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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,…
It Takes A Village: To Put Together A Fundraiser
It Takes a Village. I’m putting together a local charity fundraiser for Habitat for Humanity and Natchel Blues Network and it really does take a whole village to put together the event. While I’m planning this “alone” I’m not really alone in the world of Social Media. Now I know many people think Social Media is the miracle fix for just about everything. You’re throwing an event? Put it out on Social Media and people…
From the Archives: 5 Twitter Duh’s and No Brainers….
Since it’s a hectic month of planning for the Blue Gypsy Bluesfest and I’m sure there’s lots that I can tell you about that and it’s connection with social media moving it forward, right now….I’m pulling some oldies but goodies from the archives. Here are just a few things to think about as you get up to speed with your twitter account. 1) If you have multiple twitter accounts (And I mean like 3,4 or…
The Power Of Positive Thinking: How Are You Going To Use It
If you knew you couldn’t fail, what is one thing you’d like to do in your life? The power of positive thinking and positive energy is a real element in the universe. I truly believe this. I’ve climbed mountains with this energy, I’ve jumped out of planes with this energy, and sailed around the Caribbean with this energy. These are just a few of the many achievements I’ve attained by implementing this method of positive…
Grassroots Efforts: Cold Calling Under Rated Along With Other Outbound Marketing
I know, you are all cringing right now. Yuck I hate it when someone calls me unsolicited and asks me to do something, pay something, buy something, or well…something! You hear so much about inbound marketing these days, is outbound marketing dead? Just one aspect of outbound marketing is cold calling. These days it seems that people are not only against cold calls, but they are into scheduling their phone calls as well. It is…
Not Created Equally: Find Your Unique Teacher, Coach or Social Media Advisor
Not all business coaches, consultants or social media “experts” are created equally. Much like a personal trainer focuses on the individual, so too do you need to find a business specialist that focuses on your business as if there is no other business out there just like yours. Recently I started to go back to the gym to take classes with a trainer verses DVD’s at home. I just wasn’t meeting my goals and it…
Blue Gypsy Bluesfest: Great Things Are Coming
When I first started planning Blue Gypsy Bluesfest I knew it was a big undertaking. But I also knew it was for a good cause, and in the end it would be a lot of fun. One of the best parts about owning my own business is deciding how I’m going use my energy and achieve great things. It was a little over three months ago that I decided I wanted to throw a huge…
Listen: If You Aren’t Picking Up Cues You Lose
Listen. This is the key to great service. Listen. Seems easy right? This is the secret to capturing and keeping clients. Right now I’m sure everyone is saying, “Duh, I listen all the time.” But no….no you don’t. Perfect way to alienate someone seeking your services is to not listen to what they are telling you. There is a reason why people say email me, don’t call me. Call me don’t email me. Text me,…