What Makes an Online Sales Counselor WOW?

This article originally appeared in the June/July edition of Sales & Marketing Ideas Magazine

Remember the classic scene in the Wizard of Oz when Toto pulled back the curtain to reveal the "real" wizard? In the movie, the wizard turned out to be an ordinary person with an amazing machine that made munchkins, scarecrows and lions shake in their boots.

In the real world of online sales and marketing, the opposite is true. Ultimately, converting online leads into sales is not about technology (although it is very important to have a solid Web site as your foundation); it's about the extraordinary people behind the technology.

Many industries, including homebuilding, have found that a dedicated Online Sales Counselor (OSC) is the BEST way to respond quickly, follow-up and manage Internet leads. In short, the Online Sales Counselor's job is to build a virtual relationship with each and every Internet lead, one email, phone call or live chat at a time. The OSC's magnetic personality, disciplined follow-up and killer communication skills engage and delight the dot com customer resulting in new sales.

Online Sales Counselors are a growing community of sales professionals and many are among the best salespeople in our industry. Well honed online sales and marketing programs often produce as much as 30% of total sales each and every month. Because of the nature of OSC's behind the scenes work, there hasn't been a lot written about the position or the people involved. The purpose of this article is to "pull back the curtain" on four of the best Online Sales Counselor's in our industry and answer one central question - What makes an Online Sales Counselor WOW?

WOW Factor #1 – Passion for Online Sales
There is no substitute for passion. It transcends all other success factors. Quite simply, an effective Online Sales Counselor, lives, breathes and loves helping people. Unlike traditional salespeople, the Online Sales Counselor is particularly passionate about using technology to help others. From the “geekier” aspects of learning new technology like click-to-call and live chat to the time-honored fundamentals of relationship building; Online Sales Counselors wouldn’t change how or what they do for anything in the world.

I asked Claudine Koh, the Online Sales Counselor for Standard Pacific Homes in Tampa, FL, what was the number one contributing factor to her success and she immediately replied via email “I LOVE what I do!”  I’ve seen this same enthusiasm in many Online Sales Counselors around the country. OSC’s are a unique breed of salespeople; they don’t require the face-to-face interaction or the instant gratification of a quick sale to feel fulfilled and productive. Instead, OSC’s are patient, steady and dedicated to finding the ultimate win-win for the dot com customer no matter how long that takes!

WOW Factor #2 – Instant Response to Inquiries
Great Online Sales Counselors are fast. In the time it takes you to read this article, Tanya Smith,  Marketing and Online Sales Manager for Landon Homes in Plano, TX, has already responded to several new leads, chatted with a couple of website visitors and returned a phone call! Tanya talks fast, types fast and thinks fast. Nothing about her is slow! When asked what makes her successful, Tanya stated, “I try to always be available to incoming leads and respond personally within a very short time frame. I want them to know I care.”

How fast are you? If you are relying on onsite agents to respond in between phone calls and appointments, I promise you aren’t fast enough. By the time your onsite agent finally sits down to open email, Tanya has already booked an onsite appointment with that lead and is half-way to closing the sale. You can’t be too fast. You can only be too slow when it comes to eLeads.

WOW Factor #3 – Laser Focused on Details
 You won’t find a more detail oriented OSC than the Online Sales Manager for McCar Homes in Atlanta, GA, Dorrie Ehlers. Dorrie has a plan for every aspect of the job. Ehlers explains, “There is much to do each day in the Online Sales Department, included but not limited to fielding online leads, hotline calls and Iive chats in a timely manner, sending out requested collateral, creating and sending e-blasts, and administering the CRM system. “You must have a concise plan to be proficient at a sales job whereby you are attempting to gather all discovery information and schedule an appointment onsite all over one phone call.” Well said, Dorrie!

Yes, the OSC is the ultimate multi-tasker. Top performing OSC’s drop everything to respond super fast AND they don’t lose track of important details that must be documented into the CRM (Customer Relationship Management) database for future follow-up. It’s easy to get sidetracked when the phone is ringing, email is coming in and follow-up tasks are piling up. Staying focused and having a plan is critical to ongoing success.

WOW Factor #4 – Consistently Asking For the Appointment
The core responsibility of the Online Sales Counselor is to set appointments for eLeads to visit the community, available home or home site in-person. Most prospective homebuyers aren’t going to buy until they kick the dirt. Yet the most challenging aspect of the dot com customer is that they tend to be super-glued to their desk chair. Successful Online Sales Counselors like Derece Williams of Bowen Family Homes in Atlanta, GA knows how to move them from a desk chair to the model home by simply asking when the prospect can come out for a visit. She attributes consistent appointment setting as the key factor in Bowen’s online success. “I try to ask for an appointment 100% of time. I am confident setting appointments because I know our onsite agents will treat that appointment like a VIP” says Williams. Appointments are the best way to convert your online leads and consistently asking everyone to visit is the best way to improve your appointment setting percentage. It never hurts to ask, right?

From Dallas to Tampa, you’ve heard from four of the best Online Sales Counselors in the industry on what makes them successful. No doubt there are many other factors at play like disciplined ongoing follow-up and great communication skills. If you currently do not have an Online Sales Counselor, unique to this position is the flexibility to custom design it to best fit your business model. The key is to figure out sooner rather than later how to maximize your Internet leads and convert them into sales. Online sales programs take time to mature and clearly these four programs already have a jump start. You have some catching up to do! There is no better time than right now to focus on your online sales and marketing and make a decision today to follow the yellow brick road to more sales. You need a Wizard of the Web selling for you!