Let’s get this out of the way right now: I am not a CRM implementation expert. My job is to train and strategize with Online Sales Counselors (OSCs) and companies to help them thrive in their roles and their adoption of the CRM across all departments. It’s important for the marketing, sales, and online salespeople to all be rowing in the same direction when it comes to big tools like the CRM. I’ll give you the ideas and the parameters, but I leave the nitty-gritty of CRM setup to the techies and specialists. What I do know is what a CRM should be able to do for you as an OSC in the homebuilding industry. It’s up to you to become the expert on the platform your company uses. And let’s be honest—often OSCs end up being the CRM experts in their companies. So, roll up your sleeves, dive in, and figure it out. Here’s the good news: there are resources everywhere. Your CRM likely has a support team, a knowledge base, and (bless the internet gods) YouTube. You can Google just about anything these days. Or—and here’s a crazy idea—you can play with it. Tinker, explore, and press all…
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New Home Marketing: Don’t Race to the Bottom Pricing
Recently as I was speaking with one of my online sales counselors, we were talking about community pricing and marketing. She told me the secret of creating happy buyers… Ask any OSC out there and 99% of the time they will tell you their communities are marketed based on the lowest possible price. What that means is on the website, on signs, anywhere and everywhere that we broadcast a price, it says something like, “Buy…
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Lessons from an OSC: 4 Strategies to Build a Successful Coming Soon Community Plan and Create Confident VIPs
Guest Post by Kaylee Daum Senior Online New Home Specialist Epcon Communities It’s 3:52pm on a Tuesday. Your inbox dings and you have a new email from your Marketing team– The VIP campaign to start promoting your next new home community is about to go live. The community signage has been installed on-site, promoted posts on social are ready to go, email blasts to your existing CRM database are about to commence, and 2,700 direct…
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Agent, OSC, and Customer Communication for the Perfect Hand-Off
You know the old saying buyers are liars? Well they aren’t liars, but sometimes they get their information wrong. And at times that can cause strife between OSC’s and Agents. That’s why it’s so important to get the lead hand-off right. Often when we teach the lead hand-off between online and onsite it’s a one-time training and we just figure everyone will remember forever and always. But that’s not the case. The lead hand-off should…
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The Power of Positive Energy and an Abundance Mindset
As we discuss collaboration, positive energy, and having a mindset of abundance – it’s important that we don’t just use these as buzz words but that we actually live in it and cultivate this mindset and energy not just in ourselves but for others. Most people who know me, know I’m a firm believer in energy, and our ability to utilize that energy to achieve our goals and create an abundance mindset. What most people…
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8 Tips to Create a Successful OSC Program
Creating a successful online sales counselor program doesn’t happen over night, and it doesn’t happen by accident. Here are a few details to help you assess or get started thinking about how to start or improve your online sales program. There are so many more details I could share about setting up a successful OSC program, but I’m going to try to give you some of the 8 essential things you should think about when…
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Collaboration in the Building Industry Raises Our Vibration
February is the month of love, and I, like many in the building industry, just got back from a lovefest in the building industry – also known as the International Builders Show (IBS). It was the first time in two years to see friends, colleagues, and clients in person. There was hugging, there was laughter, there were cheers. This year was the first year I’ve gotten to speak on a stage at IBS. And I…
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