OSC of the Month | Haley Naebig

Lasso’s June OSC of the Month is Haley Naebig, New Home Specialist for Level Homes in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. In this interview, Haley discusses the challenge of being an OSC, her go-to-closing technique, and the support she receives from DoYouConvert. Plus check out the quiz she uses on her website to help generate more leads!

What is your company and location?

At Level Homes we strive to bridge the gap between production builders and fully custom builders. We offer an incredible selection of high-end finishes, fixtures, etc. and provide our buyers almost endless customization options, while keeping the price affordable. We have a great little niche in the market and I feel proud to sell the homes that we do!

How many online leads do you manage monthly?

This year, the average has been over 100/month (which is DOUBLE the average from 2019, go marketing team!)

How long have you been in your role/or working in new home sales?

I haven’t been in new home sales long. I started with Level Homes in September 2019, so about 9 months.

What was your career path to becoming an OSC?

My background prior to Level Homes was primarily in construction, specifically in roofing and insurance restoration. I previously worked for the company that installs all the roofs for Level Homes!

Last year, I was working in a position I knew wasn’t going to be a long-term fit while finishing up my degree in Marketing and Professional Sales at LSU. I’m the kind of person who always wants to learn and take on more responsibility in my work life, so I’d help in various departments and become kind of a “catch-all” girl. I saw the advertisement on Indeed for Online Sales Consultant with Level Homes and I knew it was the perfect position for me. The posting for OSC sounded like someone had written out all my favorite things to do and removed everything I did not enjoy in my role.

Working for Level Homes has truly been a godsend. I love being an OSC and working with buyers who are excited to be looking for a new home. I love the team of strong women I work with on our sales team and have enjoyed getting to know them all. Level offered me the flexibility to finish up my degree while still working full-time, so I was able to (…finally) finish my bachelor’s degree at 26! It’s been a long and weird journey, but I ended up exactly where I am supposed to be.

From the minute I met Haley I could tell she was going to be a superstar because she is like a sponge that absorbs everything, filters it, then makes magic. She truly owns the role of online sales specialist and has taken her builder’s program from good to AHMAZING!

Jen Barkan
DoYouConvert

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

I’ve seen online home sales change dramatically in the last few months due to COVID-19. I won’t harp on it too much, but it’s definitely made our entire sales team stronger at using a variety of technologies to communicate with our buyers.

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

Our online sales program at Level Homes has grown tremendously since I started, so I’m sure my role will get more involved. Leads continue to increase, as more and more people shop online for homes. As an OSC, I would like to get out into the communities more and create more online content for our social media platforms and website. I love working with both marketing and sales, so I’d also like to grow my involvement in our marketing campaigns!

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

The most challenging aspect of my job is turning it off. I have such a hard time. I’m often on my computer at 10 PM on Saturday nights or 6 AM Sunday mornings, which I love, but my fiancé does not. This week I’m going to be training my “relief” OSC, who is the sales assistant/floater for our onsite agents. I took my first day off Tuesday, May 27th! It’ll be easier to take time off once I have her trained up.

What is the most useful technology tool to your job?

First and foremost, I could not live without dual computer monitors. Honestly, if I had three or four monitors, I’m sure I would use them all. It makes life so much easier and allows me to work a million miles a minute. I could not and would not EVER be as productive as I am without them. Working from my laptop over the weekend is torture with only the one small screen! Sometimes when I’m sitting on my couch, I try to drag my windows to the edge of the screen to a second monitor that doesn’t exist.

Second, I could not live without Lasso. When I first started as OSC, I could remember everyone’s names and what was going on with them. Now, there are way too many people for me to remember that intimately. Now, if it’s not in Lasso, it doesn’t exist! I’ve really enjoyed tweaking my follow up processes and learning more about segmenting in Lasso. It helps me every day in almost every way.

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

It varies depending on the context of the rest of the conversation. I use the tentative appointment approach most often. I add a little extra urgency by giving people two available appointment options (one before lunchtime and one after lunchtime) and telling them everything else on their preferred day is booked! “Let’s just go ahead and lock in this spot now, because I’d hate for you to miss out! If anything comes up, you can give me a call or shoot me a text to let me know and we can rearrange no problem. Otherwise, I’ll call you the day before to confirm!”

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

The online sales gurus Jen Barkan and Mike Lyon from Do You Convert help me so much! I usually email Jen at least once a week about various things going on, and she always replies quickly. I followed their fast-start training program when I first started as an OSC and have followed pretty much everything they have said since (to the best of my ability).

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

My biggest success at Level Homes is turning around the online sales program. It was expressed to me that, before I started, there were doubts about the need for an OSC at all within our company. That’s not the case anymore!

My other, kind of non-OSC success was getting the community finder survey created and embedded onto the homepage of our website. I felt very strongly that the quiz would bring in many more leads, as I’d read case studies and heard of the successes other companies had using similar tools (most notably, Dollar Shave Club.) I researched quiz software, found one that worked for us, and built the backend of the quiz. Marketing went in behind me and changed the verbiage, prettied it up, and our web developer got it embedded!

Buyers answer a few multiple-choice questions, fill out their contact information, and are matched to one of our communities that best fits what they are looking for. I’ve received a tremendous amount of leads (an extra 25+/month) from this quiz, and the responses have not cannibalized our website contact form submissions. People love quizzes. By the time they complete the survey, I have almost all of my qualifying questions answered, so all that’s left to do is schedule an appointment! The quality of these leads are not as good as traditional website leads, but they are much better than third-party directory leads. I’m looking forward to watching what happens over the next year as we nurture these leads!

Any tips or advice for fellow online salespeople and marketers?

Do not worry about annoying people, that mentality will bring down conversion rates.

I will call to follow up until someone asks me not to. I think Mike Lyon said it in one of his training videos, if a potential buyer gets angry that you are following up, they were never going to buy from you anyway.

Favorite thing to do outside of work?

Work more.

Just kidding. I love to go to the gym! I used to be a runner but started lifting in 2017 and it completely changed my body!

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

I have seen it grow with almost every builder having an OSC. I helped start the OSC program here at The New Home Company and we have become more efficient with our online leads and our onsite team has become very responsive to this role. The general public has also; especially in these times when it’s difficult to go out.

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

I think online sales for builders will be more prominent and important within our industry. Online technology keeps getting better and evolving so that the potential buyer is able to see the models and get a feel for the floor plans prior to ever setting foot in the sales office! Mattaport tours are a wonderful tool for this and we are utilizing them frequently, especially now.

What is the most useful technology tool to your job?

Lasso is so helpful with touching online leads at regular intervals. Its simplicity in adding notes with phone calls or visits makes it so user-friendly and keeps everyone on the same page. In addition to Lasso, we have one of the best, easy to read and navigate websites in the industry it’s a tremendous asset to me and our online leads!

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

My V.P. Megan and our ad agency have been supportive since Day 1 of our OSC program! They rolled out the program with ease and are always willing to hear suggestions to streamline or simplify the process! Also, I can’t forget Dave Betcher! He is my go-to when I need help with Lasso or advise on an issue.

Any tips or advice for fellow online salespeople and marketers?

For fellow online salespeople, I would suggest being wise with your time and learning to prioritize! Time management is essential in this role. For marketers, I would say that keeping things simple and straight forward is always best!

Favorite thing to do outside of work?

I love to travel, cook, drink and taste great wines, and hang out with family and friends.