A new awakening

Ravi Sinha

A homebuyer enters into the sales pavillion of a Mohali-based developer. Among the many queries that he vollies to the sales staff was the porosity and density measurement of fly ash bricks to be used for load-bearing walls. He also enquired about the method that had been applied for dimensional measurement and mass to determine density; measurement of increase in mass when soaked in water for a standard period. The sales team had no answer to these technical questions.

When the developer came to know about this, it exposed him to the reality that all that his purchase team was doing was to buy these bricks from a reputed brand without themselves getting into the details. However, this informed homebuyer had left behind him a lot of questions that could possibly save the developer from future embarrassment, even though he did not buy the apartment as the developers’ sales team failed to  convince him about the strength of the brick that could determine the safety of the building.   

Ignorance of the homebuyers for long has been the bliss of the Indian real estate developers. But, of late, the developers have woken up to the reality that an informed buyer is less of a liability than misguided consumer activism, often resorting to the consumer blackmailing in the process. Consumer intelligence is hence being debated within the built environment of Indian real estate and there is a growing evaluation as to what is the way out in an age of informed buyers.

The developers, on their part, are mostly living in denial that the challenge of meeting up the consumer expectations in the Indian real estate sector is more challenging than in other domains. This is because the sector has been largely unorganised, with no single official regulator over the decades to oversee the happenings within the industry and ascertain that all stakeholders followed the same ground rules.

In fact, the rules and regulations for the sector have varied from state to state and region to region. As a consequence, transparency in the dealings of many real estate entities has been found wanting. Low transparency has created a trust deficit, with most consumers viewing the sector with a high degree of scepticism.

Abhay Kumar, CMD of Grih Pravesh Buildteck agrees that customer intelligence should be a key component of effective Customer Relationship Management (CRM), and when effectively implemented it can be a rich source of insight into the behaviour and experience of a developer’s customer base.

“We always look at the CRM from the perspective of who all have bought our apartment. And the dynamics are defined by satisfied versus dissatisfied customers. I feel the time has come when initial buyers in the housing project should be made part of decision making; something that will lower the buyers’ grievances as well as generate goodwill leading to referral clients,” says Abhay. 

David Walker, Managing Director of SARE Homes points out that the importance of not underestimating consumer intelligence has always been crucial. This single factor can make or break the best of brands. 

“The dividends of informed consumer trust can be immense. Even in adverse market conditions, such developers will be better positioned to push sales at a faster pace than the industry average,” says Walker.

It is a better strategy to make use of the intelligence of the informed buyers, instead of letting the ill-informed and disgruntled buyers making an opinion about the developer in the open marketplace.  

When the market was at its peak ATL (Above the Line) mediums such as newspaper, radio, television, mobile and digital marketing took precedence while BTL (Below the Line) activities took a back seat.  However, the slowdown made the developers get into a cost and benefit analysis where they realised the importance of connecting with the customer and are laying more emphasis on achieving the same. This has also been a cost-effective way of communicating.

Different developers had different ways to connect with the end users. While some of them shifted focus on the third party endorsed PR (Public Relations), there were others who tried to connect directly through various CSR related programmes. Some of them even had innovative ideas to rope in the buyers as the brand ambassadors. The get-together with the buyers, both purchased and prospective ones, has also emerged as the means of direct interface.

Nikhil Hawelia, Managing Director of Hawelia Group  believes that the time has come for two-pronged approach — one is for the developers to sit with the buyers in case of any confusion and the other is for the sector to get an industry status that will weed out the dubious players in the sector. He asserts that collectively these two measures will result in greater transparency in the functioning of the business. 

Consumer connect is by and large still a missing link with direct interface with homebuyers meaning different things to different set of developers. A sector that has gone overboard on brand campaigns and publicity has not been seen translating that aggression for connecting with the customers to whom they want to convey the message.

The property rally and huge demand made the developers complacent and the buyers satisfied with the appreciation. And hence, there were only a minority of the buyers cribbing. 

However, the slowdown made the cribbing buyers grow in number while the developers also realised that consumer connect is not only economical means to communicate but equally beneficial for brand positioning. And now with more and more informed buyers coming to the market, consumer intelligence is a reality that the developers have no choice but to learn to address fast.

— The writer is CEO, Track2Realt