Case Studies & Testimonials

Task:

James, the sales and marketing manager for a regional home builder, was tasked to determine his marketing costs in order to budget expansion for three new communities the next year.  A portion of the report required a breakdown of CPL (Cost Per Lead) and CPS (Cost Per Sale) to compare with their CRM (Contact Resource Management).  James thought the CRM did not accurately reflect their prospect traffic.  What the CRM showed for a week, his sales team saw in a day. 

Action:

We developed shop metrics for James’ needs.  The shoppers provided the same scenario:  Walk in, smile, say you were just driving by and wanted to take a quick peek at the models.  We tracked if the shopper was asked to register, including the contact information given.

Result:

Their registration card capture rate was only 57%.

Comment:

James was able to use this information in several ways:

• He was able to coach his team on the importance of asking each and every prospective buyer who walks through their door to register .  
• He tracked the shoppers registration cards captured against the builder’s CRM system, discovering only 64% of the shoppers ever made it into the system. 
• Only 38% of all shoppers received follow-up contact within 72 hours.
• With this data, James could more accurately estimate prospect traffic – almost double the CRM system count – to budget his expansion project.  

Task:

A top division sales manager with a Fortune 500 home builder, Cecilia’s sales team consisted of 32 sales reps with a range of experience.  She provided her team with all the tools:  digital display boards, beautiful models and competitive pricing.  National had just sent in a famous sales trainer who gave a 2-day seminar on closing skills –  to the tune of $1M.  

Action:

Cecilia couldn’t pinpoint why her sales were below target.  She called Personnel Profiles New Home Mystery Shops and used both the sales trainer’s proprietary score card and our standardized Critical Path evaluation checklist.  

Result:

A glance at the division recaps told the story.  The Closing category ranked exceptionally high.  But the Discovery and Demonstration categories were well below industry averages.  Prospects weren’t feeling valued without discovery questions.  They weren’t able to make a knowledgeable buying decision.  The sales rep was not accompanying them through those gorgeous models and demonstrating their USP features.  Ultimately, buyers were being turned off because the sales reps had not “earned the right” to ask for the sale.

Comment:

Going back to basics, Cecilia emphasized the importance of discovery and challenged her team to a five-minute commitment:  Ask three discovery questions as you personally accompany the prospect through the first model.  Then demonstrate three features that make us stand out above the competition.”   Always, without fail.  Sales increased dramatically the following month and remained above target for the next two quarters.

Task:

Jake owned six communities in the Salt Lake City market.  His marketing budget did not allow for expensive sales trainers and the like, yet he had to compete with the big nationals at every level.  

Action:

We went Old School.  We recommended that Jake buy every one of his sales team three books on new home sales (pick your favorites or we’ll offer suggestions based on your market conditions).  They had book club sessions during sales meetings.  The team was told to prepare for the shoppers to come.

Result:

Jake ordered the extended evaluation, which included a video, score card, industry analysis and a detailed narrative highlighting the structure of the presentation, strengths, weaknesses and recommendations.  Although his team initially ranked at the national average, within the year they had substantially increased their shop scores and sales.

Comment:

Because this was a smaller, family-owned business, Jake was mindful of how he utilized the shops as a sales training tool.  First, Jake alerted the sales team to the shops, passing out the Critical Path score card with “the answers to the test.”  Any questions?  He answered them.  Jake downloaded and forwarded the video and report to each team member, giving them time to digest and revamp their sales plan.  Two weeks later, he met with the entire team and together they laid targets and goals for the future.