Kimberly Mackey summarizes the valuable topics below from the “Marketing vs Sales-Whose Job is it Anyway?” program with her co-presenters at IBS 2020.
- Who should make sure you are represented properly on your website?
- Who should post on social media?
- Provide marketing content that is relatable – pets and people – rather than just floor plans
Full transcription:
Hi everyone, Kimberly Mackey here with New Homes Solutions. I am coming to you today to talk to you about one of the programs that I had the privilege of presenting at the International builder show last month in Las Vegas. I presented “Marketing vs Sales, Whose Job Is It Anyway?” My co-presenters on this were Anya Chrisanton, from The New Construction Marketing Podcast and Quint Lears from NewHomeSales.com. If you’re not familiar with either of them please check them out. That was a riot in and of itself and is always very entertaining. Anya was was my presenter who took on the marketing side and Quint took on the on-site sales side which is a role that he plays every day. So it was really a lot of fun. But one of the things that we discovered is there is a lot of confusion and a lot of interest in exactly whose job is marketing and whose is sales. I experience this in my own world as a sales marketing management consultant. Oftentimes I’m asked to do things that are really marketing or advertising agency because people assume that if your sales and sales management that you are a marketing person and while I’m darn good at marketing, that isn’t actually what my company does. So oftentimes I have to work with the marketing team, or if they don’t have a marketing team sometimes I work with the agency. I think this is a really timely topic, and I wanted to be sure to address just a few of the points today, and maybe start the discussion so I’d love to hear from you and hear some of the, what your thoughts are on the subject or any challenges that you’re having out there so please be sure to shoot me an email at kmackey@NewHomesSales.com or you can visit us at NewHomesSolutions.com and hit the Contact Us page and just send us a line that way.
Marketing versus sales if we’re talking about your website. A lot of people would assume that Sales People are not HTML Programmers, and it’s not really their job to create the website, but whose job is it to maintain the website? Now, I would submit to you it’s really both. Marketing are the people who want to make sure that your price, your product, and your position – that you’re supporting the brand, and that the brand is accurately portrayed on the website. They’re the ones who are probably going to be the ones who talk to whoever’s going to do your search engine marketing and your search engine optimization, as well as any social marketing and that sort of thing. They’re the ones that should make sure that the website is congruent with your brand and stays on message. Your website, we know, is the number one most important tool that you can have. People visit your website, and they either decide to buy or decide to explore further with you, or they decide that “Nope. Sorry. This website is so bad. I do not want to do business with somebody like that.” Your website truly is your most important tool. But, Sales also has a role in this, and Sales needs to make sure that the information on the website is accurate. They should be checking it. Are your quick move-in homes correct? Are the pictures there? Are those correct? How about those directions to the community? Is that accurate? Is there road construction somewhere that we need to veer somebody around? All of those things need to be on there and that you’re pricing, so your sales team does have a role to play on the website as well.
Let’s talk about social media too. That’s something that a lot of my builders assume, “Well if they’re good at sales, they should be good at social media.” Quint had a really good example of this, and I loved it. He basically said, “Your marketing sucks!” and he showed a picture of himself on a unicycle with a sold sign. If you’re not staying on brand, and you’re not putting the information and the messaging and the positioning out there on your social to support the brand, people are going to know that. They’re also going to understand if you’ve got about 12 people contributing to your social media post, that’s not really going to support the brand because you’re going to look like you’re schizophrenic. You really need one voice posting, and that should come through Marketing or someone who can make sure that your spelling is correct, that there’s a call to action, that we’ve got a tie-in back to the website or a landing page, that we’re using the right hashtags. All of those things are super important, and your Salespeople are not the ones who are going to know that. However, Sales does have a role to play in your social media. They are the ones that are out there with the customers. They’re the ones that are out there in the community, and they need to become expert photographers and videographers so that they are getting good content that supports your brand all the way around. So, think about that, and you can create a calendar of things and have someone actually tie into what those posts are going to be. Have your sales team own a day. That could be “Team Building Tuesday” or it could be “Your Partners Wednesday” or “REALTOR® of the Week”. Maybe you’re going to post on a sale or a sold sign or customers coming in to do colors, or to do their pre-construction meeting and meeting with your superintendent – lots of things. You want people. You want pets because people love dogs, so anything with dogs in it for sure. You want any animals that are coming into the community, but you really want to recognize people and really make it be more than just your floor plans and just pictures of houses because then it’s really boring. Make it interactive, make it exciting, and tag people in it. There are just so many ideas.
If you are working with an Agency, they can help you with the strategy, and they can even provide content, but their content is not going to be specific to your brand unless you give it to them. They are the ones that can help you to make sure those hashtags are right, that the call to action is right, and that the messaging is congruent; but it really needs to be personal, so don’t just totally outsource. I definitely recommend that you use an agency and that you get someone who understands social media to help you with the strategy and to help you implement and to make sure that you’re staying on track because, with everything else you have to do out there, that can certainly get lost. You need to be involved, that is the bottom line, and your sales team needs to be involved, but don’t assume and to please don’t have your sales team doing posts. Misspelled words really don’t get you any more sales.
There was a lot more that we did with this presentation, and time prohibits me from going into it any further today, but you can start to see the point here. Whose job is it is a little bit of a blurry line. Any questions you have on this subject, obviously reach back out to me. I’m happy to help you out with that and point you in the right direction with it. Thanks again, and we’ll see you next month.
Kimberly Mackey is the founder of New Homes Solutions Consulting, and has the reputation as someone with real-world SOLUTIONS in a competitive and rapidly changing sales environment–SOLUTIONS like “50 Sales per Year before Any Walk-in Traffic”. Her primary business is that of a Sales & Marketing Management Consultant. Companies call on Kimberly to set up the processes and systems within the company so that sales is the engine that drives the train rather than running it off the tracks. Because she has such a depth of experience in all disciplines within the building industry beyond the sales and marketing world, she is highly sought after to help companies to create a Customer Experience Process from potential lead to customer and throughout the building process into the warranty period and beyond. In other words, by creating a smooth transition and communication processes, she helps builders to create “Raving Fans.”
She is a keynote speaker and published author of many Sales and Leadership articles with 20 years of experience as an executive in the residential home building and real estate industry. She has a proven track record working with Builders and Developers of all sizes –from the local/regional companies to the publicly traded nationals. She also works with Brokers from across the country and is the architect and director of the highly successful Preferred Builder Partnership with Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Florida Properties Group where she works with 32 builders, 22 offices and over 650 agents.
For more information, or to book Kimberly for your next event, visit www.NewHomesSolutions.com. While you are there, please be sure to subscribe to SOLUTIONS e-newsletter which comes out twice a month with free training and best practice sharing from across our industry. You are also invited to connect with Kimberly on LinkedIn,www.linkedin.com/in/kimberlymackey; Twitter,www.twitter.com/KimberlyDMackey; and Facebook,www.facebook.com/NewHomesSolutions or on YouTube, www.youtube.com/c/NewHomesSolutions
Quint Lears is a new home sales expert published author and overall sales and marketing enthusiast. He currently holds the Master in Residential Marketing designation which is the highest title given by the National Association of Home Builders for new home sales and marketing. NewHomeSales.com
Anya Chrisanthon is an experienced new home sales professional and a host of the New Construction Marketing Podcast. Her motto is to work smarter, not harder. She believes that a solid marketing plan along with automation system for follow up and prospecting is all you need to get consistent sales. No talent required! New Construction Marketing Podcast
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