Comments on: Websites for local builders – Beat the big guys and how to use their biggest weapon against them http://www.dootch.com/2009/05/builders-website-beat-the-big-guys/ Perspectives of a freelancer and entrepreneur Fri, 16 Sep 2011 03:47:15 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Luke http://www.dootch.com/2009/05/builders-website-beat-the-big-guys/comment-page-1/#comment-72 Luke Mon, 17 Aug 2009 19:35:49 +0000 http://www.dootch.com/?p=231#comment-72 Mikey I like your point about some companies wanting to offer the bare minimum online to "give them a reason to contact me", and how silly that is. I've heard that line now from a few different places. Like you say, the reverse is true - People will call you if they like you best after doing their research. And people aren't always rational, their research might have been flawed. My friend ended up going with Dennis Family to build their house. Coincidentally they have the best website by far, but who knows how good their offerings are compared to the other builders. <blockquote>I also find some builders (maybe it’s just local businesses in general) to be very reluctant to spend much money on a website, which I find strange, knowing how lucrative their industry is.</blockquote> Yeah, they definitely don't get the leverage of national builders. A national buider builds a website and gets viewed by people all around Australia. A local builder gets it viewed by people within 100km radius. The resources will never be on par, but still, if they make just one extra sale from it, they've made their money back. Mikey I like your point about some companies wanting to offer the bare minimum online to “give them a reason to contact me”, and how silly that is. I’ve heard that line now from a few different places. Like you say, the reverse is true – People will call you if they like you best after doing their research. And people aren’t always rational, their research might have been flawed. My friend ended up going with Dennis Family to build their house. Coincidentally they have the best website by far, but who knows how good their offerings are compared to the other builders.

I also find some builders (maybe it’s just local businesses in general) to be very reluctant to spend much money on a website, which I find strange, knowing how lucrative their industry is.

Yeah, they definitely don’t get the leverage of national builders. A national buider builds a website and gets viewed by people all around Australia. A local builder gets it viewed by people within 100km radius. The resources will never be on par, but still, if they make just one extra sale from it, they’ve made their money back.

]]> By: Mikey McCorry http://www.dootch.com/2009/05/builders-website-beat-the-big-guys/comment-page-1/#comment-71 Mikey McCorry Mon, 17 Aug 2009 07:21:48 +0000 http://www.dootch.com/?p=231#comment-71 Having built a new home about 4 years ago, had a friend also just go through the same ordeal this month, as well as actually having recently built a website for a local(ish) builder, I could not agree with you more. I see the main problem being with the mindset of the builders themselves. Many of them are very traditional in their sales techniques, and do not believe in the power of a good website. They only want to offer the bare minimum online (they're scared of publishing their floor plans online where they can be "stolen" and taken to another bulder) and would much rather have the prospective buyer contact them directly to discuss their requirements face-to-face (where they can work their sales pitch) than let them do their own research. Its a shame really, because from a customer's point-of-view, you get a much better experience from the nationals. I also find some builders (maybe it's just local businesses in general) to be very reluctant to spend much money on a website, which I find strange, knowing how lucrative their industry is. Having built a new home about 4 years ago, had a friend also just go through the same ordeal this month, as well as actually having recently built a website for a local(ish) builder, I could not agree with you more. I see the main problem being with the mindset of the builders themselves.

Many of them are very traditional in their sales techniques, and do not believe in the power of a good website. They only want to offer the bare minimum online (they’re scared of publishing their floor plans online where they can be “stolen” and taken to another bulder) and would much rather have the prospective buyer contact them directly to discuss their requirements face-to-face (where they can work their sales pitch) than let them do their own research. Its a shame really, because from a customer’s point-of-view, you get a much better experience from the nationals.

I also find some builders (maybe it’s just local businesses in general) to be very reluctant to spend much money on a website, which I find strange, knowing how lucrative their industry is.

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