Industry Leading Online Experience

Apr 9, 2020

Industry Leading Online Experience

Leading the Way in Online New Home Sales since 2014

The past few weeks in our world has us all familiar with the buzzword “virtual”. With all of us doing our part to stay at home, much of our day-to-day work, shopping, and entertainment has shifted to our phones and computers. Homebuilders are fortunate to have the tools to provide a virtual experience with 3D tours, lot maps, videos and photos to allow our clients to continue their new home search from the comfort of their home.

 

In 2014 Kimberley Homes initiated a response to the fundamental – and permanent – change in the way homeowners were choosing to buy. The growth of online shopping in conjunction with our commitment to making the homebuilding experience as easy as possible enabled us to a full service online experience, and an entire role dedicated to servicing our online buyers. We knew it was critical to best service our clients in this way, and were the first of our industry in Edmonton (by over 2 years) to bring this to them.

 

Departing from the traditional “showhome shopping” behaviours, industry statistics showed that our clients were spending much more time (often up to a year) online educating themselves with the information available. During this time they could potentially narrow down their community, lot, floorplan, and even their builder of choice before even stepping foot in a sales centre.

 

By understanding how buyers were actually shopping for their new homes, Kimberley Homes built an Online Sales Experience to match. It provided these online browsers and buyers the information they needed, along with a real life person to answer any questions that came up during their search. The past 6 years of dedication to our online sales experience has allowed us to transfer our client-centric homebuilding experience from “in-real-life” to the virtual world.

 

ALWAYS AVAILABLE TO ANSWER YOUR QUESTIONS

The Online Sales Counsellor’s job is to be available 24/7 days to answer your calls, texts, emails, and website contact forms. Their goal is to listen and get you pointed in the right direction quickly. And to help you navigate the online experience, by walking you through floorplans, available communities, and the building process. Whether you are years, months, or days away from needing your new home, the OSC is dedicated to sending you the relevant information to help you make the best decision for your family.

 

When you have reached the stage where you are ready to meet in person, the OSC books an appointment with a Kimberley New Home Expert. Whether we meet in a coffee shop or a showhome, we aim to fit into your schedule and meet the needs of your search.

 

The most important aspect of this position is speed. We know that information is readily available online with a quick Google search, and buyers are looking for answers to their questions fast and in real time. Between the hours of 7 am and 10 pm (and often later) our Online Sales Counsellor is committed to responding to your questions in 5 minutes or less.

 

It is not simply a matter of creating a position to answer the phone and field incoming requests. The OSC role is part of an overarching online experience to serve our buyers how they want to be served, where ever they are in their home buying process.

 

SERVING OUR CLIENTS AS THEY WANT TO BE SERVED

For 31 years, Kimberley has committed ourselves to serving our clients in the ways they want and need to be served. We recognise that the world is constantly changing and the way we shop and make buying decisions has evolved. As technology and readily available, online information influences our day-to-day, it is our goal to provide an online experience that allow clients to go as far as they want in the home buying process without ever needing to physically meet a sales person. Our years of work and dedication to enhancing the online experience allowed us to expand into the Okanagan in 2019, selling homes to clients there without having a local showhome or office.

 

And our homeowners tell us that we are getting it right.

 

HOME OWNER MARK OF EXCELLENCE

From the very first touch point to post-possession service, our clients receive a level of service and a virtual experience that is second-to-none. Our focus on raising the bar when it comes to client experience is affirmed by the voice of our homeowners. Earlier this month we were awarded two client experience accolades from the Home Owner Mark of Excellence. The H.O.M.E Awards are “granted to those builders with the highest overall customer satisfaction in their area as voted by homeowners”1. They spotlight builders in the U.S and Canada who excel in Client Experience, and Community & Industry Leadership.

 

As they are based solely on the voice of our customers, these awards are very important to us at Kimberley Homes. Our Kimberley Team is proud that our dedication to our clients and their overall building experience has resulted in being a finalist and winner multiple times since 2016. This year, we were the winner of Builder of Choice, (Edmonton – medium volume) and Best Customer Experience (Edmonton -medium volume).

 

While the challenges we are currently faced with are unprecedented, providing an excellent online – and in person – homebuilding experience is not.

 

 

1 Home Owner Mark of Excellence