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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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Being an OSC in the homebuilding industry isn’t just a job, it’s a balancing act, a communication art form, and a powerhouse role that lives at the crossroads of marketing and sales. If you’re looking to level up your performance and stand out, these 7 habits of highly effective OSCs will help you build stronger relationships, streamline your workflow, and ultimately set more appointments that convert. Let’s break them down: Be Numbers Driven Know your metrics like your best friend’s birthday. If you’re not tracking, you’re guessing. Your numbers tell…
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Every year I walk into the International Builders’ Show with the same challenge. There is simply too much good content. IBS is one of the few places where you can find yourself staring at your schedule thinking, “I want to be in three different rooms at the same time.” Between sales, marketing, technology, leadership, and customer experience sessions, there is always more to learn than any one person can realistically absorb in three days. That’s honestly part of why I keep coming back. This year is no exception. I’m especially…
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We live in a business world that often rewards the illusion of perfection. You’ve seen it. Polished LinkedIn profiles, shiny headshots, carefully curated captions that make it look like everyone’s got it together all the time. (I mean check, check, check I have all those things going on!) It’s like we’re all somehow superheroes in blazers…well not me, I don’t think I own a blazer. It seems like we are dodging failure, fear, and insecurity with a winning smile and our own business taglines and philosophies. But let’s get real…
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So, you hired someone like me, an OSC trainer, coach, and hiring consultant, to help you find and train your next great Online Sales Counselor. Maybe we are even setting your program up from scratch. I love working with builders to identify the right candidates and teach them the ropes of what it takes to be a successful OSC. That’s what I do. But let me be really, really clear about one thing: hiring me is not a replacement for onboarding someone to your company. With 20 years of experience…
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Okay, I’m going to say it. Louder for the people in the back, the front, and especially for those OSCs sitting in the dark corner of the CRM, aggressively tagging every incoming lead like a kid calling dibs on Halloween candy: Just because a lead touched your pipeline doesn’t mean you are owed a bonus on it. You have to do the work. And more importantly, just because someone walked into a home for a self-guided tour or a realtor schedules through ShowingTime does not mean you should automatically get…
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Here we go again. I’ve seen it before, and I’m seeing it now. Whenever the building industry slows down, the panic button gets slapped, and out come the budget-cutting machetes. And somehow, every single time, the Marketing Department is one of the first on the chopping block. It’s like an annual ritual: Market softens? Fire up the spreadsheets, folks! Line items must be slashed. But don’t worry, let’s totally ignore the fact that those “line items” are the only thing keeping new prospects trickling in during a downturn. You know,…
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I remember the first time I used AI to help me write and organize something. It was June 2023, and I was finally thinking seriously about putting my house on the water in Virginia onto the short-term rental market. My dad and I bought this house while I was still working on wooden schooners, and it was my place to go between boat jobs. Up to this point, I was an expert at couch surfing. Later it became my peaceful retreat, and I even lived there the first year I…
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Let’s pick up where we left off. In Part 1, we explored the idea that we naturally value what we prioritize. Our calendars, to-do lists, and mental energy are often the truest indicators of what really matters to us. But if that’s true… what happens when we feel like we’re stuck between two values? Welcome to the tug-of-war between professional growth and work-life balance. This is one of the most common internal battles people across all industries are fighting quietly, every day. Two Good Things, One Big Tension “I want…
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AI is everywhere right now. And in the OSC world, it can be a great tool – or a nightmare. AI can be like that super-organized friend who always has a to-do list, a backup plan, and a fully stocked snack drawer. It can help you stay on top of lead response, follow-up, and appointment setting without breaking a sweat. It’s fast. It’s tireless. It doesn’t panic when you come back to 42 new leads on a Monday morning. But use it wrong, and it turns into a misinformation machine,…
Eat That Frog – Time Blocking for Online Sales Counselor Success
The other day I was in a mentoring session with one of my new trainees. She’s fantastic! She is a sponge and absorbs everything I teach her. She has been thrown into a very busy OSC program with lots of leads being generated. Already we are realizing that we are at 50 leads per week which really means we need a 2nd OSC. But I digress. One of the hardest things about an OSC’s job…
In New Home Sales, Where Does the Buyer’s Journey Begin?
When I started working as an online sales counselor, we though only 70% of people began their search for a new home online. Back then, in the ancient times of the early 2000’s it was almost as if your website was just a billboard on this new-fangled internet. (do you even know what a billboard is… I mean now they display the current jackpot amounts for Mega Millions and Powerball…) But before we honestly used…
20 Blind Men, An Elephant, and Your 360 Degree Evaluation
Have you heard that old parable about putting 20 blind people in a room with an elephant? Each person has a different experience with the elephant. The first leans against it feeling a sturdy wall. The second feels the tip of a tusk and believes it to be a spear. The next feels the trunk and thinks he has a snake in his hands. Yet another feels the substantial leg and mistakes it for a…
Balancing Business and Quality of Life: 7 Lessons
This time last year leading up to the holidays I had a client that ran me ragged. Several times I felt like dropping this client, but I didn’t. Now a year later, looking at an unpaid invoice that languishes in my quickbooks I know that the client was actually a lesson in disguise. Seven lessons in fact Lesson #1: Go with Your Gut – Don’t ignore those red flags. They almost never prove themselves to…
The Search For “Affordable” Websites
I see it all the time. The word affordable. People are often looking for services that are “affordable”. That term is so subjective it is hard to pin it down. It’s like nailing jello to the wall or herding cats. What is affordable to one company is not affordable to another. And yet…when you say affordable when you are talking about a website, or a marketing company, or a subcontractor to handle and important aspect…
How are You Making Twitter Work for Your Business?
Do you keep asking yourself how can twitter help my business? How can I use twitter? And what is the point? If so you are not alone. Many people get started on twitter and don’t know what they really want to use it for. It is not a business tool for everyone, but it can be a powerful business tool if used properly and with a plan. The types of questions you want to ask…
Business Coach Vs. Snake Oil Salesman
Wow folks, I’ve just got to get this out there in a post to go on the record. I am very skeptical of business coaches, and people who train business coaches. There I said it. My skepticism comes from watching a whole business arise in this flagging economy. Have you ever heard that old Woody Allen quote, “Those who can’t do, teach. Those who can’t teach, teach gym.” Well when it comes to your business,…
Outsourced: Not the Show
Blue Gypsy Inc has grown so much in it’s one year of existence. This is a wonderful thing! This time last year I sent my first proposal out into the world and was busy getting my company name Blue Gypsy, incorporated. Now I have several happy clients who keep me very busy. I’m not complaining! In this economy it’s so nice to be needed and wanted, and actually lead management should be the business of…
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…
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,…