Bringing It Home!
After this year’s International Builders’ Show (IBS) in Las Vegas, we’re feeling reenergized and excited for what’s ahead in the housing industry, not only in sales & marketing but product design, innovation, and building the next generation! We sat down with the g2 team and asked about their favorite moments, best sessions, and what we’re wholeheartedly bringing back to the rest of the team.
Mollie Elkman
The energy at IBS 2023 was incredible. You could just feel it in the hallways and across education sessions and the show floor. People were there to maximize their time and bring home new ideas to implement.
I attended the opening ceremony for the first time this year and that was such a highlight for me. It really set the tone for the show and seeing The House That She Built on the big screens and our new Girl Scout Patch was a career highlight for me. It’s really amazing to see the industry rally behind this movement and know that when we all work together we can absolutely recruit a strong and talented workforce for the future. It was also so great to see the book characters throughout the show knowing that group two has been able to produce something for the industry that is a tool to make the industry better for all of us.
Overall IBS 2023 was a huge celebration all around. Celebrating professional achievements, sales and marketing success stories, and future opportunities. Whats so magical about this industry is the fact that it is always changing and evolving. Its really like a rollercoaster at times but that ride is what makes it so exciting!
Katie Kolakowski
My experience at IBS this year was extra special because I got to celebrate a milestone birthday while I was there!
The face-time I got with not only our g2 team but many of my builder partners was a huge highlight. And that ties into what I think is one of the biggest trends/directions for this year: personifying the building process. I think everyone thought we were going to go to this virtual/digital-only selling. And that’s not the case. The past 30 days have shown an uptick in walk-ins/foot traffic, and appointments. My builders have been having some very successful in-person events these past few weeks.
So my takeaway is: get prospective buyers to YOU – whether it’s in a model, a spec home, a design center, or even a dusty future homesite. AND make sure your staging, signage, model marketing, etc are on-point. This is a prospective buyer’s initial impression of you and your company. How you present yourself is how they will determine if you are a quality, qualified builder!
The energy at IBS this year was powerful. We’re going into 2023 with a positive mindset and people are feeling optimistic. There is a need to be proactive versus reactive throughout the year while settling in with where we are in the market with interest rates, etc. I think our marketing and sales teams need to be prepared for today’s market. Buyers are taking longer to convert, and they need more education than ever. We need to stay on top of all of that to have a successful 2023.
One of the best things I heard was Chris Hartley from K.Hovinanian speaking about the importance of sales training. He thought he had a rockstar team. He shopped 24 of them, and 5 of them did not get out of their chair to greet or take the customer through the model. He also reiterated the importance of the sales team being involved with marketing. For example, he said something like, “If your sales team knew the lead walking through the door cost $1800, they might approach that lead differently.”
My favorite moments were the extra time spent with our g2 team. We got all dressed up Monday night, and had an amazing family dinner Wednesday night.
My favorite moments were meeting some of our builders in person, since I’m so used to only seeing them through a computer screen! Everyone was just as nice as I was expecting and so fun to hang out with and get to know a little better.
It was also so great to see so many of our builder partners take part in education sessions; they were some of the most interesting and information-packed sessions at IBS! The educational sessions were a great reminder of the mindset you need to have right now with this current market and getting back to the basics. It really grounded me again in the importance of the homebuyers’ experience right now, whether that’s an on-your-land buyer, active adult, or a move-up buyer, and what we can do to make it a way more positive and fun experience. And how everyone from sales to marketing needs to work together.
I’m excited to bring back to the agency and our builders the importance of branding. Specifically, what kind of experience we can create for home buyers with branding to make our builders stand out in their markets. In particular, we’re envisioning short-form content and boosting organic social media presence, onsite events, and more pre-contract virtual or online tools for homebuyers.
Amanda Druschel
One of the IBS sessions talked about humanizing the home-buying process and putting a personal touch on the new home buying/building journey. In that vein, my main goal at IBS was to humanize my relationships with my clients. I wanted to be able to step outside of the zoom box and spend some time truly getting to know them on a personal level. It was great to see so many of them in the West Hall, in Sales Central, going to education sessions together, and even enjoying a bite to eat together. My favorite lunch was sitting on the floor outside Sales Central eating my brown bag lunch (prepared by Chelsey, our g2 house mom!) with a client I finally had the opportunity to meet in person for the first time… just chatting about our daughters and sharing how we each got started in this wonderful industry.
Being remote and living nowhere near g2’s HQ in Philly, IBS is always a great opportunity for me to really connect with my colleagues and strengthen those relationships as well. While it may not work for most teams, for the g2 team, living together in a house for a week is the best! Just the simple pleasure of waking up and enjoying a cup of coffee, discussing the previous night’s events, enjoying a home-cooked meal together at the end of the week, and recapping each of our favorite moments from IBS.
Nikki Kirkland
My favorite moment at IBS this year was during the presentation I gave! This was my second presentation at IBS, so the first-time jitters were gone and I was able to relax and enjoy it more.
I love speaking on stage and engaging with the audience. It’s also always nice to see familiar faces looking back. I was also thrilled to see our builder partners and get to spend time with them, as well as meet new people in the industry.
I am happy to bring back the positive response g2 got while in Vegas! I am excited that we are ahead of and/or with the trends of social media. Our hard work researching and testing behind the scenes is paying off.
Based on my own research, and hearing what people in the industry are discussing, my top 3 expectations for social media in 2023 are:
- Short-form videos are still going to be very prominent
- Personalizing your page with homeowners, employees, pets, etc. is more important than ever
- Influencer marketing is going to creatively arrive in the industry
We’re looking forward to seeing you at the International Builders’ Show in 2024!
