2020 Online Sales Counselor Snapshot

With more home buyers shopping online for new homes, the role of the OSC is more important than ever. We know that their contributions can be great, and we love to celebrate them in our “OSC of the Month” series.

For this survey, we wanted to get a snapshot of the impact that OSCs have in the new home building industry. We asked about the role they play in the company—exploring team structure, lead flow, follow-up, and technology used.

Below are some highlights from the survey:

OSC Team Structure:

• Over half of the respondents (54%) had been an OSC for more than 3 years and 53% of respondents managed all online leads for their company
• For the 47% who work as part of a team of OSCs, leads are shared across the team
• And OSCs do more than manage online leads. They also assist with marketing (50%), admin support (39%), and social media (32%)
• OSCs are very satisfied in their role. The overwhelming majority (91.3%) reported being Satisfied or Very satisfied
• More than 1/3 (36%) of those surveyed currently use an OSC coach and 1 in 5 said they had used one in the past

Leads:

• Half (51%) of OSCs surveyed managed more than 200 leads a month.
• Despite the uncertainty that COVID-19 initially presented, the home building industry has bounced back. Most respondents saw Leads (81%), Appointments (86%), and Sales (73%) increase despite the current economic climate
• Call-in leads were seen as being the highest quality, followed closely by leads from their website, and then REALTORS®. Word of mouth is powerful—while not high in volume, it was ranked fourth highest in quality

Lead Conversion:

• More than one-third (36%) of respondents reported that 21-30% of their leads made an appointment, while about one-quarter (27%) of respondents reported a 31-40% Lead to Appointment conversion rate. Only 13% of OSCs reported a Lead to Appointment conversion rate above 50%
• Getting the person to commit to an appointment is a critical step in moving them through the funnel. The majority (74%) of OSCs reported that more than 70% of appointments were held
• Building out your sales KPIs, understanding your lead to buyer conversion rate is important for developing your models and goals. According to our survey, most OSCs (54%) stated that 11-30% of all their leads convert to a buyer, while only 11% said that 50% or more of their leads ended up purchasing a home

Sales Process:

• Consistent follow-up is critical in converting leads to buyers. Creating an effective sales process is an important part of moving leads through the funnel
• In our survey, 88% of OSCs used a defined sales process or workflow to follow up with their leads. Almost half (49%) have been using one for more than 3 years, with over one-quarter (28%) of respondents using a sales process between 1 to 3 years
• 40% of those surveyed reported seeing an increase in sales by 20% or more since using a sales process. Only 7% reported no impact at all

Technology Used:

• While using a CRM is clearly an important technology for customers (all respondents reported using one), other applications and tools play an important part of doing their job
• Given the phone is probably the most important tool OSCs use, it was no surprise that Texting (69%) and Call Tracking (63%) were the two most important applications or tools for their role

Does this match your experience? Share your thoughts in the comments below!