Top 5 Discoveries at the Build Smarter 2019 Conference

Decoding Today’s Home Buyer, and So Much More.

The Build Smarter 2019 Conference is just around the corner, kicking off on Nov. 18 in Scottsdale, Arizona. This year’s event will take place amidst a much more positive outlook than the industry experienced in the recent past. According to a report from Wells Fargo, “The outlook for residential construction in 2019 is improving versus late 2018, and there are sufficient tailwinds to carry the industry through any near-term economic turbulence.”

That’s very good news. It also makes this an interesting time to be a builder. We’re entering a ‘now or never’ reality in which builders must adopt new ways to market, manage, and communicate – or risk getting left behind. Critically, they also find themselves catering to a whole new class of home buyers that are accustomed to convenience and personalization in the digital age.

To that point, we’ve themed this year’s conference, The Expectation Revolution: Exploring Building Trends, Technology, and Innovation for the Evolving Home Buyer, featuring an agenda packed with fresh content, education, and technical training. Here’s a taste of what’s to come, including five discoveries attendees can uncover at Build Smarter 2019.

(Check out the full agenda and registration details at the Build Smarter Conference site)

#1: Buyer behavior is radically changing, and we’ve got the data to prove it.

The building industry is experiencing an expectation revolution, driven by highly discerning home buyers. It can be difficult to know when and how to adapt your business to keep pace. Understanding buyer expectations take the right strategy and insights. In our keynote, Decoding Today’s Home Buyer, Mollie Carmichael, principal with Meyers Research, will join us to reveal the latest home buyer data to help you understand their evolving demographics, preferences, and expectations.

(For more on 2019 Industry Predictions and Building Trends presented to you by Meyers Research, try our webinar, “2019 Industry Predictions and Building Trends”.

#2: Digital innovation has impacted the home shopping journey – just ask the buyers.

According to a Builder Online article, millennials are set to finally enter the housing market in a very big way, stating, “aging millennials are set to close the headship rate gap with prior generations – likely driving steady long-term growth in residential new construction.”

That’s one explanation for drastic changes in builder/buyer interactions – from the way buyers search for listings, to how they view homes, and how they prefer to interact before, during, and after the sale. The whole industry is undergoing a digital transformation urged by consumers that are digitally savvy and always on the go. How do you respond?

We’ve put together a variety of sessions to help builders tackle this trend from the inside out. In a live Q&A session during our Innovation Panel, attendees will hear from real-life home buyers, builders, and industry experts about how innovation has impacted their personal journeys and experience.

We’ll also present Social Media: 5 Tips from Builders, a how-to session on Maximizing Your Online Marketing and Listing Exposure and bring in a design expert to talk about New Design Trends and Tools – packed with ideas to help you ride the digital wave, expand your online presence, and attract a steady stream of buyers to your listings.

#3: The market is unpredictable, but you can rise above it.

As every builder understands, there are many factors that are beyond their control. It can be difficult to know how to evolve in an unpredictable market. Luckily, builders have access to a secret weapon – and it lives right next door. Your customer is a powerful asset to sharing the insights you need.

In our Live Builder Interview: Marketing & Sales Strategies to Win Home Buyers and Earn Trust Forever, a builder will share their strategies for attracting buyers in an often-unpredictable market, and how to build positive customer relationships throughout the process.

We’ll continue the discussion in Best Ways to Earn Referrals and Transform Your Customer Experience, as well as our Builder Panel: Finding Your ‘Aha’ Moment from Customer Feedback. Guests will learn from our CustomerInsight expert how to acquire and translate customer feedback and hear first-hand from builders how they walk alongside their homebuyers and use what they learned as a catalyst for process and business transformation.

#4: Trade management can either be a thorn in your side or a chance to excel.

According to a recent NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Marketing Index survey, the availability of labor is the leading concern for builders in 2019. Issues with trade management have long plagued builders, often resulting in delayed closings, construction quality issues, and diminished customer trust. Builders must keep projects running smoothly to ensure they are prioritized by the most dependable trades, as well as proactively pinpoint quality concerns.

This is an issue we’ll tackle in one of our Builder University sessions, The Top 3 Challenges of Trade Management. In this session, a builder will share what approaches they find most useful for fostering a positive builder/trade relationship and talk about the best tools to use to improve trade communication and management.

Try ” 5 Keys to Effective Trade Management ” for effective methods to enhance your trade management, try “5 Keys to Effective Trade Management”.

#5: Relevant builders understand how to bridge the gap between construction and technology.

From evolving expectations to digital disruption, we know the industry is rapidly changing. We don’t want you to simply survive, we want you to thrive. Our goal is to give you the power to build smarter, equipping you with the technology and data you need to remain agile to adapt and grow. Constellation’s ERP software solutions help you bridge the gap between technology and construction, and our Build Smarter Conference reflects this approach. Ultimately, we know you need hands-on training to get the most out of your technology investment. With a myriad of software training seminars, our tech lab, and product user groups, you’ll gain the best practices, tools, and technical know-how you need to improve and grow your business.

To learn more about the Build Smarter 2019 Conference, read the press release, watch the video, or visit our conference registration site. We hope to see you there!

Resources:

Report: 2019 Will Be Good for New Home Building, February 19, 2019, BuilderOnline.com, Builders: Materials in 2018, Labor in 2019, March 18, 2019, NAHB