The Braustin Homes Mobile App
Over the last year and a half, Braustin has been developing an industry exclusive mobile app to make home buying easy and efficient for both our customers and team members.
At Braustin, we sell 70% of our mobile homes online and over the phone, without ever seeing our customers in person. So we needed a way to easily send and receive all the necessary documents used in the home buying process that would keep our customers updated on their home purchase from the credit application all the way to their post-installation service.
There were two options available at the start: snail mail and e-mail.
I think you can see why snail mail was out. It is slow and can actually be pretty expensive!
And then there was e-mail. While we still use e-mail to send credit application paperwork to be filled out with a written signature, continuing to use e-mail for scanning and sending purposes comes with many tedious steps that require paperwork to be scanned, saved, found, attached, and then sent.
So where else could the Braustin Mobile Home Geeks look to solve our problem but to… technology.
Most everyone these days has a smart phone loaded with apps of every kind—calculators, social media, games, weather, books, you name it! So why not a mobile app to help specifically with our need of a streamlined home buying process? Well, there wasn’t really any reason why we shouldn’t, so we did it.
Using the Braustin Homes App
Our top priority in creating the app was to make it simple and easy. We wanted to have enough features to make the app functional in all the necessary ways without making the app crowded and confusing.
Each home buyer downloads the app on to their smart phone and receives an individual login from their sales team member.
Once the credit application paperwork has been filled out, all they need to do is complete the list of to-do’s, using the in app scanning function to take a photo of the paperwork and send it directly to Braustin.
If any paperwork needs to be redone, then the sales team member can easily add the task back into the list of to-do’s allowing the home buyer to re-scan the needed paperwork again.
No running to Office Depot or waiting until you get to work the next day to use their scanner—now it can be done all through your smartphone, quickly and efficiently, eliminating the stress and frustration that often comes with even a simple credit application to a lender.
Check out this video to see Alberto Piña give a quick demo on submitting a credit application through the Braustin Homes App.
Creating a Punch-List from the App
Scanning and sending paperwork automatically all in one place is amazing, but it’s not the only thing our customers can do with this app.
Once a home has been delivered, set-up, and the home buyer moves in, it will be time to create a “punch-list”. This is a list of cosmetic defects that occur from transporting the home that will be repaired by a service team.
Because most manufacturers will only pay for a single cosmetic visit (as opposed to a year for structure and habitability items) we’ve created a function in our mobile app to help home owners take pictures and label each issue that will be addressed by the service technician.
The pictures are then uploaded to the Braustin team to have any necessary parts accurately ordered and a service date scheduled. Once again, a typically multi-step process is replaced by this all-in-one feature on our mobile app.
Other Features of the Braustin Homes App
Here at Braustin, we want our customers to receive top-notch customer service, and that means a lot of communication.
Although our mobile app can’t replace a quality phone call, we have built in text message notifications and in-app messaging that take communication up to the next level.
Text messages will alert home buyers of needed to-do items, status changes, messages from their sales team member, and any other necessary communication.
We wanted to include this feature because although our customers are not always in the position to answer or return a phone or check their email often, most of us can quickly read a text message while going about our day.
On the flip side, we also know too many alerts are just plain annoying, so we keep these notifications down to a need-to-know basis.
The app also includes a handy “progress tracker” at the top of the screen letting home buyers know just how close they are to move-in day! This feature isn’t exactly necessary, but we know that home buying can be difficult and this tracker might just offer you some much needed encouragement!
The Future of Our App and Other Industries
This technology is brand new in the mobile home industry and there are still requirements with lenders and the state of Texas that do not allow our app to fully encompass the entire home buying process. However, we are working to change these processes and update other industries—aside from mobile homes—for the current level of technology available in this modern era.
We believe The Braustin Homes App is a big step in the right direction. Saving time means saving frustration, headaches, and money. And, as always, we pass those savings right on to you!