hat insight, shared with me by a log homebuilder at NAHB’s SHOWCASE, underscoresthe reality of being in the home building busi-ness. Success in any business starts with know-ing who your customers are and what theywant. And as reported at the 2005 InternationalBuilders Show, “Women directly purchase or

have controlling influence in the purchase of 91% of allnew homes.”

Therefore, taking a woman-centric approach in home buildingjust makes sense. It’s not feminism, it’s capitalism.

What is a woman-centric approach? Simply, it means lookingat every facet of your business through the eyes of yourfemale customer and designing each of those aspects aroundher preferences.

According to marketing consultant and author Mary LouQuinlon, “Stress in their lives is the #1 compelling theme forwomen.” Five years of ongoing research here at DesignBasics confirms Quinlon’s statement.

Imagine walking into your new home. Stop. Did you seeyourself entering the home through the garage? That’s reality.Speaking of the garage, how did that effect your stress level?

A 20' x 20' garage conjures up memories of one car doorbanging into another. Then there’s the clutter. Is it any won-der research shows two out of three new homebuyers areinterested in purchasing a garage storage system with theirnew home? Organizing the garden tools, sporting goods,auto supplies, etc. is a great stress-reducer, yet few builderseven mention garage storage options…Enough about thegarage. It’s been a stressful day at work. As you step into yourhome, rather than starting to mentally unwind, your blood pressure increases a few points as you see (and smell) all the

by Paul Foresman

“I always figured she was the ultimate decision maker in about 80% of

our new home sales. But I know for a fact that 100% of the time if I don’t

sell a couple one of our homes, it’s because I didn’t sell ‘her’!”

T

Foresman highlights characteristics of a Woman-Centric Builder.

D E S I G N B A S I C S

setting

apartYOURSELF

THE WOMAN-CENTRIC APPROACH

•DESIGN •TRAINING

•MARKETING•RE-ENGINEERING

RELEVANT DIFFERENTIATIONThat’s the key to success and profitability.It’s why Starbucks gets people to pay $4 fora cup of java who wouldn’t pay 50 cents fora generic cup of coffee elsewhere. It’s whyyou would willingly pay list price for a newShelby GT 500 Mustang but expect at least25% off list price from that same Ford dealeron a loaded F-150.

CHOICERather than housing utopia, today’sincreased choices have actually had theopposite effect – bored home buyers. Wehear it all the time. Buyers tour more avail-able homes than ever before but rememberless about them. “Predictable” and “It’s allthe same” are all too common comments.Without compelling differentiation, housing– yes housing! – becomes a commodity. Andyou know how people buy commodities? Onthe basis of lowest price – “So, what do yourhomes cost per square foot?”

“The less you differentiate, the moreprice sensitive people are. If they can’t see adifference, then all they look at is price.”Author and business consultant DaveAnderson is right on. Which is why we say,Woman-Centric Matters!SM

D E S I G N B A S I C S

Programby Paul Foresman

Coffee aficionados and untrained palettesalike extol the virtues of Starbucks coffees.They perceive it’s better coffee, it’s whatthey want, and they’re willing to go out of their way and pay more for the “better” product. Similarly, homes builtfrom woman-centric designs are perceivedby female home buyers as both “different”and “better.”

Yet, design is but one of the four corner-stones of a woman-centric approach. Full-strength is achieved when woman-centricmarketing, training and process re-engi-neering are also implemented.

TRAININGDid you ever consider the impact, positiveand negative, each one of your team mem-bers has on your “brand?” Their interactionslikely have much more impact on your cus-tomer’s experience than you’ve imagined.That’s why everyone in your organization –including (and especially) outside Realtorswho list your homes – needs to understandwhat the woman-centric approach is, howit benefits your buyers, and how they willpersonally benefit from it. Woman-centrictraining is offered at your location.

MARKETINGTaking a woman-centric approach meansmarketing differently. But it does not neces-sarily mean increasing marketing spending.Design Basics’ Woman-Centric Mattersprogram addresses every customer touchpoint – from signage to your website to howyou answer your phones – with the samegoal: to differentiate you from other areabuilders in ways relevant to prospectivefemale home buyers. In doing so, we areconstantly looking at how each marketingeffort impacts the customer’s experience.

RE-ENGINEERINGWoman-centric process re-engineeringoccurs in your company as systems, processesand specific actions are re-addressedthrough the eyes of a female buyer. Theimpact of each decision is evaluated for how it enhances (or takes away from) yourwoman-centric brand image. For example,is the buyer’s final walk-through designed tobe a positive experience or just treated as anecessary evil? If you’ve consistently givenyour buyers fantastic experiences, they will doa lot of your marketing for you via referrals.

And it doesn’t hurt that women are threetimes as likely as men to make referrals!

The bottom line? As a woman-centricbuilder, you’ll be seen as unique, offering a better home at a better value backed bybetter people delivering better customerexperiences. What could be better?

So, how do you become a woman-centricbuilder? Design Basics offers the Woman-Centric Matters! brand, marks and programto home builders, supported by an ever-increasing array of unique products andservices designed for our builder’s success.You will be assigned a woman-centric repre-sentative to help you tailor the woman-centric approach to your specific businessand work through integrating and imple-menting it into your business.

SPOTLIGHT ON WOMAN-CENTRICMATTERS! TRAININGTypically conducted over two consecutivemornings, Design Basics trainers work withyour entire staff to bring the Woman-Centric Matters! brand to life within your company. Well-trained “brand ambas-

www.DesignBasics.com

sadors” are crucial to your success andbecome a great point of differentiation fromyour competitors.

The training is broken down into five sessions.

SESSION #1: Why Take a Woman-Centric Approach? and Woman-CentricHome Design. Introductory presentationand overview of the woman-centricapproach.

SESSION #2: Woman-Centric NewHome Marketing. A combination of presentation and multiple audience drills(with your group divided into teams).

SESSION #3: Woman-Centric Selling.Also a combination of presentation andaudience participation in teams. Strongemphasis on: becoming a brand ambassador;becoming a new home investment counselor; questioning your way to salessuccess; and the power of story-telling.SESSION #4: Creating a Woman-CentricModel Home Experience. Guided discus-

sion and exercises focused on actions to beundertaken. Also excellent for builderswho don’t have a model but have a paradeof homes entry or a showroom.

SESSION #5: Putting it All Together.During this time of co-creation, we use ourproven approach to create woman-centric action plans.

ClaireClaire MaggieMaggie

**

***

Your homes...your decorating...

your presentation...all have a distinct personality.Just like your home buyers!

“Finally About Me” is an evolution in thought; and a system to identify your

home buyers personalities, helping you connect with her! Don’t miss

out on 1/2 or 3/4 of today’s home buyers by selling

everybody the same way - ignoring her

personality!

MargoMargo

CREATE option packages based on different profiles

TAILOR the entire buying andselling experience to her profile.

LEARN what to say and notto say based on her profile.

1

2

3

4

IDENTIFYhome plansto meet her needs.

JUST INTRODUCED!

Finally About Me...

my home isunique

my home ismy haven

insights into understanding the 4 most common personality profiles

SM

Elise

my home iscarefree

my home makesa statement

www.DesignBasics.com

At a Builder 20 group meeting in Houston, builders were compar-ing notes on their model home traffic to sales conversion. The consen-sus figure among the group was less than 1% -- meaning fewer thanone out of every hundred model home visitors bought a new homefrom that builder.

One of the homebuilders in that Builder 20 group with a differentstory was Omaha, Nebraska, Woman-Centric Matters!SM licenseeLane Building Corporation/Sherwood Homes by Glen Palmer. Laneand Sherwood’s General Manager, Jerry Standerford, increased thesales effectiveness of their company’s model home efforts by creatinga unique environment dubbed The Personalization Studio. Accordingto Standerford, “Of the people who tour one of our model homes andschedule a visit to our Personalization Studio, 90% buy a new homefrom us!”

REMARKABLE? Yes – in terms of how The PersonalizationStudio is used, its purpose and design. It’s not open to the public;prospective buyers must schedule their Personalization Studio visitwith one of Lane and Sherwood’s listing agents. It’s located in anunpretentious end bay of a one-story commercial building. AndThe Personalization Studio is unique in that it is no mere design cen-ter. Its 2,100 square foot showroom was created as a place for buy-ers to experience amenities presented in a woman-centric context.Oh, and one more thing. It’s waaaayyy cool!

In keeping with the four lenses women typically use when contem-plating their new home, The Personalization Studio areas are themedunder huge wallpaper graphics: Entertaining, De-stressing, Storage,and Flexible Living. Rather than cramming thousands of buyer selec-tions into the space, the design emphasizes lifestyle, spaciousnessand comfort -- within an educational environment which producesendless remarks like “I didn’t know that,” and “What a great idea!”

Selections Coordinator Nancy Turner and Lane and Sherwood’sthree listing agents take on new roles at The Personalization Center,becoming New Home Investment Counselors. As such, they becometrusted advisors helping buyers make wise, informed decisionsregarding products for their new homes. This usually includes prod-ucts that were not even on the buyers’ radar screens. But once theyunderstand why the products are shown, they can’t imagine buildingtheir new home without them. For example, before thePersonalization Studio opened in May of 2006, Lane andSherwood didn’t even offer quiet bathroom exhaust fans.“Now the majority of buyers in our Personalization Studioopt for the quiet fans,” says Standerford.

A dozen option packages are offered in ThePersonalization Studio, comprised of complimentary prod-ucts presented with unified, compelling messages. Althoughbuyers can opt for any of the option package items on an alacarte basis, they realize an approximate 15% savings if theyselect an entire package (over individual item pricing).

With $100,000 invested in the construction of ThePersonalization Studio (including Design Basics’ fees todesign the facility and to create all of the graphics) it was no flippant decision for Lane Building Corporation and Sherwood Homes by Glen Palmer -- a 40-year veteranhomebuilding company. Nor was the decision to become a woman-centric homebuilder. The results, however, speakfor themselves!

REMARKABLE

“

”

sales closing ratio

laundry awaiting your attention. Womentell us laundry/mud room entrances fromthe garage are stressful!

Okay, okay. You’ve navigated past thelaundry piles on your way to the kitchen.Why do you have to walk from one sideof the house to the other with the gro-cery sack holding the gallonof milk you just bought cutting off thecirculation to those fingers? You finallyreach the kitchen island and set the milkdown, along with your handbag, keys,cell phone and mail.

The milk has a home of its own – yourrefrigerator – but the rest of the stuff? Itjust seems to pile up on the island,along with the kids’ school books. Thenyou remember, company’s comingtonight! Now you’ve got to stash every-thing that’s cluttering your entertainingkitchen. Hands full again, you round theisland and…Good grief! Your dog gotinto that tall kitchen wastebasket afterthe kids f inished their snacks, andthere’s trash all over. The anger builds –you can feel the heat coming off yourneck! And there’s the culprit – 75pounds of black lab cowering in the cor-ner of the family room. You want toscream at her, but she’d probably justpee on the carpet.

As a builder, looking at your homethrough one of her four primary filters– de-stressing – would have led you todesign and build the home differently.Coming in from the garage, she would

have entered into a“rear foyer,” not alaundry/mudroom.There would be adrop zone just insidethe rear foyer, withits welcome coun-tertop on which toset the milk, keyhooks, a rechargingcenter for the cellphone, slots forsorting mail andother convenientstorage. Oppositethe coat closet, ahandy bench – per-fect for removingshoes. And adjoin-ing the coat closet –lockers for the kids.Why not? They’velearned to use them at school. Books,backpacks, coats, lunches, gym clothes…that’s where everything goes.

You would have designed a shorter routefrom the garage to the kitchen – maybeeven a walk-in pantry off the rearfoyer. And you would always, alwaysplan a pull-out wastebasket drawer inone of the base kitchen cabinets.

If we were to examine the wholehouse, we would look at other aspectsthat add stress to her life, like set-backthermostats that are diff icult to pro-gram or products that are harder tokeep clean or require more mainte-nance. Conversely, we would also lookat areas of the home where she goes tode-stress, to relax, to get away fromthe demands of job and family.

That’s half the de-stressing story. Theproduct-centric aspects. Equally impor-tant are the stressful (or stress-reducing)aspects related to her experiences withyou and your company. From how sheexperiences your model home to workingwith the sales agents to selections, finalwalk-through and warranty service,every procedure and system you utilizecan be enhanced by re-examining itthrough her de-stressing lens.

Of course, this was just a glimpse intothe realm of de-stressing. There areseveral other criterion essential towoman-centric building.

Achieving breakthrough results rarelyis easy, but the woman-centricapproach is producing breakthroughresults. More than 60 builders haveintegrated this approach with the helpof Design Basics. If you want to suc-ceed by increasing sales ratherthan cutting costs...then you need totake a serious look at becoming awoman-centric home builder. To findout more, attend a Symposium, whereyou’ll receive an overview of ourwoman-centric approach.

The plan makeover is always a lively session.

“What got us to

where we are is

not the same

stuff that will

get us where

we want to go.”- George Barna, pollster

www.DesignBasics.com

by Julie Ostrand, of Quanta Basics

When it comes to buying a home…women seem tobe running the show. Most of the time it’s women whochoose the home builder, decide on the floor plan, makeselections and pick the neighborhood.

But you already know this. In fact, you’ve known it forsome time now.

The question is…what do you do with this information?How do you appeal to your most powerful potentialcustomers…women? How do you take a woman-centricapproach so that women in your area will stand up andtake notice of the great home builder you have become,the fabulous homes you build and the outstandingcustomer service you offer?

You start with a website that really reaches women.Most women begin their search for a home builder on theInternet. Once they find your website, they will decide inabout two seconds if your website is worth their time.

Here are 5 ways to appeal to women within the firstfew seconds of landing on your home page:

Be Warm and Friendly – Instead of just featuring exteri-or photos of your homes, use “lifestyle photos” of peopleenjoying their friends and family in the comfort oftheir home.

Offer Resources – Position yourself as the trusted advisor by offering a quick way to download helpful

1

2

3

4

5

resources like articles on topics such as color, lighting and flooring or“how to” articles (“How to Choose a Builder,” “How to Choose HomeDesign,” “How to Choose a Neighborhood,” etc.)

Keep Her Informed – Give her an easy way to register for yourmonthly e-newsletter (to get a sneak peak on new plans, upcomingspec homes or model home grand openings)

Build Relationships – Invite her to get to know you better with a linkto a page with photos of you and your staff, along with a “messagefrom the builder.”

Promote Connection – Offer women ways to connect with otherhomebuyers through blogs, customer testimonials and the ability torate your floor plans.

After you’ve gotten her attention, it’s time to get to know her. Shemight not know what square footage she needs or how many levelsare necessary in her new home, but adding these questions to yourwebsite will help determine how she wants to live in her home:

• What is most important to you in your new home: Entertaining,Relaxing, Storage Space, Flexible Rooms?

• How do you like to entertain?

• What areas of your current home do you use for de-stressing?

• On a scale of 1-10, how essential is plenty of storage space?

• In the future, do you foresee a need to accommodate returning adultchildren or aging parents?

By following these easy steps, you’ll not just appeal to women, butshow that you understand what homebuyers truly look for in a home.

YOUR NEXT STEPDon’t waste another minute on a website that doesn’twork for you! Here are great ways to get started.

• Visit our website to take a quiz to find out if your website iseffective (www.QuantaBasics.com – click on SOLUTIONS).

• Call us at 402.496.1689 for a free website consultation.

To see upcoming Symposium dates or to

register online go towww.DesignBasics.com/wc

or call 800.947.7526