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Over the years, I’ve worked with home builders who have invested significant time, money, and resources into developing their Online Sales Counselor (OSC) programs. They’ve hired talented people, invested in CRM systems, provided training, and established performance goals. But somewhere along the way, something happens. The OSC program stops being actively managed and starts being measured. How many leads came in this month? How many appointments were set? How many sales came from online leads? What’s the conversion rate? Don’t get me wrong. Those numbers matter. I’m a big believer…
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Over the years, I’ve worked with home builders of all sizes, helping them build, train, and grow their Online Sales Counselor (OSC) programs. And one thing I’ve learned is that even the best OSCs need more than great training to be successful. They need ongoing coaching, leadership, accountability, and someone who truly understands their unique role. But here’s the challenge. Who is managing your OSC program? In many homebuilding companies, that responsibility falls on the VP of Sales, Director of Sales, or another member of the leadership team who already…
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October is here, which means we are officially entering the last quarter of the year. And I think this is a really important time to ask ourselves a question: What are we going to do with the next 90 days? There is a lot of uncertainty in our industry right now. Interest rates, affordability, consumer confidence, traffic and the economy are all creating questions about what the rest of this year will look like and what we can expect when we head into the spring selling season. We can’t control…
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The Builder Marketing Summit has wrapped up for another year, and after two fast and furious days in Dallas, I walked away energized, full of ideas and, as always, wishing there had been just a little more time to talk with everyone. This was my fourth year joining Greg Bray of Blue Tangerine and Kevin Weitzel of Outhouse for the Summit, where they once again gave me free rein to lead the Online Sales Counselor track. That opportunity means a lot to me because there simply aren’t many industry events…
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Recently, a seasoned OSC reached out to me because she knows I do mystery shops. She also knows about the Annual Mystery Shop Report we conduct every year to get a pulse on the state of the industry when it comes to customer experience and the customer journey. She had been mystery shopped. On a Saturday. Her day off. Actually, it was the beginning of a four-day weekend for her. And as a solo OSC, she needs to take time off. Gone are the days when we should expect an…
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Why an AI Tool Isn’t the Same as an AI Strategy AI is everywhere in new home sales right now. Chatbots, automated follow-up, texting, dialers, lead nurturing, appointment setting. There are some incredible tools available, and I am certainly not anti-AI. Used correctly, AI can help us respond faster, manage more opportunities and take some of the repetitive work off our plates. But buying an AI tool is not the same thing as having an AI strategy. You don’t just buy it, unbox it, plug it into your website or…
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One of the first things I ask for when I start working with a new builder has nothing to do with conversion rates, lead response times, or appointment-setting percentages. Well okay I ask for all of that stuff. But I also ask for this… I ask to see every follow-up sequence living inside their CRM. The automated emails. The texts. The videos. The call tasks. Everything. Why? Because before I can coach an Online Sales Counselor, I want to understand what the buyer is experiencing. Every email, every text message,…
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“Everyone knows something you don’t… learn from them.” It’s a simple phrase, but one that’s resonated with me for decades. I’m not even sure where I first heard it, but it’s become part of who I am and how I approach life. Long before Blue Gypsy. Long before I was speaking at conferences or teaching classes. Before I ever became an Online Sales Counselor. It’s a mindset I’ve carried with me from experience to experience…country to country. I learned it years ago while traveling the world. Every place I visited…
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In our last blog post about One Team, One Experience I talked heavily about alignment. If the move from online to onsite is done well, it should feel natural from the buyer’s perspective. Exciting, even. The OSC should be building anticipation, not creating confusion. It should sound more like: “I’d love for you to meet my good friend; they’re going to have a much better handle on those specific house questions and help you take the next step.” That is a handoff. Not: “Here’s the appointment. Good luck.…
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Earlier this month, I had the pleasure of joining an NAHB Shop Talk with a title so good I figured it deserved a blog post of its own: One Team, One Experience: Turning Spring Traffic into Sales. When a topic is this relevant, this timely, and this painfully familiar to anyone in home building, you don’t just leave it neatly tucked inside a one-hour conversation. You bring it back out, dust it off, and say, “Alright, let’s talk about what this really means.” The discussion was moderated by Kelly Fink,…
Did You Miss The Powerhouse Panel on Power Hour?
I had the pleasure of participating in the New Home Sales & Marketing Power Hour: Annual Lasso Round-up Webinar with several amazing industry experts. It was such great energy and advice going into 2022 on how to ramp up your marketing and sales in the new home building industry as well as how to shape your company culture, and be the best you can possibly be. You can’t ask for a better group that included…
Making Your Online Sales Plan for 2022?
If you are planning for 2022 and would like to get some feedback and ideas did you know I’m here to help? There are options to book some time with me whether you are a past, present, or future client or just want to brainstorm some ideas and get to know each other. I’ve recently made it easier than ever before to grab a quick 15-minute encounter, a 30-minute virtual cup of coffee, a complementary…
Online Sales Counselor Recognition – National Silver Winners
Being an online sales counselor is hard work. They are the unsung heroes and vital team members in lead development and conversion. And the thing about these unicorns is that one of the things that makes them so successful is that they usually are not one to brag about themselves. While online sales counselors are often the face of the websites, much of what they do happens behind the scenes and they almost always like…
Thanksgiving Shouldn’t Just be One Day a Year
Every year around Thanksgiving, people begin to do their various exercises in “thanks and giving.” They either start with something they are thankful for at the beginning of the month and do a daily “thanks.” Or they pour their heart out (On social media) the day of Thanksgiving. I believe that it’s important to start every day with intention and being thankful. Putting positive energy out in the world and shining your light on people.…
What Happens When You Rush the Process?
Sometimes in our need for speed, we lose sight of some of the basics. While it’s true that an OSC’s role has always been about appointment setting and getting people in front of the site agents there are several factors that must be addressed. Appointments Need to be Strong – the whole point of filtering all the digital leads to the OSC is to make sure to find out what people really want. There’s a…
Frequently Asked Questions About Online Sales Programs
There are many questions I get when we are looking at starting or evaluating an existing program, especially when it comes to hiring an OSC and setting them up for success. Frequently asked questions: Can’t we just move an agent from sales to online sales or hire a seasoned realtor? The answer is sometimes. Not all sales agents, or realtors for that matter, will want to do the ongoing repetitive task handling that is part…
Blue Gypsy Inc. 11 Years, 11 Months
My LinkedIn says I joined Blue Gypsy Inc. 11 years, 11 months ago. This December Blue Gypsy Inc will turn 12 years old! And just like any tween my business has gone through a variety of transformations over the past 12 years as I’ve found my passion and Blue Gypsy Inc.’s purpose. I remember when I passed a major milestone of having been in the building industry longer than the number of years I traveled.…
Has Follow Up Improved From Last Year? Our Results Are In…
In the 2nd Annual Homebuyer Mystery Shop Blue Gypsy, Inc. got together with Melinda Brody & Company and Denim Marketing to shop 50 new home builders across the country. We looked at national, regional, and local builders and spent 30 days tracking the follow-up a customer would receive if they submitted an inquiry with their name, phone number, and a question. As usual, we looked at speed of follow-up, frequency, and diversity of touch points.…
It’s Almost Halloween…
It’s almost Halloween and sometimes OSCs have some spooktacular stories to tell. Maybe you can sell a house just because they see the ghost of a past loved one… When a potential client reaches out to inform you that her deceased mother can be seen as a ghost in one of your new construction homes, it becomes apparent that the role of an OSC is not only to sell appointments, but to guide people to…
Transformation: Don’t Miss the Women in Residential Construction Virtual Event
I’m excited to participate as a roundtable speaker in this year’s Women in Residential Construction’s live online event. The 2-day conference will take place on October 27-29th. This marks the 7th annual event for the organization. I’ve had the good fortune to attend this event in person and virtually over the past couple of years and it never disappoints. It’s always packed with inspirational speakers, idea generation, and sisterhood. The online version is a way…