OSC of the Month | Ciara Mikesell

Lasso OSC of the Month for July is Ciara Mikesell, Online Concierge with Lombardo Homes based in the Southeast Michigan area. In her interview, Ciara shares her path to becoming an OSC, how the role has changed, and her productivity hack to getting more done!

What was your career path to becoming an OSC?

I’ve been working with Lombardo since September 2016, transitioning from sales to the OSC role in October 2018.

For me, the opportunity was truly a matter of being in the right place at the right time. Lombardo Homes decided to implement an Online Sales Concierge in the fall of 2018. At the time, I had been working on the sales team for two years, and had started a YouTube channel in my spare time. When my management team approached me with the job offer, I couldn’t pass up on the excitement of building the role from the ground-up. The position at Lombardo Homes is viewed as a hybrid sales/marketing role, so I have all the traditional OSC duties as well as making videos for the company when needed. I like to think of my OSC title as the marriage of my gift for customer service and my affinity for video editing.

How many online leads do you manage monthly?

We get between 300-450 online leads a month. This certainly keeps me busy!

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

The most positive recognizable change is that customers are much more willing to accept help from a virtual consultant than they were prior to the pandemic. The OSC role was an absolute necessity the past few years, especially with our sales team going fully virtual early on in COVID. Having an OSC to immediately answer your basic questions and schedule an appointment not only makes a positive customer experience, but it lowers the barrier of entry for customers. It’s much easier to ask about build times and site premiums from the comfort of your own home rather than needing to get dressed up and travel to a model for these same answers!

“In working onsite with Lombardo Homes, I was impressed by Ciara’s efficient work with her sales team, her ownership of the OSC role, and her warmth with customers. She cheerfully tackles any challenge and has embraced the processes that will drive Lombardo Homes forward.”

Heidi Schroeder
Sr. Consultant, Lasso CRM

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

The sheer amount of follow-up necessary is a challenge, but *personalized* follow-up is the most challenging aspect – especially when you get those leads who aren’t responsive to your first several messages. While this may not work for all leads, varying the method of following up is the best way I’ve found to overcome this. I’ll try anything – interactive emails, video messages, smoke signals – whatever gets them to reply!

What are the most important tools you use in your role?

We have been using PureChat since I began the OSC role at Lombardo Homes. I love the ability to chat with customers right away and give them every reason to schedule an appointment right then and there! There’s a wonderful feature where you are able to see the exact page of the company website they are on, so you’re able to cut out the confusion of questions like “what model is on the 3rd photo?”

Lasso has been a life-changer for me, particularly in the follow-up processes and reminders of when to reach out to leads. Especially when comparing Lasso to our previous system, the transparency through communities is leaps and bounds more helpful for myself and the sales team to work as a cohesive unit.

Do you have a productivity hack you’d like to share?

Since college, I’ve had an utter reliance on the Pomodoro technique. After making a to-do list, you work on a single task for 25 minutes and take a 5-minute break. After four cycles, you take a longer 15-minute break. Working at a computer constantly, your brain and eyes just need a break. Plus, it’s easy to trick yourself into believing “I can do anything for just 25 minutes”.

Any tips or advice for fellow online salespeople and marketers?

Learn to love it! The OSC role is way more than just making phone calls and setting appointments. We have the privilege of getting customers at the very beginning of their building journey—at the peak of the excitement. It’s our goal to kickstart the positive customer experience and hand off an excited prospect to the sales team – hopefully with a lot of notes to prepare sales for a great meeting!

What are your favorite activities to do outside of work?

Comedy is a huge part of my out-of-work life, I spend many nights at comedy clubs in the city and I enjoy comedy screenwriting – recently finishing my second project! I started painting through the pandemic as well, which is a fun way to make a mess but in the name of a hobby. I also joined a softball league that plays in Central Park and have been enjoying that very much – such a surreal experience!

What are you reading/watching(binging)?

I’ve had The Office on a continuous loop since 2008, let’s start there. I have recently been loving this show called What We Do in The Shadows – probably one of the best written comedies in the past decade!