That seems to be the expectations of OSCs these days. To operate like a superhuman. Because digital marketing moves fast, so should the OSC. As soon as a prospect contacts the builder, the OSC should respond and follow up immediately. Responding as soon as possible just doesn’t cut it. Making the prospect wait until it’s convenient for someone to reply isn’t an option. It’s knowing that if a prospect doesn’t hear from you right away, they’ll find another builder.
While it’s great that the role of an OSC is now recognized in our industry, the role of an OSC is still wildly misunderstood. One being the OSC schedule. If you’re a builder who has a single OSC – congratulations! You’ve made a huge improvement not only in your customers’ journey but the ability to capture more sales. Being a solo OSC is tough. What happens on the days that your OSC is off? Are they really off or is the expectation for them to still be “on call” for calls? What happens to the new leads that come into the CRM? Who handles those on their days off? Is it marketing? Is it an admin assistant at home office? Or do you just leave them in the queue for when your OSC comes back from their days off to catch up. You may not have a solution, but I encourage you to really think of one.
Having been a solo OSC for over four years myself, I cringe at the thought of that today. At the time, I didn’t’ think it was a big deal. I was motivated by how I was compensated – appointments that generated sales. I personally was not compensated on appointments, so I worked twice as hard at making sure that every appointment I set was a qualified appointment. Serving every appointment on a silver platter for the sales team to pick up where I left off – and more often than not – they wrote the sale. Having become a recognized OSC in the industry, my success didn’t’ come without sacrifice. Fortunately, I had a sales leader who was extremely supportive of the role. He provided me with great autonomy to be flexible with my schedule. He supported me in holding my onsite sales team accountable to using the CRM and he helped elevate me in my role. Even with all that support burn out crept in. Working 7 days a week just isn’t sustainable.
Create a plan to have a support OSC in place for the days that your OSC is off. Here are a few suggestions:
- Have a dedicated sales assistant to help backfill the days that your OSC is off during the week. It’s best to have the same person covering consistently so they know the process and expectations of the position.
- Outsource your back up. Whether it’s for the weekly days off or scheduled vacations, hire a reputable service provider to help you with your coverage needs. Fun fact, did you know that’s one of the main reasons why Shared Drive was started?
- If the first two options are not possible, come up with a plan to transfer all inbound calls to assign leads to your onsite agent on the days that they are off. This can easily be done with CallRail. Then determine how inbound leads will be responded to while your OSC is out.
By putting a support OSC in place, will give your OSC better work/life balance. You’ll notice that they’ll show up refreshed and energized to work those precious leads.
