OSC of the Month | Christina Sadler

Our Lasso OSC of the Month is Christina Sadler from Neal Communities and Neal Signature Homes located in Lakewood Ranch, Florida. She has been an OSC for three years and, as one of three OSCs, personally manages 500-700 online leads per month for over 35 communities in Southwest Florida. Christina shared with us her thoughts on how she sees the role evolving, overcoming the challenges of working with prospects who aren’t local to the area, and her go-to-closing technique for getting an appointment.

What was your career path to becoming an OSC?

I graduated from the University of South Florida with a degree in Mass Communications. Before coming to Neal Communities, I worked in luxury retail marketing for Saks Fifth Avenue. I decided to make the change to online sales when I noticed the rapid decline of brick and mortar establishments and online retail took over.

How have you seen online home sales change in the last few years?

I have seen realtors and new home shoppers with more confidence in speaking with the online home sales department. Realtors and new home shoppers use us as a tool to help save them time and quickly identify the communities and homes that may work for their clients. We have made the new home buying process easier.

How do you see your role/or the OSC role evolving over the next few years?

I see more and more customers shopping online for homes, and more of the home buying process become more digital. I already see this change happening as more and more customers do more research and request information before ever coming onsite.

What’s the most challenging aspect of your job? What do you do to overcome that challenge?

Many home buyers in Florida live in other locations in the country and are seeking a second and/or vacation home. It can be overwhelming for a customer to go to contract remotely. However, I find that with a lot of care, patience, and using tools like texting and FaceTime (video conferencing) anything is possible. I recently received a gift basket from some happy home owners that worked with me while living in Hawaii!

What is the most useful technology tool to do your job?

My cell phone! I could work through my entire day with my cell phone alone.

What is your go to closing technique to get an appointment?

I assume that the customer is going to come onsite and therefore will need an appointment. I usually say something like, “When would be a good time to schedule your tour of the community?” And if they ask whether or not an appointment is required, I explain that our communities are very busy, so an appointment is needed to guarantee an agent is available to assist them.

What/Who are your go-to resources for training and/or support?

The management team at Neal Communities is extremely supportive and always available for coaching, guidance, and helping us move more people towards appointments. My team and I also work extremely close with the Neal marketing team, who are always finding ways for us to grow our business and introducing us to new and innovative tools, like the new chat bot that we recently introduced, to assist in connecting us with more customers.

Do you have any specific successes you’d like to highlight?

$62,650,000 in sales in 2018.

Any tips or advice for fellow online salespeople and marketers?

Just be genuine. Many times, the OSC is the first point of human contact that a new home shopper will have and we are responsible for setting the tone of their entire journey with Neal Communities. Every customer is different, and you have to learn to alter your approach to fit each customer’s preferences.

Favorite thing to do outside of work?

When I’m not at work, I love to spend my time outside, anyway that I can. Whether I’m on the beach, or just on a walk with my dog, I love living in Florida and being able to enjoy the Florida lifestyle that I sell to our customers.