Stockland Retirement Living came to Little Hinges with a problem – seniors were unwilling or unable to leave their homes during the height of the pandemic, which meant they were unable to inspect potential retirement villages.
Newport Clubhouse
With customers wanting to be able to conduct their research online before physically visiting a property, Stockland needed to give prospective buyers the ability to walk through retirement properties virtually. This made an initial look at properties accessible to seniors, helping them to ensure a property was right for them before booking an inspection.
Retirement Queensland Marketing Manager, Tully Kuss-Patterson, said, “Many of our potential purchasers in the senior demographic were too anxious to leave their homes, especially for things like property inspections. Consumer sentiment, combined with the latest insights into how media consumption habits had changed during COVID, meant we wanted to provide new, more engaging online experiences for our customers.”
Little Hinges worked with Stockland Retirement Living to bring their entire purchase journey online, allowing retirees to conduct inspections from the comfort of their own homes. Little Hinges created virtual tours of key common areas, as well as examples of different available floor plates, which could be accessed by prospective buyers, and their families, no matter their lockdown status. Each of the tours also featured data points highlighting activities and facilities available to members of the Stockland retirement communities.
Instead of lockdowns and subsequent outbreaks resulting in a drop off of enquiries and purchases, Stockland has been able to keep the flow of potential buyers moving from inspection to close, as well as seeing an increase in website visitors and increased engagement online.
In addition to using virtual tours in their sales process, Stockland Retirement Living are able to promote our business online using walkthroughs and this new technology has been created additional marketing collateral, including on social media and in email marketing. The sales team have also been able to use the tours as part of their in-person sales activity, when a specific apartment might not be available for viewing.
Stockland Retirement Living see Little Hinges Virtual Tours as a critical component of their lead qualification and sales process moving forward, and are continuing to roll out new virtual tours across their portfolio.
