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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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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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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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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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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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It’s finally here! My new book, Attract, Engage, Convert is now available on Amazon and I couldn’t be more excited! This book is for builders, OSCs, marketing teams, sales leaders, and anyone trying to make sense of what really works and how to set up a successful OSC program. It’s built from nearly two decades in the trenches, helping builders and OSCs create meaningful, intentional online sales programs. And it was a labor of love. Even better, builders are already buying copies for their OSC teams. That’s exactly what I hoped…
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If you’re considering launching an Online Sales Counselor (OSC) program, or reviving one that’s stalled, you may be tempted by the promise of outsourcing. The idea of offloading the responsibility of nurturing your digital leads to a third-party service may sound like a time-saving solution. But here’s the hard truth: There is no easy button when it comes to creating a successful OSC program. Whether you bring your OSC in-house or contract the role out, the same requirements apply: learning your tools, your process, your product, your people, and most…
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When margins are tight, it’s tempting to look for places to cut costs. Too often, the OSC program ends up on the chopping block. On paper, removing a salary line or trimming bonuses may look like savings. In reality, it’s one of the most expensive mistakes a builder can make. An OSC isn’t just another role. They are the engine that converts costly digital traffic into real appointments and closed sales. Without them, your marketing dollars evaporate, your conversion rates sink, and the homes you thought you’d sell this year…
Don’t Kill Your Unicorn
“They Are Cutting My Pay!” The worst text ever to get from a friend who is an online sales counselor. I’ve been there. I know it’s a gut punch. I remember that punch. Back in 2009 when I was an OSC, after two years of fighting the market downturn, my pay got restructured and I was expected to work just as hard, with no bonuses or incentives. Lucky for that builder I had a very…
The Inside Track on the Online Sales Track at the Tropical Sales Retreat
I’m pretty excited to be putting together the curriculum for the Online Sales Track at the Tropical Sales Retreat November 2-4 in Clearwater, Florida. (For more information on the retreat check it out here.) What I love about this program is that there will be something for everyone. Whether you are an OSC, an onsite sales person, or part of the leadership team there are wonderful takeaways on how to improve your sales program, your…
What Does Auditing Your Online Sales Counselor Program Mean for New Home Builders?
If you’ve had an online sales counselor program for a while, or you are thinking of starting one up, there are several types of audits we recommend you do in order to best assess the success of your program and decide whether or not it’s time to grow an existing program, revamp it, or start up a new program if you don’t already have online sales counselors. 360 Degree Assessments – This is a detailed…
Manifesting a Retreat for OSCs at the New Homes Sales + Tropical Retreat
When you look up kindness in the dictionary you may see a picture of Roland Nairnsey of New Homes Sales +. While he’s been in the industry for a long time, and I’d heard his name and wonderful things about him for years. I didn’t meet him until the end of last year. Immediately I could feel his positive energy and kindness resonate. Let me backtrack with a short story. Back in February of 2020,…
New Home Marketing: Don’t Race to the Bottom Pricing
Recently as I was speaking with one of my online sales counselors, we were talking about community pricing and marketing. She told me the secret of creating happy buyers… Ask any OSC out there and 99% of the time they will tell you their communities are marketed based on the lowest possible price. What that means is on the website, on signs, anywhere and everywhere that we broadcast a price, it says something like, “Buy…
Agent, OSC, and Customer Communication for the Perfect Hand-Off
You know the old saying buyers are liars? Well they aren’t liars, but sometimes they get their information wrong. And at times that can cause strife between OSC’s and Agents. That’s why it’s so important to get the lead hand-off right. Often when we teach the lead hand-off between online and onsite it’s a one-time training and we just figure everyone will remember forever and always. But that’s not the case. The lead hand-off should…
The Power of Positive Energy and an Abundance Mindset
As we discuss collaboration, positive energy, and having a mindset of abundance – it’s important that we don’t just use these as buzz words but that we actually live in it and cultivate this mindset and energy not just in ourselves but for others. Most people who know me, know I’m a firm believer in energy, and our ability to utilize that energy to achieve our goals and create an abundance mindset. What most people…
Collaboration in the Building Industry Raises Our Vibration
February is the month of love, and I, like many in the building industry, just got back from a lovefest in the building industry – also known as the International Builders Show (IBS). It was the first time in two years to see friends, colleagues, and clients in person. There was hugging, there was laughter, there were cheers. This year was the first year I’ve gotten to speak on a stage at IBS. And I…
Blue Gypsy Inc’s Top Pics for IBS 2022 Education
Hey all, lets face it…ALL the education is incredible at IBS. I love listening to other experts in the industry talk about the topics they are passionate about. This is by no means the list for everyone, but as I go and set up my schedule for what I want to attend these are a few standouts I hope to be able to attend. First, it’s important to be mindful of the schedule. There are…
Don’t Miss Extreme Makeover Sales Edition at IBS in Orlando February 9th
Are you going to IBS? If you are don’t miss this fun fast paced game show style presentation Extreme Makeover Sales Edition: Empowering your OSC to Guide Sales Conversion & Customer Experience. Wednesday February 9th at 9:15am in W-315. With a superstar group of Online Sales Counselor experts in the home building industry you’ll be able to walk away with a better understanding of how to pair your OSC with your marketing strategy to provide…