OSC of the Month | Casey Paden

Lasso’s “OSC of the Month” for April is Casey Paden, new home specialist with MonteVista Homes in Bend, Ore. In this interview, Casey shares her path to becoming an OSC, her productivity hacks, and her advice to other OSCs in the industry.

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

Casey Paden (CP): I started in an OSC role for another company in 2020, but I’ve been working in the new construction industry (not continuously – I had a few breaks there) since 2014.

ECI: What was your career path to becoming an OSC?

CP: I started as a sales assistant for a local home builder and was promoted to community sales associate. At the start of 2020, I had a challenging year, personally and professionally, so I decided to step out of my role as a community sales associate. We moved that same year to Central Oregon, and the company I worked for had no immediate openings on their sales floor. However, my manager floated the idea of joining the OSC team, a new role for the company. I was hesitant, but I decided to try it and found I loved it!

ECI: How many online leads do you manage monthly?

CP: I work for a smaller local home builder, so we get between 40 and 60 new leads monthly. However, part of my job is maintaining and cleaning up our CRM, so I consistently make about 300 to 400 outbound calls monthly

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

CP: When I started as an OSC, it was 2020, and the housing market was on fire. We were doing everything we could to respond to new leads in a somewhat timely fashion. I had people cry on the phone because they were stressed over what was happening in the market. When I stepped back into this role last year, the market had changed dramatically. It went from people begging for information and appointments to working with leads and convincing them to come out for appointments.

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

CP: I am excited to see where this role goes in the next few years. I’ve been reading about builders closing their model homes or going to an ‘open by appointment only’ structure, and I think the role will grow even more. My dream would be to incorporate online and onsite sales into one role and sell homes 100% online from start to finish.

ECI: What's the most challenging aspect of your job? How do you overcome that challenge?

CP: I'm a bit ADHD, so for me, it’s the constant changing of gears and shifting back through where I need to be.

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

CP: I would say my CRM (Lasso) and CallRail. Lasso keeps me on track. It feels like my journal or diary because I can see everything I’ve done and said. It’s also my to-do list.

ECI: What is your "go-to" closing technique to get an appointment?

CP: It depends on the prospect, but I want to come and ask for the appointment. If I’ve had a great conversation with someone, it’s the next logical step. If someone is being a bit evasive, I ask for an appointment to see where they are in the process.

ECI: What/Who are your "go-to" training and/or support resources?

CP: I try to absorb as many things as possible. I enjoy keeping up with what is happening in real estate and home building, so I read “Builder Magazine’s” daily newsletter, listen to different industry podcasts, try to sign up for training through ECI, and I will take the occasional class on LinkedIn Learning. I can’t sit still for long, so Audible is my best friend when reading books. We also go through the Warrior Sales Training from Forrest Performance Group as a sales team.

ECI: Do you have a productivity hack you'd like to share?

CP: Time blocking seems to work best for me. I don’t always stick to it 100%, but it keeps me in line with what I need to do and work on each day. In the OSC role, we get interrupted throughout the day, so it’s nice to have a framework and calendar reminders to help keep you on track.

ECI: Do you have any specific successes you'd like to highlight?

CP: Being "OSC of the Month" is pretty exciting to me!

ECI: Any tips or advice for fellow online salespeople and marketers?

CP: During my training with “Do You Convert,” I remember Jen Barkan saying to treat this role like your own personal business, and I have tried to do that since I started in my current role. That advice has served me well.

ECI: What are your favorite activities to do outside of work?

CP: I enjoy hanging out with my husband, Matt. We enjoy day trips, hiking, and hanging out with our dog, Willow. She’s taking agility classes, so that keeps us occupied.

ECI: What are you reading/watching?

CP: I’m a true crime junkie, so I recently watched “American Nightmare.” I also like to travel, so we’ve been watching the “Reluctant Traveler” with Eugene Levy when we have time.