When Is It Time to Refresh a Production Home Product Line?

Product lines rarely stop working overnight. Usually, the signs show up gradually. And if you’re not watching the small things, it’s easy to miss the signals that a production home product line needs attention.

A top-selling house plan starts slipping. Buyers keep asking for the same changes. One plan accounts for most of the sales while several others barely move.

None of that automatically means it’s time to start over. But it is worth paying attention to.

How Often Should You Refresh a Production Home Product Line?

At Davis Bews, we don’t think there’s a magic number.

The better time to review a product line is when the market starts giving you signals that something has changed.

It can be as simple as looking at which plans are selling and which aren’t.
Talking to your sales team.
Looking at the options buyers keep adding and the changes they repeatedly request.
And, of course, taking a close look at your strongest production home plan that sells the most.

Why is that plan #1?

Sometimes your best-performing plan tells you more about what buyers value than the plans that aren’t selling.

Do You Even Have a Product Problem?

Slower sales don’t always mean the floor plan is the problem. Price, location, competition, and the sales process all, of course, play a role.

But if you keep hearing the same comments across multiple plans, there may be a product issue worth addressing.

Here’s something important - the answer isn’t always creating another plan or doing a full production home product line refresh.

Sometimes you’ll get more from improving an existing winner, creating a smart variation of it, or simply retiring plans that no longer earn their place.

So, before you add Plan #12, it’s worth understanding how Plans #1 through #11 are really performing!

Not sure how relevant your current product line is for today’s demanding buyers? Take our quick, easy and confidential Product Line Test.