The annual online mystery shopping test conducted by Interconnection Consulting in the Austrian prefabricated house market shows that the potential for lead generation is far from being fully exploited by companies.
However, this year’s test shows that the manufacturers were able to achieve improvements in service in some areas. The study analysed the response of 70 prefabricated house manufacturers.
One Third of Manufacturers Do Not React at First
The prefabricated house manufacturers were contacted by e-mail regarding a specific concern about a building project. In addition, four construction-specific questions were formulated. Compared to the mystery shopping test last year, an improvement of the online customer service can be seen in some areas. About three quarters of the traders (78.2%) responded to the enquiry during the first online contact, which is an improvement on the 65.3% last year. After a reminder email and telephone contact, the proportion of manufacturer response increased to 97.1% and was thus significantly higher than in the previous year. However, the test also revealed some negative developments. For example, the willingness to respond to the questions asked fell from around 80% to 64.3% compared to the previous year.
Closing Weakness on the Rise
Manufacturers are choosing different strategies to close the deal. Despite the pandemic, almost two-thirds still prefer a face-to-face meeting. Slightly less than a quarter would like to have a telephone conversation. Compared to neighbouring Germany, Austria still has some difficulty using video calls as a means of closing deals. Only 12.3% suggest this option. Furthermore, the mystery shopping test shows that the potential in online customer service is far from being fully exhausted.
Especially when it comes to closing a deal, only few manufacturers really make an effort – explains Panorea Kaskani, the author of the study. – To make matters worse, manufacturers are following up less than last year.
Speed Not Yet Everywhere
The average response time to email enquiries did improve compared to last year, and reached 2.4 days. 61.8% of manufacturers comply with the golden internet rule Reply in 24h. Furthermore, one in five manufacturers did not respond to the four questions asked.
