Pacesetter Homes Austin Breaks Into Top Builder 100 List

Austin, TX – For the first time in its short history, Pacesetter Homes Austin has been recognized by Builder Magazine as one of the top 100 builders in the U.S.! This is a tremendous accomplishment for the company whose 460 total closings in 2016 placed it as the 91 largest homebuilders in the country. This was an improvement of 10 places from the year earlier. 

As noted on the builderonline.com website “It was harder than ever before to gain entry to the list, with the threshold moving from 365 closings in 2015 to 403 closings last year. Nevertheless, a few hard-working companies were able to jump onto the Builder 100 list for the first time.” One of these hardworking companies was Pacesetter Homes. 

What does Pacesetter Homes attribute this growth to? 

In speaking with Dennis Ciani, Marketing Manager for Pacesetter Homes, he attributed this success to six main factors.

The first factor was staying focused on an affordable price point that attracted a wide range of potential home buyers across the age and income spectrum. 

The second factor was diversity of product. “We have courtyard homes, small lot homes, alley loaded homes and front load traditional homes. Our range of product types allows us to be more flexible in choosing where to build and has attracted developers of master planned communities to seek out and select us to be one of their preferred builders,” said Dennis. 

The third factor is how Pacesetter Homes has positioned its product to appeal to a wide range of buyers from young professionals to families to retired couples looking to downsize. ”By providing a variety of home designs on different sizes and types of home sites in the same location, we have the ability to appeal to a wide range of homebuyers looking in these master planned communities. This approach increases our velocity of sales in each location,” said Dennis. 

The fourth factor is the sales training program that focuses on how sales people can better connect with the customer. “I have been in this business for many years and we have thrown the old sales approach right out the door. We now connect with the customer, ask them to tell us about themselves and the salesperson is getting more and more information about their personal situation well before we start talking product and floor plans.” 

Related to the sales training is the fifth factor – the concierge program. The online concierge begins the informational and relationship building process. In an industry where the close rate is 1 in 15 or 1 in 20, Pacesetter Homes is able to sign 3 out of 10 prospects who cross that threshold of Pacesetter Homes' show homes. Dennis again attributes this success as a result of connecting with the customer.

The sixth factor is how Pacesetter Homes has been able to manage growth. That starts with how the company is able to bring on new employees and get them acclimated to the culture of Pacesetter Homes. “With growth comes the need to attract new employees and there is a huge cultural difference between Pacesetter Homes and most of our competitors,” said Dennis.

“Culture is a main reason for our success and that culture is an employee centric culture. We want our employees to look at Pacesetter Homes not simply as a job but as a career and we work hard to build that culture within the organization. And that is led from the top by Brian Higgins and Tom Lynch.”