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:…
Quick Tip Tuesday: Possession vs. Ownership
This may be controversial in some circles but I feel this is a really important part of online lead management. If you are familiar at all with the online sales program — and lets face it, if you weren’t you wouldn’t be here — then you know that an online sales counselors job is to set appointments for the site agents inn the model homes. But I’ve realized over the years that there…
Metrics Aren’t Everything…WHAT?
There, I said it. Metrics are not everything when it comes to a well-oiled Online Sales Counselor program. Especially in the Age of COVID. I just blew the minds of many people including all my perfectionist OSC’s. You know how I know this? I’m nominating several of my past OSC’s I’ve trained for National Awards through the NAHB, and that means getting all their current metrics to report for a 12 month-period. What are the…
Online Sales Counselors Need to be The CRM Expert for New Home Builders
I am a coach, a mentor, a trainer, a consultant. I am not technical support or here to set up your Customer Relationship Management tool (CRM.) Why? Because the only way to become an expert in your CRM is to dive in, learn it, break it, fix it, and as Nike used to say, Just Do It! When I work with builders, one of the most important foundational tools they will ever use with their…
The Results Are In! Is Follow Up Your Weakest Link?
Blue Gypsy Inc. Partnered with Melinda Brody & Company and Denim marketing to shop 50 new home builders across the country. We spent 30 days tracking the follow up processes and examined speed, frequency of messaging and diversity of touch points. The results will shock you. Or maybe not. In our mystery shop we noted the follow-up behaviors of the group as a whole, as well as looking at those who did have online…
Quick Tip Tuesday Video – How To Optimize Live Chat
Today’s Quick Tip for Online Sales Programs in the Building Industry is about Live Chat. Watch this Quick Tip on YouTube → If you are going to have your OSC utilize Live Chat you need to make sure these 3 things are happening. I’ve always been on the fence about live chat because all too often I’ve seen this become a band-aid for a true online sales counselor program. If you only tend to your…
Don’t Burn Out Your Online Sales Counselor
Look, I’ve been doing this since 2007. Back when I began as an OSC we did not have the same kind of marketing and lead generation as we do now. I worked for a builder that sold about 350 or more homes per year, and back then we said if an OSC was doing 20-25% of overall sales for the company they were doing a great job. As a producer hitting 32% of overall sales…
CRM – Should it Integrate with Your New Home Builder Software?
So, I get this question a lot! Or I get this statement… “We don’t want to change CRM’s because it integrates with our contract writing, purchasing, building etc… software we already have.” Here’s the thing. Some of the companies tack on an inferior Customer Relationship Management tool, (CRM) so that you will utilize their entire system. They think this is a value add. It’s not that they mean for it to be inferior. At least…
Building the Bridge Between Online Sales and Marketing
While your online sales counselor should not be the same person in charge of your marketing, there are many reasons why these two departments within a new home builder’s office should collaborate. It may seem fairly obvious that the marketing department’s job is to create awareness, drive traffic to the website, and generate leads. Just as important, the online sales counselor’s position is there to field these leads, build rapport, and set appointments that assist…
Follow Up – How Many Times Should You Contact a Lead
Follow Up. The other day in one of the professional groups I belong to on Facebook I saw someone lamenting the fact that prospects were not returning his emails. He asked, “How long do you follow up before you just feel like you are being a pain?” I was astounded by the answers given by these professional social media people. The answers ranged from “one and done” to “You’ve done your job to follow up…
Prequalfying Leads and Safety for Real Estate Agents
Recently the tragic kidnapping and murder of Beverly Carter, a prominent real estate agent in Jackson, Tennessee has placed a renewed focus in on job safety for real estate agents. The sad fact is that real estate agents feel they need to be available 24/7 at the drop of a hat to show a home both for the sake of their sellers, and the buyers who call with the desire for instant information on properties.…