issue of the value proposition. What benefits are you providing to your buyers and at what price?

Before you answer this, you need to know who your buyer is. What do they value? What are the features they are looking for? What has been holding them back from buying until now (if it’s an existing project)? What is needed to get them off the fence and how can you offer it to them? If you don’t know who your target market is, you will never be able to meaningfully speak to that audience about the value your product can bring.

A common mistake is to just scratch the surface. Telling yourself that your buyer is an empty-nester although identifies them, is not nearly enough of a description to understand what they are looking for. Are they active and therefore don’t care about master on the main? Are they likely to have boomerang children and therefore a coach house is required? Have they been saving all these years to finally buy their dream home in which case high end materials may be of more importance? I could go on, but the bottom line is that you need to dig deep and don’t be afraid to really identify your buyers.

At MAC, we involve our salespeople in these types of discussions as they are on the front lines, building relationships and are holding far more delectable information then they realize sometimes. Pick their brains! Use purchaser surveys once people have bought – they are typically more willing to offer detailed information once they have invested in the community. From here, you can identify the features, benefits and deepest desires of your buyers and understand their pricing threshold thereby improving your value proposition.

A word of caution: Value proposition is not necessarily the most for the least. In order to be successful (meaning homes sold and profit margins in tact) it is about focusing on the hot buttons (the most important benefits including deal-breaker benefits and that 1 or 2 special item that they didn’t even realize they needed but now that you are offering it to them can’t imagine living without!) and understanding their affordability level in order to meet their budgets.

Happy Selling,

Cameron McNeill