Episode 35 FINAL_LOUD

With messaging right now, every word matters because you know people are. Though tired people are sick of being home. Uh, the words and emotions that you evoke are just, that’s everything right now. So people talk about content. People talk about getting your brand out there, but they don’t, they don’t necessarily emphasize how important.

Every single word is that you use in that messaging.

Hi, and welcome to building perspective with Matt Riley and Mollie Elkman. We’re here to bring value. To you and your team by exploring all things sales and marketing related all from different perspectives. All right, guys, welcome to another episode of building perspective and this episode and a few other upcoming episodes.

Are going to be a little different. Mollie and I are just going to sit down once a week and we’re just gonna talk through the, the quote unquote production value of the intros and topic discussions of the week and focuses and topics and articles like we’re for a little bit, we’re going to throw that stuff out the window because.

We’re really gonna focus in on what’s happening, boots on the ground. And today’s topic is called let’s get real. So Mollie, let’s fricking get real. Let’s get real. So, uh, you know, there’s been a lot of information out there, a lot of conversation, and quite frankly, I think more cluttered than any other time.

Um, that’s not just a lot of noise, a lot of noise, not just for brands, but. Quite frankly, industry and, um, supposedly expertise and how tos and all that stuff. And we do not want to be a part of noise. We want to bring real value and real conversation. Um, one of the things for me that I keep seeing, which I, which really makes me want to be more real than ever is all this.

Um, talk about. Being most productive and being your best self and improving yourself during this time. And I have to say, I don’t believe there’s a single human being on the planet who hasn’t had a moment of, you know, a little bit of depression, a little bit of boredom, a little bit of hesitation right now.

And I think. Sharing that and knowing that is not a weakness. I think that is real. And you know, we can’t have an opposite, an episode of our podcast about being real without addressing that, because for everyone who’s listening, we feel you. We’re going through the same thing. And, uh, you know, even though we’re weeks in, it’s still hard.

And, uh. Yeah. So let’s just start with that real note. No, you’re right. I mean, like we were just talking about this morning. I mean, it’s week four, week four for us, at least in Raleigh, where we’ve all kind of been here, where we’ve been through week four really, you know, it’s essentially been now a solid month and.

You know, like as a family, we’re getting on every, we’re getting on each other’s nerves and schedules are off and kids are going to bed at like midnight. And you know, like it’s, and now this week we started our first week of remote learning with the kids in the schools. Like this is, it’s, it’s, it’s crazy.

It’s hectic. And. I think it takes, you got to acknowledge that and say, yeah, it’s tough and let’s stick to it. Let’s keep our nose down and keep going. But at the same time, acknowledging that it is tough and it is like normal, normal. And to me that brings so much of marketing and messaging comes with. The human aspect and like just having this level of compassion for yourself and compassion for your audience, that we are all going through something that we have never gone through before.

And I want to repeat that. We have never gone through this before. There is no playbook. There is no right way to do anything, including. How you respond to something that we’ve never gone through before. So there’s no proven method. None. So that is, if we’re, if we’re being totally real, we, you know, we’re sharing what we think.

And then of course, now we’re a month in. So we do have some, um, success stories and things that are working. But, uh, we have to share it all. So, uh, that, yeah, we have some successes. We’ve had some obvious like failures or pushback and we’re all learning as we go with, the key thing is, is how quickly you adjust.

And I, I think that the builders that, that I talk to, whether they’re group to clients or not, just we’ve, I’ve been having a little, and I know you have to as well, Mollie, having lots of conversations with just everyone, our industry, because we feel like Mollie and I really feel like it for our company. The best thing that we can do for people right now is literally just be a resource.

Like we’re working Tom. I mean, we’re working hard for our, for our builders, um, and long, long hours, but also just being a resource for people and, and a sounding board, whether they’re, whether or not their group to clients or not. Um. And we’ve, we’ve all kind of gone through and gone, all right, well, this is what we’re seeing starts to work and here’s what we’re seeing.

We’re, we’re salespeople have gotten pushback. You know, we’ve had a couple emails saying, Hey, you know, we, let’s transition into like actual results and successes and people getting, you know, doing the virtual grand openings. What are the successes look like? It’s like. We’re a month into this, like there’s not, there’s not enough data to say stamp it.

That’s a success, right? You can have a fluke once or twice and then the third or fourth time you do it, it’s a complete Nutter flop and you have to make adjustments on the fly. But what I have seen, the people that are making the most headway and this right now are the people who are willing to make quick decisions and not make decisions.

Um. By popularity contest or, um, what is it, the is we’re just sitting here chatting. The, the word is escape to me, but, um, decisions by committee, that’s what I was looking for. Like making decisions by committee is not making quick decisions and from what I can from my conversations and my view is the people that are making fast decisions to take action are, are making the biggest impact right now.

I totally agree. Um, I also think, I know for sure. You know, as a small business, everyone measures success in different ways. And I know for me. Keeping 100% of our team to me is a huge indication of success. Um, it’s something I’m really, really proud of. Obviously we have different builders in different markets, and their message is different there.

Their idea of success is going to be different for one builder, it’s going to be keeping the doors open and for another builder it’s going to be continuing their goals. And we have builders who are exceeding their goals for the year. I mean, how amazing is that for them? So it is different in every single, um, in every single state in the state of Pennsylvania right now.

Um, I mentioned this in our meeting this morning, Matt. Uh, but the builders have all come together and they’re bringing a lawsuit against the governor for, for closing down, building and making and not declaring it essential. So. The messaging for a builder marketing in Pennsylvania, it’s going to be a little different than a builder who is exceeding their goals.

So I think, you know, there is no one size fits all, but the one thing that goes across everyone is this is new and this brings a lot of emotion and feelings and wet, whatever the messaging is. It cannot be about the product. It has to be about the value to the buyer. And we, you know, that’s typically what messaging is about for housing anyway.

But now more than ever, it has to be about the value to the consumer. Yeah, absolutely. Your product is a part of that value, right? So to make no mistake, we’re not saying, you know, like you’re seeing some of these commercials right now for like insurance companies and it’s just, it’s this very like, heartfelt, warm and fuzzy.

We’re here and we’re going to issue you a two. Like we just got a notice from, we use state farm is our, is our insurance, right? So it’s like you’re going to get a 25% credit back of your premium. Like this is very warm and fuzzy and fluffy. Um. But that is not what we do. That is not housing. We’re not in that arena right now, and I’m really like, Hey, we’ve got to get more aggressive.

But with the right tone and messaging, like you just said, it’s, it is about the value you bring to the customer, your, your buyer. It is not. Solely about the product. It is not about four bedroom, three bath, you know, two and a half, you know, two story with a basement, you know, whatever it is, not just product centric.

It is what value are you bringing? How does your product bring that value and then how you incorporate that in your messaging. Yeah, and I think, I think the word aggressive is a really interesting word because I’ve heard you use that word before and some people automatically think of the word aggressive and they think of.

Harsh in your face, but you can actually be aggressively compassionate. You can be aggressively loving and sympathetic and all these things, so I think that that’s important. You’re saying aggressively get your tone of voice out there, whatever that tone of voice is. This is not the time to say nothing and not have your message out there.

Totally, totally. And so messaging examples, right? So let’s, let’s talk about, let’s just provide some real life examples and we can talk about some of the successes that we’ve seen, um, from the, from that messaging, right? So, you know. We’ve been doing a lot of, and let me back up for a second. We’re going to, we’re going to hit three main topics today.

We’re going to talk about messaging, which we started, we’re gonna talk about marketing specifically because marketing and messaging tied together, but they are a little different. Um, and then we’re going to talk about timing, um, and timing. Meaning how, how things are progressing and moving along the country in a, in a market by market.

Scenario. So I told you guys, our production value is going to be a little lower right now, simply because we’re just literally getting relevant information out there. Um, and we’re not, they like these really planned out episodes. We’re just, we’re getting it. We’re getting it and talking about it. So, um, messaging, that’s that we’ve seen, like one of the things, um.

That I would say is when I use the word aggressive is on the medium scale of aggressive, um, that we’ve seen some, a lot of success with is kind of what we’re calling our stay at home tours, right? So creating messaging that is all about the safety and security of the buyer, being able to get the information that they want from the comfort of their house.

Um, and. That’s been the focus point of that. Right? So, um, stay at home tours, tying in to some of the verbiage from stay at home orders. Right? So as governors, sir, a issued stay at home orders, we were talking stay at home tours. Right? So that’s how that messaging ties in. Do you want to elaborate on that a little bit more?

Because again, just like I was. Talking about the word aggressive. The word home is a really tough home when you are actually selling homes because what we don’t want to do is have the buyer associate their current home that they are quarantined in. With all the positive emotions that we as an industry try to cultivate with the word home.

Home is really an emotional word. It’s a word that evokes, um, so much feelings. So in a lot of our messaging, we have said, um. Tours right from your couch. Instead of saying home about the home where they currently are. Um, you use the word house, that is a way less emotional word than the word home. And I think just remembering that we are still creating a dream and we’re creating, cultivating these feelings.

And the last thing we want to do is continue to cultivate, you know, positive feelings with the home where they currently are. Uh, if that makes sense. Yeah, because w w and I, I think I can’t at this point, it all blurs together. So I can’t remember if I’ve talked about this on the podcast yet, or Facebook live or it’s just been 400 builder calls.

Um, but we talked about, um, really crap. I totally just lost my frame of mind. Literally, the thought just went right out of my brain. Oh my goodness. Go ahead, Mollie. You’re going to have to jump in and save me. Yeah, no, that’s all right. Um, so this is what happens when you don’t sleep and you’re just like constantly looking at websites and talking to people.

I think we’re all going a little bit stir-crazy in some capacity. Last night I was in my office at 10 o’clock and my daughter’s like, I did, I didn’t even know you were in here. And I’m like, yeah, I’m working. And she’s like, it’s like. 10 o’clock I’m like, I know. Like it’s just, what we’re doing right now is what day is it?

What time is it? It’s all blended together. That’s right. Um, yeah, so I totally lost my train of thought and where we were going with that, but we were talking about messaging. You were talking about, um, specific homes, house, very, very specific words. Um, I know we’re, I go ahead. You go ahead. Go ahead. With messaging right now, every word matters because you know, people are tired, people are sick of being home.

Uh, the words and emotions that you evoke are just, that’s everything right now. So people talk about content, people talk about getting your brand out there, but they don’t. They don’t necessarily emphasize how important every single word is that you use in that messaging. Yes, absolutely. And I had to write down what I was going to say, so I wouldn’t forget it.

Yeah, right. I was writing it down as you were saying, so we were talking about house and home and. What w w and this is where I was saying, I can’t remember where I, what platform I’ve said this on. So if it’s redundant, I apologize. But even though if it is, it’s worth repeating. But when we’re talking about that house in Homeward, you know, home is an emotional word.

It can, it can be a thing. Um, but it can also be a feeling of going home. Um, but. We have people’s pain points or are amplified right now and their current living situation, right? So like we talk about everybody’s home altogether. Everybody’s in their house all together, piled in, and every single pain point they have of their current living situation is amplified because.

Of the current situation. And what that allows us to do as marketers is we don’t have to speak. That’s where your messaging doesn’t have to be in your face because it’s another play on the word aggressive, right? But it doesn’t have to be like in your face, aggressive, because their pain points are already there.

And they’re very, very aware of them. And if you, if you’re. Being empathetic about your messaging, um, and you’re being very strategic about it. You can. Touch those pain points that they’re already feeling without them, without them going, Oh God, Lee. Like that’s a little, not, not very sensitive to, it’s, it’s the time.

Yeah. So one of those pain points that I keep coming back to is control. Every single person right now is feeling a lack of control because we have to be home. We have to follow guidelines. We have to do things that we haven’t necessarily done before. So when you’re talking about how you say that, you don’t have to say feeling like you don’t have control and leading in like that.

Instead, what you do is you use some really, um, active words like, come discover. What it’s like to live here, or words that, um, pull them in and put them in control of the buyer experience without actually saying anything about that pain point of feeling like they don’t have control. Right. Totally.

Absolutely. Okay, so. We talked about the, the words, the home and the house, and you know, how we, how we get in front of the people being aggressive, right? But not the, in your face of noxious, aggressive, um, and, and, and nailing that messaging is really a vital part. And this is, we’ve taught, I think the very, it was the episode, one of our podcasts that we did was called, was it data-driven creative?

Was that, I think that was the very first episode. But I can’t. Stress enough how important that is, especially today. Like understanding, we say when we use the word creative, um, we are in, we’re tying in the graphics that you use, the, the photo or video. Content that you use, the copy, the words that you use.

That’s the messaging. So the messaging art is a mixture of the words and the images that you pull together to tell your story and doing that with understanding of what the data says, right where people are, and this is going to help tie sin to get into the marketing side of it. The audience where people are, um, and what they want to hear it.

It couldn’t be more important. Is that even the right grammatical use of the term? Like it couldn’t be even more important than it is right now to be, to have a very specific strategy on how you’re shifting, shifting your messaging, what type of creative and the words that you’re using to get your message across and tell your story.

Yeah. So I was actually watching TV with my kids last night, and we don’t watch a ton of live TV, but a couple of TV commercials, um, came on and I noticed they were just probably produced a long time ago, businesses usual, and they showed people out and about. Living life and doing their thing, and I’m sure that the people behind those spots thought, well, this is what everyone wants to get back to.

This is more aspirational. And, and quite frankly, it had the exact opposite effect because. Right now we’re in a mindset of not having crowds of people. So when you see imagery of these crowds of people, it actually is alarming instead of aspirational, and it feels like, Oh wait, something’s wrong. So it’s the same thing when it comes to the images that we’re using.

It’s great to show images with people in them and people within a home, but maybe not the best time to show a crowd of people from a grand opening that you had in the past or something like that. Because what happens is that image, the intent of it is, is very nice, but the image actually evokes, wait, something’s wrong here and you don’t want to do that.

Yeah. You know, it’s really interesting that you say that because, um, I was, we were, we had the TV on, on Sunday. That was Easter Sunday. And, um. It was some point in the afternoon, late morning, you know, it just transitioned to like a normal Sunday church service, like would normally come on TV kind of thing, like they would air.

Um, but it was very interesting because they did like a. A lead in with the text that basically said this was filmed prior to coven 19 because they were showing people congregate and RI like crowds of people in a church. Um, and so it was really interesting that they like essentially put that warning up like, Hey, this was, this was recorded.

A long time ago. Um, but it’s really important to be aware. I mean, this is a perfect example. You know, we’ve talked about how, you know, a couple of, a few episodes ago, Mollie, we were talking about how we completely changed course. We rerecorded some intros on some podcasts. A perfect example. Another example is.

It was like a week and a half prior to coronavirus coming, like being a thing and all these shows and all the, the government interventions happening. You know, we D we did a recording with Greg Bray of blue Tangerine. We’ve talked about, you know, website design trends and you know, just what we’re seeing.

And that was scheduled to air. On our podcast this week and we completely pulled the plug on it. We’re like, we can’t air this episode. It’s because it’s irrelevant to where we are. And I emailed Greg this morning and I was like, Hey, I hate to ask you to do this, but what do you think about re-recording an entire new episode?

Because what we did. Can’t be used. You know, we’re in a new world of where we’re at. And he was like, you know what? You’re absolutely right. That’s 100% the right decision. I’m happy to make myself available to rerecord a whole new episode, so we will, we’re going to, um, but you’ve got to look at what you’ve already done.

And just because you’ve already spent the time and or the money to produce something doesn’t mean that you should use it anyway. Oh, I totally agree with that. I totally, totally agree with that. And you know what? While you were talking, I was thinking. You know, even our listeners, just taking this time for you to listen and learn and, and just have open discussion about, you know, what’s going on and how it’s affecting us.

And the industry I think is. Is really inspiring, like just the fact that you’re able to do that. I know for me, I have a three year old and an eight year old at my home right now with me. So even recording this podcast, I feel like I’ve achieved something pretty great because neither of them have come in here yet and started screaming.

So I just, you know, I wanna take a second and acknowledge that because you know what? It’s not easy. And I know a lot of people who are working from home who are listening to this, who are. Um, you know, having, being able to invest in yourself and what you do in that kind of way is a big achievement. I, I completely agree.

I agree. And yay for Zoe and Zach not running in the room screaming. Then I’m plenty of plenty of calls where they have, so that’s right. That’s right. All right. And that’s okay cause we all had that happening. Um, all right. So let’s dive into the marketing side. We’ve talked about messaging a lot, but let’s talk about the marketing.

So the marketing is the where, right? Like we talk about, it’s like the placement side of it and really the data side. So I’m gonna, I wanna. Just lead into this with a few things that are tangible that we are seeing. You know, we all know that social media right now seeing a huge surge, it’s like a 75% increase in overall activity, overall activity across social media.

Um, that’s not builder specific. That’s just numbers. Um, okay. So with that. Let’s talk about this for a second and how we’re smart about our marketing dollars and what we’re putting where. So with that, we’re seeing that. There are, there is more inventory available on the places like Facebook and Instagram because the big, big, big spenders are travel, hospitality, airlines, you know, like airline, um, anything, you know, retail, like large mass gathering type of, of, of, of spend.

So they’re essentially not advertising at all. So there’s this huge influx. Of ad inventory that’s available. Okay. On a normal scale, then you throw an additional surge in usage. On top of that. Now we have even more inventory that’s available. So from a social perspective, on an ad side of things, we are seeing these are two good non-positive numbers.

We’re seeing up to about a 30% decrease and the CPM. Right? So the cost per thousand impressions, what that really means is we’re getting in front, the reach is increased for the same amount of dollars spent. So we’re getting in front of, we’re had the ability to get in front of more people for the same dollars, and.

We’re seeing a decrease in the cost per click. So an increase in our reach and a decrease in the cost to get somebody to make the desired action that we want. The click the drive traffic to our website. So the decrease in CPM is between about 50 to 30 15 to 30% the decrease in cost per click is up to about.

10 to 25%. Right? Um, and so those are really, really good things. And so when we look at the data and we talk about our messaging and we marry up that data-driven creative aspect going all the way back to episode one, maybe we should even do a, uh, a refresh of data-driven creative. That’s still a trends to be the number one listen to episode.

Um, is. W how we put our message in, where it should be. It guys, it should be on social, right? It should be, you should be getting organic social out there that’s free. Doing tons of live video video as a whole. Um, and then paid advertising on social media is, is huge because of the opportunities. Um, Mollie, what do you think?

Yeah, I’m shocked how many people are not doing video. I really think that that’s a great way to get out there and. You know, it’s something that people aren’t so comfortable with. They don’t love seeing themselves on video, but it’s, you have to get yourself out there and get your message out there. I think as far as, um.

Data and messaging, like based on the numbers that you just gave, even brand awareness at that kind of, um, opportunity is worthwhile. You know, even even to get your name in front of people who aren’t necessarily in the market today, but are going to be in the market in the, you know, in the next few months.

Um. That’s important because it is less expensive and you have less competition. So I do think that there’s some something to that as well, so. Yup. I agree. And, and, and video is the unbelievably important way to get that out there. Um, it’s. It’s a great way to tell your story. And if you had the ability right now and you have some video content and assets, um, getting out there in front of some OTT and connected TV opportunities in, you know, people are streaming all their, all their.

They’re entertainment right now. Think about, what would I say by OTT and CTV. So OTT is over the top, stands for over the top, and then  and CTV stands for connected TV. So that’s connected. TV is stream is getting. Advertising, TV advertising, very targeted TV advertising. Think like. How you can dial in with Google and get in front of the right audience.

This is what you can do. It’s like with connected TV and stream on places like a sling, TV, YouTube, TV, Hulu, places that actually air programs, uh, TV programs. But you can get your, your, your content in front of them and 15 and 32nd spots. OTT is the opportunity to. Get in front of like not there’s, there’s different quality content, there’s different quality programming that you can do.

But, uh, what we recommend is that you get in front of like high premium, high quality content where people are watching episodic content online, episodic, episodic. What would that, what’s the right word? I don’t know. Episodic. We’ll go with that. Uh, we’ll go with that. And, uh, so like maybe you’re on, you’re watching a TV program in your web browser, right?

Maybe not through the connected TV device, like an Apple TV or Roku device. Right? Um, so those are really good opportunities if you have the assets available. And I was talking to somebody about this the other day, and we were talking about the opportunities that coronavirus has brought to us as a home building company.

Um, and I think that this has really exposed us. As an industry, it’s exposed us for what we haven’t done. I just talked to, and that’s a harsh country. I mean, it’s exposed us in every, at every level. Well, and I’m talking to about, I’m really, yes, you’re right. But I’m talking about like the content side of things.

I was just talking to a builder yesterday, and this was a non-group to client, and they, you know, and they, they said. Well over the past really like seven to 10 years. We really haven’t done anything like our website’s way behind. You know, we haven’t done very good job with creating photos and videos and content because we haven’t had to and work.

Suppose like now you’re, you’re like naked, you’re exposed. And how when the option for people who are just going to walk in my door is now gone. What do we have left? And I, to my core, I believe that, and I’m no health pandemic expert at all. Obviously none of us are. Uh, at least we aren’t. Um, that there’s going to be a second wave of this come through.

Right? And I think the way that we handle it as a country, we’re going to be more prepared and in a sense that we’re going to know how to like, where to isolate and how to do it, and how to trace and track things and, and, and identify the right people. But nonetheless, it may not come to us in the, in the same IX extreme version that we’ve just had.

But nonetheless, it will come again. But in my opinion, before we, before we have a, a vaccine for this thing. So if I’m doing this, I’m, I’m, I’m, I’m hustling to get how I got to play catch up. I can’t be exposed again. Um, and this is, this is really where we’re at, and I think this should be a primary focus, is identifying what your holes are, where you’re exposed, and then putting it.

Together an immediate plan, an immediate action plan to pick it up because it’s hard to do the marketing side. It’s hard to do the messaging and the marketing side of things. If you don’t have anything to actually talk about and put out there from a messaging and marketing perspective, it makes it really difficult.

Yeah. Mollie, you’re nodding your head like I am. I’m nodding my head. Cause you know there are, our topic for today is let’s get real. And the fact is that’s as real as it comes. Like this isn’t easy and this isn’t. You know, this isn’t something that the people who are making it like, yeah, I’m doing more than ever.

Yeah. You know, it’s, it just is coming off as very, um, as not authentic because it’s, it’s just not realistic and it’s not what’s actually, um, the hue, the shared human experience of this time. So I know for me, you know. I have in this time connected with people who I haven’t connected with in years. I mean, I have a weekly zoom call with my friends from my childhood summer camp.

You know, we’ve never, we’ve never done that. And you know, people reaching out and checking in. And I think in this, you know, this. Home together kind of environment that we are all in. There is an aspect of human connection that is really strong and I really believe our, it would be, I’m going to use a really strong word here.

I believe it would be a travesty if the housing industry. Does not steal. If new construction does not steal market share at the end of this from used homes, I think that we will never have a greater opportunity to really steal market share than we do right now. And you know, some builders come to us and they say, well, we feel bad talking about healthy homes.

What do not feel bad about your product? It is not insensitive to talk about the value you provide with what you do. That’s not insensitive. I actually think it’s more relevant than ever. So, you know, for me, let’s get real. Is, is all about that. It’s, you know, having a, um, aggressive amount of compassion for the human experience that we’re all going through.

But then also. I’m really sharing what you can do to contribute to the future of people’s lives. Yeah, I mean, you said it. I think we have, it would be, it would be a travesty if we didn’t take market share. Uh, and today, um, builder builder online just posted an article and I shared this in our group, two Facebook groups.

Private closed group. Um, here’s numbers from Zillow, the proving this, right? So new listings across the U S are down 27% year over year on April the fifth. So what does that tell us? So, well, one of the things we’ve talked about internally and with our builders and I, again, I don’t, the, the platforms are, this of these conversations are happening, are blending together.

But peep home, people are taking their homes off the market, like there’s less resale, there’s less used inventory on the market, obviously 27% down year over year. Um, and I think it’s going to continue to pull the pull back until this goes away and not immediately, right? Like, I think we’re going to see suppressed inventory for a period of time that people that weren’t super Siri, you know, that they were like, Oh, we’re going to move.

But if they were. Aren’t really, really in pain, or they’re pulling their house off the market for a little while. And these stark naked, unfurnished, sterile looking brand, new homes, inventory homes, have never looked so darn good. Right? And so for those of you who have inventory, um, you’re in a, actually an unbelievable position.

To be able to market that inventory to both buyers and to realtors. Um, because realtors, if there’s 27% less homes to sell, what, uh, you know, what are they going to do? There’s a massive opportunity there to partner with, you know, the, the outside agents of the world in your local market. So it’s, it’s a real thing.

And, and we’ve already been in an under supplied inventory market that’s 27% lower than it was last year, and we were already under supplied. So if you’re in an inventory, if you have inventory, you’re in a unique position. Now, if you don’t have inventory, you’re still in a really unique position. You just have to get your messaging right.

You have to make sure that you’re talking about all the benefits of. A brand new, untouched home. Yeah. And also going back to that feeling of control, people don’t feel that they have control right now. So the messaging of choice and selection is stronger than ever. You know, being able to make it 100% yours is, is something that really resonates with people right now because we don’t have that flexibility in our lives right now in this moment.

Yeah, totally agree. Okay, so let’s transition into our final point. Timing. Um, timing is key, right? And what do we mean by timing? Right now? Timing is literally like a moving window. Like it’s, it’s, um, it’s a moving target because. One of the things that we’ve experienced because we work with, I think we represent, we have some form of representation, meaning build or build or partner in almost every single state in the country, with the exception of maybe Alaska and Hawaii.

I need to get on the Hawaii time. Oh, we’ve had nothing. We’ve had builders in Hawaii.  I’m talking about. Yeah, we got to, I’ve got to figure that out. I need to figure out a way to make a site visit. Why? Um, but anyway, um, so we’ve got this broad, uh, broad coverage all across the country and market by market.

And so we, we have had the opportunity. And we’re very fortunate, I think, to have this opportunity. We were able to get this stuff when it first was happening and started justing the timing of it, um, and the messaging and the timing as things were progressing. And it’s kinda like a wave that’s going across the country in a very similar pattern as restrictions tighten up in different markets.

And then also as they start to slowly. Loosen from market to market, right? So it’s like this, it’s like a two two-part wave that goes forward. This going to go forwards and backwards. So, you know, we were able to start working on this and wa in Washington state. Um, new tradition homes. Shout out, they’ve, they ha, they’ve done an unbelievable job up there.

Uh, unbelievable job. And, um, you know, like we were able to get in front of this early and then with our builders in New York state, and then with our builders and PA, you know, like as this is, we’ve really had opportunity. To see this in some of the most strict environments. Um, and, and where it gets stripped down were homebuilding was non-essential.

And how do we get that messaging across? And then we’ve had the opportunity to do it in places like Raleigh and Charlotte and Dallas, where, you know, bigger, big, still really big metros that aren’t hit as hard and aren’t as strict. So finding that middle ground. And so what I’m getting at here is not the.

Plug us in any shape or form, but to talk about how you’ve got to get, keep your finger on the pulse about the timing because it’s not just a one and done adjustment. It’s a continual adjustment. And we’ve done, and it’s been a almost a, a weekly. Adjustment of the messaging and the marketing from a timing perspective, as things progress and as things change, and we’re going to go through waves of it, I think we’re going to go through waves of tightening, ratcheting it down, and then we’re going to go through a slower wave of the unraveling, and then how do we adjust our.

Marketing and our messaging from there. What do you, what do you think? Yeah, I mean timing. Is that a little bit of a rant? No. Hey, we’re being real. Um, timing is always essential. I think it’s, it’s just when you have this unknown in here and things are changing so quickly, timing becomes more and more important.

Um, some builders were a little bit slow in, you know, they started changing their messaging and before they even had a chance to get it out there. You know, things had already changed. We just don’t have that luxury right now of, of waiting. So, um, you know, making sure you’re communicating in real time is, is just so important.

And that’s why social media is so important. Like you were saying before. Yeah, absolutely. Okay. Um, I’m done. What do you have, Mollie? Just a final thought. Um, I hope that all of our listeners are okay and that your families are safe and that you are safe and everyone’s healthy. And, um, we really appreciate you listening.

Our numbers. We have a lot of listeners and, um, we are not here to pretend like we have. You know, the perfect answer for you, but we are here to talk through any, anything that you’re seeing that is specific to your market and you, um, you know, Matt and I are available. We would love to talk it through with you and give you, you know, another perspective.

Cause that’s why this is called building perspective. And, uh, you know, we hope everyone’s doing well and that your companies are doing well and that your families are doing well. Absolutely. Great ending. Yeah. All right guys, this ends, this ends our chit chat, fireside chat. Talk about, let’s get real. So, all right guys.

Um, we will talk to you in probably a few days. Have a good one. Thanks guys. .