Since Corona, hardly any prefabricated houses are sold without the Internet as the initial contact. The annual mystery shopping study by Interconnection Consulting on the German prefabricated house market shows that the full potential of inquiries from the Internet is by no means being exploited.

Quality of Responses Decreased

Even though the 100 German prefabricated house manufacturers contacted now respond quickly to the inquiries by mail, the quality of the answers leaves much to be desired. This year, the share of producers who responded to all four questions asked is 50%, whereas last year 72.6% of the prefabricated house manufacturers answered all four questions asked. Companies that took the time and answered the questions in detail were Danwood and Nordhaus.

Hardly Any Focus on Closing the Deal

“The potential of the Internet for customer acquisition is only utilized in the rarest of cases,” says Panorea Kaskani, the author of the study. This is evident not only in the quality of e-mail responses, but also in follow-up. Despite the customers’ expressed interest, only about one-sixth (17.7%) of the companies dare to make another contact attempt, after the first e-mail contact. Only 15.5% of the manufacturers who sent information by post or electronically after the inquiry were interested afterwards whether there was further interest in cooperation (in the previous year it was 16.7%). Positive examples in this regard, which make an effort to conclude a business deal and follow up are here the producers Schwörer Haus and ScanHaus. Elk Fertighaus, Petershaus and Hartl Haus also shine with above-average scores for sales orientation.

Enquiries Are Quickly Answered

While the quality of responses deteriorated, the response of manufacturers to the enquiry improved slightly compared to the previous year. This year, for example, 80% responded to the initial contact by e-mail, compared to only 63.5% last year. Within the first 24 hours, 64.6% responded to the mail enquiry compared to 61.1% the year before. A positive development can be seen in the transmission of information. The percentage of manufacturers who sent information material rose to 60.4% (previous year: 56.8%). The transmission of an online catalogue and direct links with information are the most popular options.

26/01/2023

Copyright: Interconnection, Publication free of charge for coverage regarding the study and InterConnection Consulting.