I must be listening to too much NPR these days — that or their reporting too much on the homebuilding industry’s woes! A recent spot on the radio (listen here and see a summary) hit a bit too hard to home. It was a story that originated here in Chicagoland about some of our larger homebuilders that were going bankrupt or having dire financial problems.

The gist of the story was that buyers of new construction homes were nervous to purchase from some of the larger builders as many were either going out of business or drastically curtailing their business. The story told the tale of one family who drove past their half constructed home, only to hear their newly installed furnace furiously pumping heated air through all of the open windows spaces — the actual windows were never installed!

It’s a sad story for sure, but I think it’s also a lesson for the homebuilding industry — consumers are so scared that you’ll disappear off the face of the earth after the next earnings report that you had better approach business in a different way.

I’d recommend builders — especially those who can claim a long, time-tested history or come from a proud family business-oriented perspective — take every opportunity to let their buyers who haven’t closed — and especially those prospects who they’ve had an interaction with — that they have no plans to leave them in the lurch.

Use whatever means are at your disposal — personal letters from the owners, individual phone calls, frequent press releases that shout out any new piece of good news (and start looking for those aggressively — even the simple sale of a single home now has untold significance), constant solicitation to local newspapers to write “we’re still around and strong” stories and even weekly e-mail contact with each and every contact from your sales staff.

It’s war out there and the news never seems to be good. Now is NOT the time to stay low and hope for better days. In fact, I would challenge each of you that the need to advocate, champion and promote yourself is important more now than at any other time. If you’re thinking cutbacks and riding the storm out, you’re already well on your way downward.