Dave has been a senior consultant in the home building industry since 2000, and during that time he has trained thousands of builder representatives and sales agents on how to improve their sales processes. He has also presented at events around the globe on the best practices of using technology in marketing, sales, and customer service, so we’re honored to have him here to share his knowledge with us today!
Here’s what you need to know about using data in your business to accelerate your sales and offer a better customer experience.
Data Matters
Data is the missing link when it comes to creating a powerhouse sales team. Home builders are often stuck in the “old ways” of selling, relying on calls to come in followed by someone walking straight into the sales office. But things are changing – salespeople are selling online now more than ever, and buyers are changing, too.
Years ago it would have been unthinkable to most to buy a home without seeing it or the plot first, but the pandemic was instrumental in changing that. Now, people will often buy without seeing the home in person.
As things move online, data has become more important than ever. It’s not simply about analyzing reports; the analysis of that data must be embedded into the way the organization functions.
Ways Home Builders Need to Improve
Many home builders aren’t setting KPIs that suit this new way of selling homes, and even more aren’t training sales teams on how to be data-driven. Sales managers need to be taking the lead and learning what data they have and how they can use it to make better decisions.
All home builders should be collecting the following data:
- What percentage of your database you’ll sell to
- How much each lead costs you
- How many meetings and appointments are being set
- How long it takes from registration to sale
- How many contact points it takes to close a sale
Every lead should be put into a builder’s database and the sales team should have the power to categorize leads to indicate where people are in the buying decision. It’s taking about 3-6 months for a lead to go from registration to sale, and knowing this (and how many contact points you need to close a sale) will allow you to expand your sales process conversations to cover this entire customer journey.
How to Use Data to Create a Powerhouse Sales Team
- Train – You must train your sales team on how to use your CRM and make sure they understand how essential it is for the organization. It is not enough for them to have their own details – all information must be shared across the organization in the CRM, and it must be kept up to date.
- Trust – The sales team must trust the data. We use the truth in the data to drive the sales and marketing process. We’ve got to trust the data to make decisions based on it.
- Commitment – Organizations have to commit to listening to the data and everyone in the organization needs to buy into the idea that the data is important and contains real value.
- Share – Best practices need to be created to ensure that everyone in the organization uses the same reports and data. The data can’t be gatekept – it needs to be readily available to all in the sales team.
- Mindset – As we touched on above, transparency is paramount when it comes to using data to create a powerhouse sales team. All on the team need to understand the processes and use the same reports and data to analyze performance and make decisions.
Seek Other Resources
Remember that not all the data you can utilize can be found in a CRM. Consider using other analytics tools like Google Data Studio and Microsoft Power BI to extract the data you need. If you need support in learning which data to use and how to use it, reach out and lean on your providers and industry experts.
We’re lucky to be in a very supportive, helpful industry, so look to others or use podcasts and webinars to find more resources.
To create a powerhouse sales team, everyone needs to know the value of the data being collected and how to use it to make better decisions. Empower your sales team by training them to use data and you’ll be rewarded with better sales.
Want to connect with Dave? You can find Dave on LinkedIn here or feel free to contact him directly using the information below.
Guest Written By