Professional Builder – August 2019

82 Professional Builder August 2019

M

ost rank-and-fi le home build-

ers are preoccupied with try-

ing to get their homes built

and sold and securing land for the next

one or two. So market intelligence may

seem like a luxury they can’t afford,

both mentally and fi nancially—espe-

cially when the proponent of data ana-

lytics is the VP of market intelligence

at the nation’s third-largest builder,

which has both the mind space and

means to grow the role of and integrate

data into its operations.

But to PulteGroup’s Jay Mason, data

is democratic and accessible to all who

seek it, whether it’s a mom-and-pop

shop or a Housing Giant. He doesn’t

see size or dollar signs, unless he’s

considering the impact of his work on

the company’s bottom line. So, despite

his public builder pedigree, the insights

offered here apply to any builder of

any size.

Mason has roamed Pulte’s halls since

2005. He weathered the Great Recession
      and has been in his current post as
      Pulte’s chief data geek since 2014.
      Informed by his doctorate in political
      science, Mason is involved not only in
      gathering, managing, analyzing, and
      integrating data from multiple internal
      and external sources, but also in the
      company’s strategic decision-making.

Q

What is PulteGroup’s data strategy

and where do you get your data?

A

We use data to provide insights

into land acquisition, marketing

strategies, pricing decisions, fi eld op-

erations, and product development—

basically, the entire operation—to help

us make optimal decisions about the

direction of the company.

We draw from three basic data sourc-

es. We primarily rely on our own data,

including in-house research, such as

surveying customers. We also engage

vendors of housing-specifi c data to

track the new-home space and activity

in the communities in which we build.

And we source real estate databases

for economic data, such as job growth,

commercial offi ce leasing or develop-

ment, demographics, and moving and

migration trends, among others.

Q

How do you manage and analyze

all that data?

A

The new tools and techniques

available for data storage and

processing, especially in the last two

years or so, have evaporated many con-

straints. Cloud storage and program-

ming improvements [to automatically

input or transfer, integrate, and pro-

cess data] can run powerful analyses

in almost no time at all and at a lower

cost. That’s the biggest change.

We are able to do more analytics at

a high level, but to also drill down into

which of those analytics really drive

better decisions for the business. That’s

a big change.

The newest technology also allows

us to scale not just by volume, but also

across the organization.

Q

What’s a real-world example of

data’s impact on your business?

A

Thanks to virtual reality, we are

able to do primary research [with

potential buyers] a lot more effectively,

adjust it to their responses, and bring

the right product to market much

more effi ciently.

The data [we get from the research] is

more actionable and [is available] ear-

lier on in the product development pro-

cess to validate or adjust our assump-

tions than if we built a model home and

reacted to the market at that point.

We also track jobs and job growth

within MSAs [metropolitan statistical

areas] and gather demographic infor-

mation about who we’re serving, so we

can stay up to date on our competitors,

who’s buying our homes, and which

market segments may be underserved.

Q

What’s been the response from the

fi eld to more data-driven operations?

A

We have some really smart people

in the fi eld, so we don’t need data

to drive everything there. And we didn’t

get any resistance because the data we

provided has been useful to them.

In fact, instead of pushing data to

the fi eld, they’re pushing me and my

team for more of it and more tools,

techniques, and sources they can use

to leverage data. They’ll suggest data

sources and vendors they’ve found

interesting or potentially useful, and

we’ll vet them as credible sources.

The best part of it is watching [our

people in the fi eld] improve their strate-

gies and get the most out of their mar-

kets. It’s not about the data itself but

about its positive impact in the fi eld. PB

PulteGroup’s Jay Mason on processing and

using data for strategic decision-making

Jay Mason

VP Market

Intelligence

PulteGroup

Atlanta

[EXECUTIVE CORNER]