I have compiled the 26 most relevant questions I have received from builders regarding CRM, marketing, systems and more. This should be required reading for your ENTIRE sales AND marketing force, not to mention the C level. From amateur to very sophisticated questions, dealing with boomers, kiosks, older sales professionals, systems, and acronyms such as SEO and PPC, the following 26 points provide information you must know. Check it out for yourself. You may be surprised by the questions or perceptions your own staff would generate.
You can make money with a CRM system, or lose $ without one.
Contact me at ecofield@buildtopia.com if you want custom content for your company, division, HBA, BIA. Many of my speaking engagements are becoming customized.
What is a lead management system?Any system or set of process to manage leads, but typically thought of as a software program, from a simple contact management system to a comprehensive program that manages the entire customer lifecycle, from lead, to prospect to buyer, to homeowner. The answers to ALL of these questions, presume you are speaking about a CRM system that is comprehensive. If your system only handles leads, but not prospects, buyers, contracts, options, and more, then you will have to narrow some of these answers to specifically match your system.
How does a lead management system work?It varies widely, in fact, vastly. From software that is shrink wrapped, bought off the shelf and loaded on your computer to comprehensive web based applications you log in to in order to use, these systems offer very basic to entire enterprise wide functionality.
Is there a source where I can find out what CRM and other terms like SEO and PPC stand for?The Internet. The great equalizer. Sites like dictionary.com help, and of course NAHB.com and others.
How do you use sign-in cards in a system or electronic data base?Keep in mind that sales people rarely interact with a prospect while in front of the computer, at least in a sales capacity. Therefore, hard copy cards are still used on tours, etc. However, once the sales person returns to the office, model, etc., they enter the data in to the system. If they know what they are doing, they should be easily able to manipulate the system to help them with marketing campaigns, by prospect type, etc.
How do you think a customer relationship management system plays into a successful prospect management system?Crucial, paramount, and profitable are words that come to mind. Although any system could be a paper trail, managing your prospects, and squeezing every drop of opportunity out of them can usually only be done with a CRM system. For those selling using paper, or excel or Outlook, that is great, but a CRM system would extract even more opportunity. It is a lot like juicing an orange by hand, or by machine. Which produces more juice?
How do you use a lead management system?Leadership. Keep in mind leaders take people where they would not go alone. There is a reason you are a Manager, or owner. Any lead management system (ie CRM) is only as effective as the people using it. Training is also paramount.
How do you categorize & organize leads in your database?Typically by several things. Custom Builders would do it differently than volume builders. For example, the lead should come in to your CRM system through your web site, or providers such as Move.com, automatically. Then that lead could go directly to the sales person, and then categorized by lead type, i.e. hot, cold, 1, 2, 3, hot with an email, etc. You need some standard list of prospect types, and then use it consistently. Market to them based on what THEY need or want, i.e. product type, time frame, etc.
What is the length of time between first contact and sales close?That varies tremendously, by builder, product type, lead type, even within a single community, and most especially by how effective your marketing and sales efforts are. Keep in mind marketing is very different than sales.
What is the best way to help the staff manage their leads and understand the importance of quality versus quantity follow up, etc.?By setting the stage for success for the sales staff. As a Manager you should be directing what follow up takes place, how often, whether those tasks are phone calls, emails, letters, to-dos, etc. Providing scripts helps almost everyone too, even if they don’t like it. You are the boss. Essentially, you create a quality campaign or set of items. Then you manage them to get the items done, which would be very easy if you had a CRM system, as they almost go by themselves, or at least with a couple of clicks. Also, I would suggest pointing out one of your stellar sales people and correlate their success to using the system and doing the tasks. Sales people are more about success and money and don’t really like the grunt work. If you make the grunt work easy for them to do, you get the best of all options.
What is the most important information to have in the system?The more information you have the better, but among the most critical elements are what do they want, when do they want to move, and HOW do they want to be contacted. If they specifically said email them, don’t call them the first thing. This is even more important with a 50+ buyer. You also want to track where they came from, so you know where to go spend more money.
What are the challenges to using a lead management system?Leadership. Making your sales people genuinely understand and accept that the CRM system IS IN FACT their friend, takes effort. But you should strive to get a successful sales team. If they are an overachiever without the CRM, then great. If not, they do it your way, or they leave.I tell all my sales staff the same thing. “If you can be successful doing things your way quickly, then go for it. If you don’t succeed, there are two options, one of which is the way I know works.” They figure out where they want to be from there.
How do you know when a lead is really dead?When they tell you. Squeeze every drop from every lead, every time, by using a CRM system.Since we don’t know how long it will take for them to buy, and since marketing to them long term is nearly free, once your CRM system is set up correctly, why stop? Seriously, why stop? Only when they have unsubscribed, told you they bought somewhere else, etc., do you follow their wish. Otherwise, it is safe to presume they are still looking.
How can I get the sales staff to buy into using the system?Show them success. That may be showing off the top producer, or providing an incentive for the sales staff that use the system the most, or letting the lowest achiever go, and without making any comment about that person, reiterate to the group that the system works, the system is proven and since you are a successful sales team, everyone has to be on the team. Further, there is no bench. You are either playing for the team, or not. Don’t take the hard line first. Try the incentive route and prove to them someone is making money on the system.
How do you handle 55+ year old sales people having to learn a bunch of new software?If my 70 something grandmother can send me an email a day, your sales staff can do this. It is not truly a skill they lack, or an inability to learn the skill. Many times their preclusion to wanting to use the system is fear. So, leadership comes in to play again. It may take extra training. It may take extra time. It may be your own misconception. I could rattle off dozens of builders who have sales people over 55 that leverage the system to work from home, take more time off, or make their lives easier. Of course, that being said, the system has to be set up to actually take some of the burden OFF, not add more layers of red tape.
Some software systems you buy, some you rent, and some you pay forever, what are the differences?Weak, Good, Better, Best, and performance, support, maintenance, development etc. It is really buy vs. rent. They do vary widely in terms of functionality. Like all consumers with nearly everything, we face choices of what to buy. Some of them have few apples to apples competitors. Others are awash in competitors. Many times it is the look and feel. Sometimes the sales person who really understands your business can make the difference. As far as how they work, that too is a combination of preference and performance.
BUY – When you buy something typically you are transferring the burden for maintenance and a whole host of other issues from them to you. You may need a support package. It’s yours, and it may be the best solution, but you may have to upgrade it ($) to keep it there. Keep in mind one can lease a purchase like this over a fixed period.
RENT – Same thing, but usually, upgrades, support and continual development are all included. This is usually referred to as a subscription base….like a magazine subscription. You keep paying as long as you use or get it. It makes sense from a business perspective because initial cash outlay is minimal. Web based applications are almost always subscription based.One must have a clear understanding of what they need. Oddly, there is not a direct correlation to comprehensive functionality based on their pricing model.
How will a lead management system save you money & get more sales?Well, that is a great question, but has pages of answers. Some include: the sales person being able to sell the right product on the right lot, getting the tasks and marketing campaigns actually done, being able to make qualified decisions with accurate real time information, pushing data and inventory to your web site, having leads funnel in immediately, not losing track of data in the sales process, managing contracts with merge fields instead of typing, being able to market to individuals the way they want, based on what they want, being able to market long term very easily and much, much more. I have never met a person who could do all that without a system.
Is there any difference for different market segments when it comes to my web site or any software integration with my web site?All prospect types like and use your web site. I don’t know of any demographic that would not use your web site. Some use it differently. For example, the husband may look for some details, while the wife looks for others. Boomers tend to browse longer, etc. These are of course generalities.There is no difference when it comes to your CRM software. It should allow direct imports of contact data, AND, specific data each contact wanted to know about, such as a particular plan type, neighborhood, amenity, etc.
How do I manage the pipeline in a software system when it comes to keeping track of sending tangible items or other activities outside of software?Great question, because many lose sight of the fact your online (electronic) and offline (hard copy or onsite) elements have to work in harmony. Typically sending hard copy things is part of the campaign managed in the system as a to-do. Once the to-do is actually done in real life, someone updates a task as done and a record is stored for each contact showing that item as done. It is important, because long term, you can get formulas for how many buyers got this item and more.
Who should be responsible for lead management?Everyone, but ultimately, the sales person. The day in the life of may start with an online sales counselor, or owner if it is a small volume or custom builder. Then the sales person, and sales manager. Then farther downstream it could be the superintendent if he or she heard something noteworthy the sales person could use to follow up on later, like a life milestone of some kind. It may be the mortgage person putting a follow up in the system, even the warranty manager might want to put not only the typical follow up items, but an action item. For example, a customer upgraded to a sprinkler system. The warranty manager happened to get flagged down (as happens) and the lady asked him to set the sprinkler watering pattern. He did, but put something in the system. The sales person was then able to have another tool to follow up, post sale, and ask for referrals. Guess what, the woman gave the sales person 6 names of people she knew. That is sophisticated, but a real world example.
Given the lengthy time from first visit to final contract close, how do keep the relationship alive with the lead, or prospect? That is an entire marketing class, or weeklong boot camp. However, specifically using a CRM system, it is easier to do. Many times the CRM system is the only reason long term marketing works at all. Since you can have automated tasks, with HTML emails, relevant to product type, prospect type, timeframe, amenities and more, you will need to come up with a long list of things you can contact them about. Then, put those in a campaign, so all the sales person has to do is click a button, or with some systems, even that can be automated.
How do make sure that no one falls between the cracks? Starting from scratch, a CRM system should allow you to automatically assign all types of tasks to a lead. Catching up on a database full of leads that have not been handled correctly takes effort. I would assign all of them a new prospect type, set up a new marketing campaign to them, and as they respond, the sales person can re-identify them with a correct new prospect type. With a CRM system it works, period. No lead should “fall” anywhere, IF, they have an action item assigned to them. If your CRM system doesn’t work, dump it. There are too many great ones out there, AND, every lead equals an opportunity for revenue.
When do you stop investing money and time in following up on a prospect? This is a little like “When is a lead dead?” but different. If you had a formula, which you can get by measuring your results over the long term, or buy reading books such as “Browsers to Buyers” by Mike Lyon (sold at BuilderBooks.com), you would know after some period of time, even though your marketing may not stop, it goes to purely digital and costs next to nothing. Once you are in a CRM system, even if the email tasks are not fully automated, one has to click a button. However, it is the same button you are clicking (typically) to send all your other emails, so there is no time, and virtually no money to market to leads long term.
Who is responsible for managing the database? It can be the Sales Manager, the Owner, or the IT person. It all depends on the size of the company and the sophistication level of the users. The word “manage” can mean so much, from archiving or deleting old leads, to more technical elements such as platform specific database administrator functions. Typically, all of the users are managing their own elements of the system, and then a Manager deals with set up, implementation, and the management of different data types after the contacts are out of warranty.
How can I leverage a software system, specifically for the Boomer market?There is no difference in the way a CRM system works, per market segment or demographic. The campaigns you create for them are different. You would not send a Boomer prospect as many emails, and the messages, colors, images, fonts, messages and a whole host of things would be different, but the underlying ability to follow up effectively is the same.
America is going through a distributed workforce paradigm shift. How can I get my 50+ prospect to do some of the qualifying work themselves up front?They should and you should already be doing that, specifically with a well designed web site. If they are walking in, consider a touch screen kiosk, but only if you have high traffic. If you mean through your web site, you need a specific contact us page with a few key questions they can or may answer before hitting submit, or register, or whatever button it is on your site. The web site has to engage them long before they ever consider going to the contact us page.
What is your experience with the 55+ market when it comes to touch screen kiosks in the sales centers? Will they use them?YES. Certainly to a greater or lesser degree depending on many variables including easy navigation, large fonts, effective colors, intelligent and succinct questions, the right number of questions, and more. There is an absolute specific niche skill to making it work well. As far as the technology behind it, the data they enter can be immediately and automatically uploaded in to your CRM.
There is no doubt CRM systems, effectively used, translate in to money. So Go Make money!
Erik Cofield, CGA has leveraged technology and provided business management consulting for all sizes and types of builders, developers and Remodelers since 2000, including volume, multi-family and custom, to help them improve their business. He is the Vice President of Sales and Marketing with BuildTopia (www.buildtopia.com), a widely used international construction management software company. He can be reached via ecofield@buildtopia.com.
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