First calculator of costs.
Background
Since buying, constructing and renovating a property is one of the most stressful periods in one’s life (according to some recent research, it is the most stressful situation in general, ranked even ahead of Covid-19, divorce, job loss and other stressful situations), we have decided to help potential consumers reduce their level of stress at least a little and respond to their key needs – the need for (favourable) housing loan and the need to calculate at least the approximate costs that occur during construction or renovation.
The latter has not been possible so far, except through a detailed offer of potential contractors, but in such a case you already need to have all the plans and precise information. Thus, the need remains unresolved up until the last phase just before renovation or construction.
STRATEGY
The main challenge in the banking sector and especially in housing loans is to acquire relevant contacts at the right time, in other words, what matters is conversion. This poses an even greater challenge to smaller banks with a lower level of brand awareness, a lower share of voice and a smaller number of branches, as is the case with Gorenjska banka.
Therefore, we decided to upgrade the classic approach to collecting contacts, the informative loan calculation, which is used by practically every bank in Slovenia, with a unique approach that will respond to the acute needs of all borrowers who are renovating or building their property.
IDEA
That is why this time, Gorenjska banka offered consumers the first ever calculator in Slovenia for the approximate cost of construction and renovation. We developed the calculator in cooperation with an established construction company. It consistently considers every more visible and also more hidden cost incurred in the construction or renovation of a property.
The calculator is intended exclusively for obtaining precisely targeted, relevant contacts.
Execution
Despite a very simple user interface and user experience, in its core, the calculator is meticulously designed and based on more than 20 years of experience. With the help of various algorithms, it calculates, for example, the exact dimensions of roof, facade and wall areas, which is essential for accurate cost estimates for individual items – e.g., painting of walls and ceilings, renovation of electrical and plumbing installations, replacement of roofing, etc.
In addition, we have already taken into account the increasing prices of materials and some minor costs in the calculator, such as the increase in the cost of building materials and their removal as well as the removal of rubble when talking about higher floors without elevators. Users can also choose different qualities of materials, from the cheapest to the most expensive.
This way, potential borrowers receive a detailed and as accurate as possible calculation of the estimated cost, in exchange for their contact details. After submitting the contact information, they receive an e-mail in less than a second with a precise calculation of the indicative costs for individual items. The calculator was intensively tested and upgraded on the basis of real implemented projects, whereby we detected a maximum deviation of 5–10%.
RESULTS
higher conversion with the calculator compared to the informative calculation of the housing loan.