Building a custom home can oftentimes feel intimidating to homeowners. For custom builders, this becomes a challenge in guiding prospective home buyers to feel less overwhelmed and more confident whether they are building their first or dream home.
Vincent Longo, the force behind Vincent Longo Custom Builders, has tackled this challenge for over 17 years in the metro Atlanta area. His passion for creating high-end custom homes and fulfilling clients' dreams earned him the title of Builder of the Year in 2022, making him one of Atlanta's most sought-after custom builders.
Vince and his clients begin collaborating during the pre-construction phase. Here, Vince shares his knowledge and expertise and focuses on helping clients understand the next steps and the key people involved, making it easier for them to confidently make decisions and bring their vision to reality. This build phase can be tricky, with even the most organized and detail-oriented construction teams struggling to guide clients through selection decisions without overwhelming them.
According to the Association of Professional Builders, nearly 10% of custom builders cite selection decisions as their primary challenge in running a project. As the home building industry has been slow to adopt a customer-centric digital approach, many custom builders rely on multiple versions of paperwork, numerous in-person meetings, and scattered communications as their standard way of interacting with clients.
The Secret to a Winning Home Build Strategy
Vince’s strategy to provide outstanding client experiences starts with listening to clients attentively and providing them with innovative technology like Digs, to communicate with different vendors and make final decisions easier.
"Digs serves as a centralized hub for all stakeholders involved in the Pre-Construction phase. This unified space greatly facilitates our team's collaboration, information sharing, and idea exchange with our clients, architects, designers, and vendors. With everyone on the same page, we can ensure the client's vision is thoroughly understood and executed with precision. Digs is at the forefront of construction technology, and we are delighted to harness its capabilities for our clients' benefit.” says Vincent Longo, owner of Longo Custom Builders
Embracing Digital Customer Experience
In 2023, a digital customer experience is not just appreciated; it's something people expect. Successful B2C companies worldwide, such as IKEA, Amazon, and Target, have prioritized offering digital experiences and stretching the limits of what is possible for consumers. They've combined their online and in-person services to give customers a unified experience, which has become the standard in many areas of life.
Customer Experience in Home Building Doesn’t Have to Be Hard
Because Digs focuses on simplicity and a consumer-centric design, Custom builders like Longo Custom Builders become more efficient and sustainable while adopting a better customer experience. As an example, during pre-construction, it is standard practice to print and send multiple contracts and blueprints to vendors, only for each to print, annotate, and scan them back to a shared drive. This labor-intensive process creates extra work for vendors, resulting in multiple document versions. Digs makes this process more efficient by storing all data, selections, and choices from each vendor, creating a collaborative platform for builders, clients, and vendors to communicate effectively.
Vincent says, "Digs streamlines the integration of vendors into the process, facilitating timely communication and project schedule adherence."
By using Digs, Vincent Longo Custom Builders establishes itself among the elite and acts as a model for other builders looking to improve their revenue and glide through the pre-construction phase of their projects.
Learn more about Longo Custom Builders at longocustombuilders.com and Digs at digs.com.
