When times are tough (and few would disagree that they are tough right now) most business owners look to save money wherever possible. All the obvious stuff is addressed quickly often with immediate and measurable results. But it’s not always enough and when sales are depressed or delayed, income is insufficient to meet financial need, so further cost savings must be found. And we know that is where many new homes developers are, right now!
After Build works with small and medium size companies to provide after care services. This gives us a clear insight to the issues being faced; and to ways further savings might be achieved without loss of service or quality.
After care is a mute subject for many. Seen as a ‘nice to have’ by some, but increasingly recognised by a ground swell as utterly necessary. The issue then becomes not one of should, but how do we do it?’
As any business in any sector will know, when a market is both competitive AND economically challenging, finding a point of difference between your product and the competitors is usually the route to securing sales. There are some obvious points of difference – price is the obvious one, but who can afford a race to the bottom? None of us. There’s a far less obvious yet increasingly more successful way forward. Make your USP service.
It's assumed that you agree with this philosophy in as much as any responsible business will make certain that they look after their customer after the sale, just as much as they did before the sale! Managing occupants is a testing obligation that places a significant pressure on any new homes business, and for those who opt to manage this internally, therein is the opportunity to save further cost.
One of the problems that faces all small and medium size operators is that you’re too small to be big, yet to big to be small. Economies of scale don’t truly work and it’s always a stretch to resource a capable, professional after care team from within. Strictly speaking, you need at least 2 people (one covering the other during holidays,
sickness/absenteeism etc.). This may not be an issue if your output is somewhere north of 100 plots pa buy below this it’s a difficult cost to justify. This is where an outsourced service makes absolute good sense. You take as much or as little resource as you require and pay only on the number of plots in cover at any time.
After Build are unique in the way we charge for our service – we apply a single fixed price per plot for 2 years cover, regardless of how many defects we manage. That makes us highly cost efficient and when comparing the cost per plot with that of a developer using internal resource, the results are staggering.
At the lower end with say an annual output of 10 plots, you are likely to be spending around £10,000 per plot per year to provide an after-care service to your customers … we can deliver this for £506 per plot (and we can brand the service in your name if you wish). This means a site of 10 plots could be costing you £95,000 more than it needs to! That is an astonishing difference and in any market situation, one you can’t afford to overlook, let alone in a climate like now.
Of course, cost is by no means the only consideration – having a professional, reliable service is your number 1 priority. So, here’s what we can offer you.
Best technology available
Occupant App to report defects using the Occupant Portal
Trained Warranty Controllers manage the customer/contractor interface
Manage your contractors, issue job instructions, and arrange appointments using the Contractor Portal
Report to you using the Client App/Portal
20 years successful service
Nationally available
New and pre-occupied developments
Any recognised warranty