Unless you’re in the market for a super yacht, chances are that the most expensive purchase of your life will be your home. Many of us will be tempted to go for a new development – eco-friendly, no risk of damp, shiny modern kitchens – but property developers often get a pretty bad press.
We’ve all read stories of homeowners moving into new properties of dubious quality where the developer has cut more corners than a small child forced into a cross-country run, and tales in the press of leaks, ill-fitting windows and even holes in walls are not uncommon. There are even Facebook groups set up specifically for the victims of shoddy housebuilding to share their stories and take collective action.
We’re proud to break new ground in opening the Living Rooms to give the customer the premium, personalised experience they expect.
Lisa Ravenscroft, Chief Marketing Officer, Mount Anvil.
But not all developers are the same, and ever since they were named Housebuilder of the Year in 2020, we’ve been keeping our eye on Mount Anvil, a London developer with an impressive tally of awards, not just for their homes but also for how they look after their staff. A happy workforce means happy customers, so when a housebuilder wins awards for the health and wellbeing of their workforce and has also featured in the Sunday Times Best 100 Small Companies to Work For for eleven years on the spin, we thought we’d better take a closer look.
Significant investment.
More often than not, the process of actually buying a new build, with their identikit show homes and pressure sales, is often more akin to buying a second hand car than spending several hundred grand, most of it borrowed over 25 years, on the most significant investment of your lifetime. Buying off plan, which is often the case with a new build, can be nerve-wracking as you don’t get to see the actual property you might be buying and often have to trudge round a construction site, but Mount Anvil’s new “Living Rooms” initiative takes the customer experience to a level which, frankly, we should all expect given the sort of investment needed to buy a home in London.
A single, high-quality destination.
Based at Mount Anvil’s Barbican HQ (Circle, Hammersmith & City and Metropolitan lines, Zone 1) Living Rooms comprises five unique suites capturing the essence of Mount Anvil’s off-plan developments across the capital.
Creating a single, high-quality destination where customers can find out all they need to know about multiple off-plan projects in a comfortable and fully equipped central location, the concept is designed to be more convenient and environmentally friendly.
Seamlessly blending with Mount Anvil’s working headquarters, the Living Rooms provides customers with a unique view of the developer’s new and upcoming schemes, helping them to understand the brand and product quality. The Living Rooms puts the customer at the heart of the sales experience with an open layout so that buyers have a clear view into the team’s day-to-day activities.
Embracing technology to provide a personalised customer journey, the Living Rooms combines digital experiences, physical models and tactile product spaces designed to make a lasting impression on visitors. The concept and design were the result of two years of in-house market research, buyer persona studies and trials, which provided insight into how off-plan buyers interact with existing marketing spaces. A wide range of tactile samples was specified, accompanied by 3D tour tools, rather a single full-size “set” of a bathroom or kitchen, creating an optimised space and providing a showcase of five developments with gallery-style installations.
Storytelling.
The flow of the space takes the customer on a special brand journey, with multiple storytelling pause points such as ancient timber from one of the company’s first restoration projects, feature accents in the brick used at Keybridge – Britain’s tallest residential brick tower situated in Vauxhall – and rotating gallery walls that showcase specific moments for the projects and the communities they create.
Completing the customer experience, an app has been created to help personalise the experience for customers. Guests are welcomed by name on screen, coffee is served their preferred way and relevant information is shown to them in the waiting area and suites themselves, all managed in-house. If a buyer visits as they get close to completion, plot-specific information can be served up.
Lisa Ravenscroft, Chief Marketing Officer for Mount Anvil, said: “We take a meticulously insight-driven approach to marketing, listening to what our customers, agents and partners are telling us via both their words and their deeds. That’s why we’re proud to break new ground in opening the Living Rooms to give the customer the premium, personalised experience they expect at this stage of the scheme’s lifecycle.”
Visit Mount Anvil online here.
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