Disruption of the status quo has become a customer expectation across all sectors and industries, not just from the few corporate powerhouses, Jamie Gorski, chief marketing officer at The Bozzuto Group, said during a general session at the 2019 International Builders’ Show in Las Vegas. Customers have expectations that all companies they do business with will offer some innovation or disruption to enhance their experience.
Gorski said companies in the construction sector are no longer just competing against themselves but also against companies such as Netflix, Amazon, and Google, which have streamlined their own customer experiences. In response, businesses, including multifamily firms, now have to strive to improve their companies by getting out of their comfort zone. The No. 1 priority is the convenience of the customer experience, Gorski said in her session “Experiential Disruption: Enhance Customer Loyalty & Elevate Your Brand.”
Disruption doesn’t require ground-breaking, company-shifting changes, Gorski said. Disrupting or altering just one aspect of business—and doing it well—can lead to large dividends in customer satisfaction and brand enhancement.
Many of the disruptions Gorski presented were catered to the apartment construction market; however, most had broad applications for all construction businesses. In one example, Gorski cited a multifamily complex that had installed a telescope on the roof to deliver better views for residents.
“What they do the best is they pay attention to what their customers are doing and saying, and then they deliver unexpected delights,” Gorski said of the complex. “It’s about your team and the experience they’re delivering to the customers.”
Tweaks to customers’ online experience can also go a long way toward enhancing overall customer satisfaction and brand. America is increasingly a digital, self-service nation, and catering to both these niches can benefit customer satisfaction.
Simple additions, such as chat bots on websites, can deliver on customers’ desires—and expectations—for quick resolutions to any questions they may have, Gorski added. Making websites more accessible and representing inclusiveness in marketing strategies are also minor adjustments that can improve the customer experience.
Another area in which companies can differentiate themselves from competitors and effectively improve the customer experience is video marketing, Gorski offered. “It’s more important than it has been because 81% of companies are using these videos, [and] 85% of all internet traffic will be [incorporating them] by 2020,” Gorski said.
Gorski added that video marketing can enhance message retention and visually reinforce for customers what’s being marketed to them. Some of the best-performing, most-engaging posts have been those that include video, according to Gorski. Behind-the-scenes footage and customer testimonials are two types of videos that can be used to benefit your company’s brand, Gorski maintained.
“I know can be expensive, but, guess what, it can be raw,” Gorski added. “It doesn’t have to be highly produced. It doesn’t have to be expensive.”
This article originally appeared on Multifamily Executive’s sister site, ProSales.