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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,…
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I feel like I make a post about this almost every year… but spring cleaning isn’t just for closets, junk drawers, and that cup holder in your car full of receipts, hair ties, mystery crumbs, and old empty coffee cups from Starbucks. It’s for your follow-up too. Let’s be honest… somewhere in that CRM is a sales process you built with the best of intentions and then never looked at again. She’s out there. Collecting dust. Sending old emails. Possibly embarrassing you. This time of year, is the perfect excuse…
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Alright, friends. We’re closing out March Debunking AI Month with one more thing I need to get off my chest: I am deeply skeptical of these micro learning AI courses that keep popping up all over my social feed. You know the ones. “Learn 47 AI tools in 28 days!” “Become an AI power user by next Tuesday!” “Master the future with our daily 10-minute lessons!” Meanwhile I’m over here thinking… who has time to collect apps like they’re Pokémon? What do I need 10…or 28 different tools? And more…
Insomnia Plus Creativity Lights a Viral Spark
Sometimes insomnia can be a good thing. Many creative people are up in the wee hours of the morning working on projects and ideas. lately I’ve had so many ideas and projects floating around my head, I find it hard to sleep. Recently one of my mentors sent me a twitter DM saying, “You do not sleep because you are full of ideas that have feet attached to them.” So it was no surprise that…
The Three Rules of Bartending: Two Easily Apply To Social Networking
There are three rules to Bartending. Don’t talk about politics, don’t talk about sports, and don’t talk about religion. Back in my previous life as a bartender, before I traveled around the world and then landed in real estate, these three rules were golden. When your life depends on tips from customers the last thing you want to do is to alienate someone. Inevitably people at the bar were going to talk about these things.…
Slow Economy Shouldn’t Equal Slow Response Time
Just answer the phone. Just send an email! Do you ever get frustrated when you aren’t getting quick answers to your questions? Well think of how your customers feel when the same thing happens to them. Do you know why, as an online sales consultant, I have so many people thanking me for my quick response to their questions? It’s because I do just that… I RESPOND! It’s an interesting world we live in. Everything…
Let’s Have A Party! Blue Gypsy Bluesfest
I don’t know if it’s a mid life crisis or what, but the day before my 40th birthday (March 24th) I decided to give myself 6 months to throw the greatest real estate party Hampton Roads has ever seen! Put September 25th on your calendars folks. (Even if you aren’t in the real estate industry this party is going to be a lot of fun and you are welcome to attend!) No it’s not going…
Down To The Wire: Ready To Launch – Geekette’s Club March 24
It’s coming down to the wire! This time next week, we will be doing the final clean and moving to our new location in Northern Virginia. Hard to believe but so glad we live in such a mobile society. When creating Blue Gypsy Inc, my goal was to set up a business that could be done from anywhere. Just the nature of Lead Management lends itself to our mobile society. I don’t need to be…
Goals: You Can’t Set It And Forget It!
Goal setting is something I used to teach teenagers on sailboats in the summertime. Goals are important and more importantly they need to be attainable. Most of the time it’s about incremental changes to reach your goals, and it’s about focusing on mini goals that help you reach the final target. It is so easy to make excuses on why we can’t achieve our goals but really at the end of the day…they are excuses.…
Embracing a Smart Phone: Removing My Head From The Sand
I’m finally stepped out of the dark ages…. I changed over to an iphone today. I’ve been waffling on this decision to move from a “dumb” phone to a “smart” phone for a while now. It’s funny, I don’t mind change when it comes to traveling. I love changing from country to country seeing new sights and experiencing new places. But I’ve never been a fan of technology. I don’t pick it up quickly so…