Jan 24 2007
The advantages offered by digital warranty and maintenance programs is the subject of "The Digital Age Comes Home," a white paper released today by BuildSERV, a Seattle-based company that produces home warranty and maintenance programs for homebuilders. The white paper offers insight to residential builders about the use of internet-based tools to improve customer satisfaction.
According to Brad Brickman, author and BuildSERV president, adopting digital tools improves communication between builder and buyer, sparks more referrals, reduces warranty claims, and increases satisfaction ratings. "Builders have focused on lead generation, pre-sales and sales process through the internet," he said, "but have not capitalized on consumer demand for digital and internet-based tools post-construction."
A recent study by J.D. Powers highlighted that of the 10 factors driving overall satisfaction with homebuilders, the builder’s warranty/customer service ranked highest. Providing buyers with useful home maintenance checklists and timelines benefits the builder by enabling clear communication about warranty and maintenance.
Consumers are rapidly gaining confidence and sophistication using online tools to search for and evaluate housing options. Home buyers are much more likely to use the Internet to make important determinations about the qualities of homebuilders during pre-sale, construction and after-sale. This white paper reports many of the driving factors pushing the acceptance of internet-based information services and outlines what to look for and how to measure success when considering these services.
"Homebuilders are looking for an easier way to give more support to their customers without adding additional costs and/or work for their customer service departments," says Brickman. "There are many ways for builders to stand out and differentiate themselves from their competition by using additional tools that will not only help them, but their customers."