As their prospective buyers stay away due to lockdown, developers are actively using technology tools to woo their customers.
From Zoom calls to video conferencing with customers to virtual experience centres, they are trying out everything to generate sales when bookings have dried up.
March quarter has already seen a 30 per cent drop in residential sales and the whole year is expected to see a similar drop in sales and generating sales is crucial to developers.
Leading the race is Godrej Properties which has generated about Rs 500 crore of bookings with the help of technology in the last quarter when the lockdown was announced.
"During the lockdown, we used video-conferencing, zoom calls effectively. We actually reworked sales by leveraging technology. Actually we digitised sales process one and half years ago," said Mohit Malhotra, managing director at Godrej Properties.
The Bengaluru-based Puravankara is banking on its online platforms such as BookMyHome and MyPinkHomes, customers can select the project, view the available inventory, and purchase a unit of their choice. It sold 100 units online in the last 40 days.
"With this unprecedented situation, we could not have forewarned or be prepared. So, we focused on our robust online/digital system through which we are able to attend to all leads and manage the customer life-cycle seamlessly," said Ashish R Puravanakara , managing director Puravankara.
Similarly, through the technology interventions, its call centre and customer service desks are fully operational, it has scaled up chat services using bots, teams are available on video conferencing and all the queries are getting addressed on a real-time basis during working hours (even though they all are operating from their respective homes), he said.
Mumbai-based Wadhwa group has introduced a virtual sales experience centre for our customers to guide and support their buying decisions and give them an option to virtually transact during the auspicious occasion of Akshaya Tritiya and thereon.
"On-call support, WhatsApp Assistance, virtual site tours, and online booking features are made available to enhance the customer’s experience," Bhasker Jain, Head – Sales, Marketing & CRM at The Wadhwa Group.
Niranjan Hiranandani, managing director at the Hiranandani group said the lockdown has brought out an alternative to ‘walk-ins’ in form of on-line and digital — a pipeline of queries has been generated, and will be converted, from ‘prospects’ into ‘actual sales’ in due course.
"We were already on the digital, online, and social media platforms. The lockdown created a situation where usage of these increased exponentially. During the festival of Gudi Padwa, we were able to enable prospective buyers who wanted to take advantage of the auspicious nature of the festival to book a home; leveraging online and digital platforms. It has already functioned successfully, and will get due importance in the post-lockdown scenario," he said.