Are you the middleman between homebuyers and suppliers, too?
A construction project requires a lot of people: architects, supervisors, kitchen builders, electricians, etcetera. Keeping in touch with all these key players is no small feat. As a homebuilder, your team is often the middleman. Your project manager or salespeople are the ones between homebuyers and suppliers or contractors, going back and forth with construction plans, explaining new changes to customers, clarifying their wishes to the floorer. Let’s be honest: it’s exhausting, and who really has the time to be the middleman, right?
Besides the fact that being the ping-pong ball between the different parties is time-consuming, it’s also risky. The chances of making a mistake are much higher when someone in the middle is responsible for getting the message from point A to B. We all know how games of Chinese whispers end, right? You never end up with the same sentence you formed in the beginning. In the case of this game, the result is usually very amusing. But when it comes to home construction, wrongly informing people could lead to discussions, delays, or painful financial situations.
There are so many documents and messages going back and forth during construction. What’s more: last-minute changes to plans are very common. Homebuyers ask for an upgrade, or they want their sockets in different spots after all, an unexpected problem arises on the construction site, and so on. If you get your wires crossed and fail to communicate correctly, those sockets will be in the wrong place, and the problems on-site will not be dealt with appropriately.
Easier for everyone
Being the middleman is difficult. It’s not your main job to handle the communication between homebuyers and suppliers — yet, you have to do it anyway. Or do you? The customer managers at homebuilder ION, for example, are no longer the ping-pong ball between those two parties since they’ve implemented a homebuyer portal. Instead, they now give key players access to the same online environment when a new construction project takes off.
According to Ellen De Clercq, Head of Customer Care at ION, this makes it easier for everyone to follow up on the project and keep a clear overview of all the documents. But it’s also a great way for homebuyers to get in touch with suppliers and vice-versa — without the help of ION’s team. 'Our customers are very happy to have one spot where they can contact suppliers or us, check offers and ask questions directly to the right person. So it’s just easier for everyone.'
Straight from the source
Homebuyers don’t have to wait for you to reach out to the supplier. Instead, they get the answer they need directly from the source. Worried some suppliers’ communication won’t be up to your standards? No need to lose sleep over that because you are automatically included in the conversations between other parties. In other words: you can keep an eye on the back-and-forth, allowing you to jump in when needed.
