Thursday, January 31, 2008
DVD Video Brochures are Green
Think about the number of printed brochures the average new homes community will go through, a couple thousand at least. Think of all that paper, manytimes just to be throw in the trash. With DVD Video Brochures each one is a DVD and a DVD cover. They are recycleable. They can be ordered 1,000 at a time as needed and the prospects who get them are a lot less likely to through them out, they are looked at as an asset and kept on a shelf. DVD Video Brochures have ROM sections where most of the documents from a printed brochure are stored and can be printed as needed by the prospect. This is not the perfect green medium but it's a start.
Going to Market
We are going to try to get a mailing out on Monday February 4 aimed at 71 large builders in the metro Philadelphia, New York, Baltimore and Washington,DC area. The mid Atlantic region, many homes being built.
The mailer consists of a sales letter, a checklist of all 60 chapters that also explains pricing and a copy of our demo DVD Video Brochure so they can get a feel for it's quality. I will follow up with a phone call to see if they "get" the idea. We are only looking for 1 sale out of those 71, but who knows it might hit a note and be popular. It could go anyway. I can only market it and see what builders have to say. I will post here on the results.
The mailer consists of a sales letter, a checklist of all 60 chapters that also explains pricing and a copy of our demo DVD Video Brochure so they can get a feel for it's quality. I will follow up with a phone call to see if they "get" the idea. We are only looking for 1 sale out of those 71, but who knows it might hit a note and be popular. It could go anyway. I can only market it and see what builders have to say. I will post here on the results.
Subject Matter
Think about a new home, and the questions a buyer will have. We have identified close to 60 chapter segments of relevant information that the prospect might want to know about. Thats 60 times 5 minutes or 300 minutes worth, 5 hours. As long as viewers can watch these 5 minute chapters at their leisure it is not too overwhelming. 5 hours in a row would be unbearable.
You see, the DVD Video Brochure is ment to be browsed, like a dictionary or encyclopedia, not taken all at once. The view might be interested in 10 chapters now and another 10 later. A builder would be wise to give the prospect viewer a lot of content so as their experience grows they have something to learn about. Yes, this costs money at a per minute rate, but as you educate the prospect they become much more likely to buy a home. Who knows what chapter might tip the prospect to buy. I always asked my customers what made them buy, many times it was the history of the area or the schools. These are not usally in the builder's brochure, but that is what is important to the prospects. The builder should include all aspects of the community and themselves as who knows what will sell each prospect. If the builder pays $300,000. for a 5 hour production but adds ,say, 5 sales to his monthly tally. Is that worth it? I think so.
You see, the DVD Video Brochure is ment to be browsed, like a dictionary or encyclopedia, not taken all at once. The view might be interested in 10 chapters now and another 10 later. A builder would be wise to give the prospect viewer a lot of content so as their experience grows they have something to learn about. Yes, this costs money at a per minute rate, but as you educate the prospect they become much more likely to buy a home. Who knows what chapter might tip the prospect to buy. I always asked my customers what made them buy, many times it was the history of the area or the schools. These are not usally in the builder's brochure, but that is what is important to the prospects. The builder should include all aspects of the community and themselves as who knows what will sell each prospect. If the builder pays $300,000. for a 5 hour production but adds ,say, 5 sales to his monthly tally. Is that worth it? I think so.
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
Why wouldn't a builder use a DVD Video Brochure?
The money. Builders are a herd species. They do what has worked since 1945 when the housing boom started. They advertise in the local paper on Saturdays and Sundays, they put out bandit signs - the roadside directionals with the community name and sometimes an arrow toward the community. When the prospect finds the model home or trailer they give out a brochure with floor plans and a list of standard features and maybe some options. The sales rep is there to encourage placing a lot hold so the folks can meet with the builders rep to talk about the new home.
It is kinda impersonal. Folks have to plunk down $1,000. refundable dollars to meet with the builder to get their questions answered.
Who knows if they even like or trust the builder. They know almost nothing about the builder.
At Work DVD is giving builders a tool that when the prospect goes through the sales cycle they get a DVD Video Brochure to take with them, lot hold or not, and learn all about the builder, the community and the area, so they are not stangers to it all.
A 2 hour, 24 chapter DVD Video Brochure costs $120,000. A 100 unit, $500,000. homes community has a marketing buget on average of 3% or $1,500,000. What the DVD Video Brochure will do is raise sales from 3 units a month to 5. This will make the community sell faster and the builder can raise prices faster and higher, so he makes more money. He should be making 10% which in this case is $5,000,000.
So is it really about the builder not being able to afford a DVD Video Brochure or is it more he will not change his sales formula?
When I was selling, if we could raise a 3 unit per month community to a 5 unit per month community, that would have been a huge accomplishment. Now I just estimate that is what these DVD Video Brochures will do, it might be more. Everyone who watches these DVD Video Brochures is sold on the featured builder. It is that powerful. No printed brochure makes a viewer cry while viewing it. The DVD Video Brochure did. Is that affinity worth $120,000. You bet!
It is kinda impersonal. Folks have to plunk down $1,000. refundable dollars to meet with the builder to get their questions answered.
Who knows if they even like or trust the builder. They know almost nothing about the builder.
At Work DVD is giving builders a tool that when the prospect goes through the sales cycle they get a DVD Video Brochure to take with them, lot hold or not, and learn all about the builder, the community and the area, so they are not stangers to it all.
A 2 hour, 24 chapter DVD Video Brochure costs $120,000. A 100 unit, $500,000. homes community has a marketing buget on average of 3% or $1,500,000. What the DVD Video Brochure will do is raise sales from 3 units a month to 5. This will make the community sell faster and the builder can raise prices faster and higher, so he makes more money. He should be making 10% which in this case is $5,000,000.
So is it really about the builder not being able to afford a DVD Video Brochure or is it more he will not change his sales formula?
When I was selling, if we could raise a 3 unit per month community to a 5 unit per month community, that would have been a huge accomplishment. Now I just estimate that is what these DVD Video Brochures will do, it might be more. Everyone who watches these DVD Video Brochures is sold on the featured builder. It is that powerful. No printed brochure makes a viewer cry while viewing it. The DVD Video Brochure did. Is that affinity worth $120,000. You bet!
Universal Usage
What if everyone, not just business' had DVD Video Brochures. But for our discussion we will talk about business' As part of any buying cycle there is an information gathering phase. This is usally not easy. You have to gather product brochures, you should talk to some past customers for their thoughts on the product, you should research who will be installing the product or conducting the service. All of this takes time and effort. Way too much time and effort. Most people just kinda find out a little about the product or service and then buy and hop for the best. With the DVD Video Brochure, all that hard work can be done, once and used with every customer.
When I was a new homes sales rep we would have customers who would want to talk to past customers as a way to check out the builder. It was a hassle for the now home owner but they would usally meet with the prospect. I would then give them a gift certificate to dinner at a nearby golf resort. Bribary ;-). With our new DVD Video Brochure we interviewed about 8 past customers for thier testimonials and now, each time a prospect views the DVD Video Brochure they see the 11 minute long chapter on Customer Testimonials. It works that way for 17 other interesting subjects. Knowledge is good, there should be more of it, not less. Why make each customer invent the wheel just to learn about and justify a purchase of your product or service. A DVD Video Brochure solves the problem. Produce it once, us it for all you customers.
When I was a new homes sales rep we would have customers who would want to talk to past customers as a way to check out the builder. It was a hassle for the now home owner but they would usally meet with the prospect. I would then give them a gift certificate to dinner at a nearby golf resort. Bribary ;-). With our new DVD Video Brochure we interviewed about 8 past customers for thier testimonials and now, each time a prospect views the DVD Video Brochure they see the 11 minute long chapter on Customer Testimonials. It works that way for 17 other interesting subjects. Knowledge is good, there should be more of it, not less. Why make each customer invent the wheel just to learn about and justify a purchase of your product or service. A DVD Video Brochure solves the problem. Produce it once, us it for all you customers.
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
Our DVD Video Brochure is ready
I stopped writing this blog back in 2007 because I thought know one was reading it because there were no comments. I have decided to start to write again, for anyone who might be interested in DVD Video Brochures.
We finished the At Work DVD video brochure on K Wolf Custom Homes in mid January. It turned out great for a first effort. Sure we'll change some things in the future, but we learned, we learned a lot. The production is 18 Chapters that are each 5 minutes long, so about 90 minutes. There is a Part 1 that has 4 chapters and can Play All, the there are Other Chapters with are 14 chapters that play and then go back to the menu. We found through audience tests that people did not want to view the entire production like a film, it was too much like a loooooonng commercial. The first 4 chapters give an overview and then the next 14 are interesting when watched as little vingettes. So the piece works.
Now we market. We are mailing it to 71 big builders in the mid atlantic area. Will they see value and pay $1,000. per minute for the product? They spend about 3% of the community total on marking. Say they are building 100 - $500,000. homes. Thats $1.5 millon of budget. If they want a 2 hour production thats $120,000. out of $1.5 Million. Heres were it gets tricky: Say they are building 20 houses at $400,000. 3% is only $240,000. I don't think they will do that. So we are looking for 100 unit communities. Those are the builders I have tried to find, and found 71 of.
What about the homebuilding slump. That is not a problem. Builders will not be starting as many homes this year, but they have plenty of homes to sell. They need new, innovative ways to sell them, and a DVD Video Brochure fits this bill.
I have a few years in the homebuilding sales and marketing business and I think they will look favorably on a new marketing tool.
We finished the At Work DVD video brochure on K Wolf Custom Homes in mid January. It turned out great for a first effort. Sure we'll change some things in the future, but we learned, we learned a lot. The production is 18 Chapters that are each 5 minutes long, so about 90 minutes. There is a Part 1 that has 4 chapters and can Play All, the there are Other Chapters with are 14 chapters that play and then go back to the menu. We found through audience tests that people did not want to view the entire production like a film, it was too much like a loooooonng commercial. The first 4 chapters give an overview and then the next 14 are interesting when watched as little vingettes. So the piece works.
Now we market. We are mailing it to 71 big builders in the mid atlantic area. Will they see value and pay $1,000. per minute for the product? They spend about 3% of the community total on marking. Say they are building 100 - $500,000. homes. Thats $1.5 millon of budget. If they want a 2 hour production thats $120,000. out of $1.5 Million. Heres were it gets tricky: Say they are building 20 houses at $400,000. 3% is only $240,000. I don't think they will do that. So we are looking for 100 unit communities. Those are the builders I have tried to find, and found 71 of.
What about the homebuilding slump. That is not a problem. Builders will not be starting as many homes this year, but they have plenty of homes to sell. They need new, innovative ways to sell them, and a DVD Video Brochure fits this bill.
I have a few years in the homebuilding sales and marketing business and I think they will look favorably on a new marketing tool.
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