Top New Home Sales Tips for 2022

It’s been another incredible year in the home building industry, so we asked some of the top industry experts for their thoughts and advice on how to tackle 2022. We hope you get inspired to try something new and start planning how to up your sales game in the New Year!

Looking for marketing tips for 2022? Check out the article, Top New Home Marketing Tips for 2022.

Alexis Udine, Group Two

Sync Your Online Sales & Marketing Strategies

In marketing, we spend a lot of time and thought developing a brand voice and creating a mood board. These set the overall tone of our messaging and guide the experience we want for our customers as they interact with our brand. Consistency in marketing builds trust, so why wouldn’t we carry that over to online sales?

Your customer’s first experience with a live person should be consistent with your brand voice and story. That’s why it’s important that the scripts written for your online sales counselors, the emails they send, and the differentiators they speak about should all be aligned with the overall marketing strategy.

Your marketing program is tailored to who you are as a builder, and your online sales program should be, too. In 2022, let’s proactively and consistently sync online sales and marketing so that our customers have a standout experience.

Amy O’Connor, Shore Consulting

Keep a Close Watch on Industry Disruptors

Get to know the build-to-rent models. As home prices continue to rise and affordability decreases, more and more potential buyers will gravitate to brand new build-to-rent communities. This shift could bring significant competition in the future for traditional homebuilder communities, especially when the buying frenzy dies down.

Ben Keal, Private Communities

Streamline Your Marketing and Sales Efforts

Where are these leads coming from? That’s a question we often hear from many of the developer, builder, and real estate company sales teams we work with. But why? Shouldn’t they be aware of their lead generation efforts and instantly recognize the source when a new lead is sent directly to their email or through a CRM lead feed?

The truth is, most decision makers who add communities to our site are marketers or ad agencies—and they don’t always work in unison with their sales teams. Generating quality leads that help drive sales may be the main objective for every real estate marketer, but it becomes much harder to accomplish without full transparency and regular communication between marketing and sales.

2021 was a banner year for home sales around the country, and many of our clients are dealing with low inventory. As a result, they’ve pulled back on sales and marketing. 2022 is expected to be just as busy, so my advice this year is to make sure marketing fully commits to communicating their lead sources and what to expect from the leads and traffic being generated. I listen to many sales and marketing podcasts and webinars, and they often have two common takeaways: 1) In our industry, no matter how hot the market is, you can never have too many leads, and 2) Not not all leads behave the same way. So, as you add or update your lead sources to keep your momentum going in 2022, make sure the salespeople engaging with the lead fully understand that consumer’s journey.

Chris Hartley, K. Hovnanian Homes

Treat Others the Way You Wish to be Treated

This past year has uncovered many great and sadly not so great moments for our industry. While many builders celebrated record breaking sales, closings, and profits, many others found themselves scrambling to keep up with escalating pricing, material shortages, and labor constraints. Amongst all the great news in our industry, it certainly felt like the bad news hit newsstands with greater force.

When I entered this industry in 2003, I was blessed to have many great mentors. One such mentor stated that I should never make a decision unless I was comfortable with it being published on the front page of the newspaper. Another mentor stated that I should treat every customer the way I would want someone to treat my own mother. And one of my most recent mentors simply stated that you should NEVER take reputational risks. Now, please note that before I make the following statements, I know that every situation is different, I know that every company operates differently, and I know that we live and die by the fact that we are a FOR PROFIT industry. What I have seen from many companies that I have admired from afar this past year has me really disappointed in some of the ways that business has been conducted. Many leaders in our industry are making decisions that would go against everything I have learned from my three mentors.

I think many in our industry need to recognize that while profits are important, so are our employees, realtor partners, prospects, and, most importantly, homeowners. I don’t feel that we will see an immediate impact on some of these short-sided decisions that have caused reputational risks for companies, but I do strongly feel that in the long run, the negative effects of running a business poorly will 100% catch up to these organizations. As I tell my kindergarten daughter, life is simple, treat others the way that you would wish to be treated, and all will work out in the end!

Erica Lockwood, Joseph Chris Partners

The Power of Words

As we rush into the holiday season and quickly into 2022, I cannot help but reflect on all that has occurred over the past year and a half. COVID-19, differing vaccination opinions, and continued unrest related to racial and microaggression scenarios have certainly been emotionally taxing to many if not all in some form or fashion. I would like us all to end 2021 and start the new year with a committed focus on the words we communicate to or about one another.

It is no surprise that those who are professional sales and marketing careers are fully aware of how important communication is across the board. What we all can consider is what words or phrases we are using that could be hurtful to others, often without even being cognizant. We grow up hearing and ultimately using a multitude of phrases and may not even understand the context of the meaning or origin. As we collectively strive to create a true feeling of belonging, not only for our customers, co-workers, and family, we must also consider everyone around us. The stressed-out mother in line for last-minute holiday shopping, the seemingly hurried man driving a little too fast, or perhaps a teenager acting out are all hearers of our words and actions. Let’s all commit to a stronger focus on our words and continue to strive to make this world better than we found it. Our words are powerful!

Jason Forrest, FPG

Redefining Emotional Selling

Stop doing your version of emotional selling and start asking how they’re feeling instead. You already know that people don’t buy what you sell, they buy how your product or service makes them feel. Here’s the important piece: do you know how they need to feel to make the decision to buy from you today, over all alternatives? Harvard Business Professor, Gerald Zaltman says 95% of our purchase making decision takes place in the subconscious mind. Therefore, when you ask people why they choose one product over another they simply say, “It just felt right”. If this hits home for you, then get ready to stop losing sales by selling logically, and instead, start driving more sales. Read more.

Jane Meagher, Success Strategies

Make 2022 the Year You Take Back Control

Take back control by creating a strategic action plan uniquely suited to your company, and by training your team to deliver on the updated policies, processes and elevated customer experience.

It seems like we’ve all been trying to catch our breath for the last two years. Builders have been on the never-ending treadmill, trying to keep up with supply chain challenges and heightened volume, while also reacting and responding to ever-changing market realities. “Survival tactics” often took precedence over being truly strategic and intentional. You may not have fully implemented a strategic action plan to guide your homebuilding company toward future goals by taking actions aligned with your company’s mission, values, goals, and unique strengths and opportunities.

Make 2022 the year you take back control: of the crafted customer experience you deliver, the internal efficiencies you need to sustain profitability, and the forward-thinking actions that will position you for success over the next 3-5 years. For your design studio and options program, this means 1) ensuring that your design studio operations and options program are derived from your business goals, not solely from reacting to market and ancillary factors, 2) training your team to deliver a customer-focused experience, 3) offering optional products specifically aligned with your architectural product, target market segments, financial goals, and on-trend consumer preferences, 4) operationally delivering those products in ways that compress decision-making and cycle time, and 5) continuing to ramp up your options-related technology.

Despite any frantic behind-the-scenes actions you may be taking, your customers deserve a supported, guided homebuying experience, from sales through to design and from construction to closing. As long as supply chain challenges continue to cause design studio reselections, missed construction milestones, or even price increases or adjusted move-in dates, your team needs to work smarter and be more aligned, in order to deliver an even better customer experience that is consistent across all departments. Most importantly, make sure your front-line team (sales, design, construction, customer-care) is trained to expertly deliver, to every single buyer, the components of your newly updated strategic action plan.

Jeff Shore, Shore Consulting

Simple Equals Right

My advice for 2022: beat everything with a simple stick. Technology is opening doors to make doing business so much simpler than before. Look at companies like Amazon (one-touch buying), chewy.com (pet food delivered automatically), and OpenDoor (and other iBuyers). The process is so dang simple and, in the customer’s mind, simple feels right. What processes are you hanging on to from 2015? How bogged down is your buying process? What are you doing out of tradition rather than strategy? It’s time to sell the way a customer wants to buy. And what does the customer want? Simple.

Jen Barkan, Do You Convert

Take Your OSC Program to the Next Level

I think we can all agree that the online sales role has flourished this last year. Now it’s time to take your program to the next level.

Next level means: shifting from appointment setters to getters, improving customer experience, and focusing on being proactive with the big 3….Personalized response, qualifying, and customer nurturing.

1. Personalized response – I’m not talking about auto responses or templated text messaging. Execute the trifecta…Immediately pick up the phone to engage and address the customer’s interest, send a personalized email acknowledging their inquiry, and text a personalized message introducing yourself.
2. Qualifying – Go scuba diving with your customers. Address the 5 qualifying areas focusing on them. No more info dumping on what you have or what you don’t have. Shift the focus to learning about your customer and how you can best help them navigate THEIR options and set clear expectations. The goal is to provide a seamless customer experience and make buying a home with you as easy as possible.
3. Customer Nurturing – Notice I didn’t say prospecting. A lead becomes your customer when they fill out a form or call or text you. We have to continue to stay with them on their journey by monthly follow up. Go beyond blanketed e-blasts and create segmented and targeted outreach to verify interest and check in with them.

Next level also means having the right person in the seat. It’s not simply about filling this role, setting appointments, and getting leads, but rather the ability to take care of your customers while producing results that make sense and ultimately achieve your company goals.

So, let’s dominate 2022 (as my son Sam says) and level up your online sales program to the “next episode” (as Dr. Dre says)!

JoAnne Williams, JWilliams Staffing

Keep It REAL….as possible!

As technology advances and we become more efficient, let’s remember that some of our new tools are for the buyers’ convenience and some are not. 2022 will be a year to reassess which technologies are working well for our customers and which feel like a continued compromise.

My tip would be to encourage builders to ask/survey buyers regarding how they feel about the new processes… now that things are opening up and LIVE is again a choice. We should be asking if face-to-face interaction is critical and helpful in this emotional decision-making process; after all, what more significant purchase do we make in our lifetimes? Remote digital communication may be ok in certain situations; however, removing in-person interaction altogether could feel like a compromise to homebuyers. Relationship building, asking questions, and gaining further product details helps move the process to conclusion. Keeping that emotional buying process as real and human as possible very well may establish a better customer experience. I look forward to hearing about all the successes in 2022, combining live sales with technology; it will be a very interesting year indeed.

Kerry Mulcrone, Kerry & Co.

Ready “Set“ Go. Ready “Re-set” Go is even better!

I have learned time after time this year that in today’s world it is all about setting and re-setting expectations using processes as well as your culture as the guidelines

How do you set expectations best? Through an organizational culture that is both defined and bought into by everyone involved internally and externally, then live it out-loud!

Your culture is invisible; it exists in the people who live it every day in your organization. Culture includes who you are, what you do, why you do it, and how you do it best. By defining these questions together as an organization and living them as a brand, you are developing a customer and trade base that you will love to work with, and they will love to work with you as well.

You see, people are attracted to companies who have a strong culture and set their expectations and processes from it and live it every day in making decisions. We can adhere to and follow what is expected from us when we clearly know what that is.

When you have those difficult meetings…When you are hiring…when you may have to have someone take their excellence elsewhere! I believe everything is easier when driven by a culture that is lived “OUT-LOUD”

Set and re-set expectations through your culture inside and your brand outside and you will prosper and grow.

Kimberly Mackey, New Homes Solutions Consulting

Let’s Go Team!

As always, times are changing, but it feels like they are changing faster than ever in the last two years. We have always stressed the importance of having the right people in the appropriate positions, but that can be harder than ever in today’s tight labor market.

Is 2022 the year that we finally get out of the box with our hiring practices? If we don’t bring in new talent, our industry will not thrive. It is a matter of survival. Start a mentoring program with your sales team and add some junior-senior positions. Reach out to the local colleges and add some paid intern positions. Think about floaters who cross-train so that you don’t have a gaping hole in your organization or a disruption in your customer experience plan when one person leaves. Also, look at your team’s diversity. Do you have a representation of the community around you? It becomes much easier to attract talent when people see others who look like them already thriving on your team. Lastly, utilize the team you have to define your culture and incentivize them to recruit for you. Make 2022 the year you position your team for the future.

Leah Fellows, Blue Gypsy, Inc

Remember the Human Component

In our digital age of home sales, don’t forget to use your humanity. As more and more builders adapt to the digital change – buyers shopping, vetting, and even at times buying online – it’s important to remember the human component.

In this hot market we’ve been experiencing for almost 2 years now, it’s too easy to lose sight of the buyers who are on the fence or need some hand holding, and make it into a numbers game. Historically, we know that the market ebbs and flows. People will remember which builders treated them as people and which treated them as leads and numbers. This will show in future sales, referrals, and online reviews.

My advice moving into 2022 is that online sales counselors re-evaluate their personal touch, their empathy, and their rapport buildings skills along with their long-term lead nurturing programs and personalization. We need to make sure we aren’t just skimming the cream off the top but helping everyone who comes through our digital doors. Don’t lose one of the key ingredients in a successful lead nurturing program: heart.

Leah Turner, Melinda Brody & Company

Become the Rainmaker

If 2021 was the year of frenzy and frustration, 2022 will be the year of getting “Back to the Basics”. We need to take what we learned in 2021 and incorporate these new selling dynamics in 2022 while at the same time returning to the basics of Selling 101.

In new home sales, it is imperative that we communicate daily with our prospects, buyers, Realtors, and team members. This past year, we spent much of our time being REACTIVE to our circumstances. In 2022, I challenge you to become PROACTIVE. As the old adage goes, we can’t control our circumstances, but we can control how we respond to them. It’s time to become the rainmaker! Read more.

Mike Lyon, Do You Convert

How’s your bench?

The home building industry isn’t isolated from the “great resignation”. Specifically, the role of online sales. We’ve seen firsthand many seasoned professionals throw a deuce and peace out of the position. Our observations attribute the shuffle to burnout, job responsibilities shifting, lack of support and the occasional poaching by other builders. In addition, we are also seeing the growing need to right-size the support for the number of leads that are flowing through this program, which means we need more superstars manning the CRM. My challenge to sales leaders is to get busy building that bench. Our benchmarks at Do You Convert show that over 50% of sales are flowing through the online sales program. The role of online sales specialist shouldn’t be an afterthought. So fine-tune your hiring process, create an on-boarding program, and keep those want ads running!

Myers Barnes, Myers Barnes Associates

Your Story of Personal Success

Regardless of how you define success, one thing is evident: Success is not a matter of luck, accident, coincidence, or even reward for a virtuous life. It evolves from a commitment to plan, preparation, and perseverance. Success does not come to you; you go to it. And although the trail is well marked, it is certainly not well worn. Success is the result of making a conscious decision to backpack your emotional baggage, get up, step out, and start over instead of sitting out life’s game on the bench. It is not enough to stare up the steps – you must also step up the stairs.

Paul Gortzig, Bokka Group

Developing New/Old Sales Behaviors

Over this past crazy year, builders seem to have adjusted well to changes, and kept pace with prospects’ buying behaviors. We utilized technology, out of necessity, to meet our prospects where they are in the buying process. The sales behaviors we had to develop in 2021, were more in line with managing the overwhelming volume of buyers trying to secure a limited number of opportunities. Then we were asked to deal with significant disruption and manage expectations that are constantly moving targets. Some critical sales behaviors took a back seat to crisis management.

My advice for 2022 is to pay close attention to ever-changing market conditions. For sales teams, we need to dust off the sales behaviors that, when practiced every day, will produce great results in any economic market condition. We need to get back to helping our prospects feel valued (most don’t feel valued today). We need to be insatiably curious about their story and to understand why they have a desire to improve their life through the purchase of a new home. We need to be proactive with our communication before, during, and especially after the sale is made. We need to have a follow-up process that focuses on our prospects’ needs and brings value to every touchpoint (ditch those “I’m just checking in” calls and emails). The day is coming where opening up the doors and writing purchase agreements won’t be so plentiful. Now is the time to inspire our customers by honing in on sales behaviors that make our customers feel valued.

Ralph Williams, Sales Solve Everything

Lead Calmly through the Chaos

We’ve certainly had our share of challenges in the last year with construction delays, price escalation, and labor and supply chain shortages. It was not only challenging for our builders, but also for us and, of course, our buyers. I can’t remember a time exactly like this one. Here is what I hoped we learned. First, proactive weekly communication with our buyers is a must. We can’t bury our head in the sand and pretend things will go away. They don’t. This timely communication will lead you to my second point which is to manage expectations. It’s important to remember that customer perception is colored more by expectation than actual timing. Lastly, we need to learn how to “take a punch”. A great sales professional said that, and it just made so much sense. It doesn’t mean we accept or deflect the blame. It means sometimes people have to vent their frustration…and, that’s ok. We need to be prepared to absorb that.

With the backlog that most builders have right now, we can expect much of the same in 2022. So, be strong, communicate often, manage expectations, and lead calmly through the chaos.

Roland Nairnsey,
New Home Sales +

Believe in a Bright 2022

When I was asked to write my advice for the new year, my intuitive brain immediately thought of the fictional TV character with the same last name: Ted Lasso. Lasso is a perennial optimist, and slowly wins over the hearts and souls of a nation of doubters. Let’s look at three simple Ted Lasso tips that can serve us all in 2022.

1) Believe: Believe in yourself, and your homes, and that by helping your clients to move in, they will be enriching their lives. This belief system is the core that drives all top salespeople and winning teams.

2) Think and Be Positive: The best New Home salespeople are natural born optimists. We have an inherent belief that we are helping our clients make the best decisions, and we also don’t allow ourselves to wallow in self-pity when we lose a sale.

3) Create a Special Experience: Surprise our clients, care about the details, and go the extra mile for them.

So in 2022 with the market normalizing, let’s roll up our sleeves and learn from the indomitable Ted Lasso. Believe in yourself and your builder. Think and be positive, always looking for the best in each situation and see what you can learn. Finally strive to create an extra ordinary experience for your clients. Do all of this, and 2022 will be your breakthrough year for personal development and success.

Ryan Taft, Shore Consulting

Three Tips to Make 2022 Your Best Year Yet

Recently, a great friend of mine passed away. He was a National VP of Sales for a major homebuilder, and I will miss him tremendously. I share this because while everyone will give tips on how to maximize sales, I am taking a different approach this year.

I want you to make sure you are taking care of you.

As supply chain issues persist and markets start getting more competitive, it’s fair to say sales managers will have a very busy 2022. That being said, human nature is to allow our work life to bleed into our personal lives. In other words, we sacrifice our down-time for work-time.

May I suggest a different approach? First, set a clear boundary on your time. When you are with your family, be 100 percent present. No one ever looked back on their life and said, “I wish I would have missed more of my son’s little league games.”

Secondly, prioritize your health. I see too many sales leaders that eat poorly and are too tired to exercise. My wife says it best, “You are either going to pay now or pay later.” Trust me when I say it’s better to pay now with healthy disciplines.

Lastly, it’s time to learn how to be more efficient with your time so you can get more done at the job. My favorite resource for this is the book Getting Things Done by David Allen. When you become more efficient at work, you will enjoy more of your downtime…and that sounds like a great plan for 2022.

Sara Williams, Anewgo

Learning to Use the Tools We Have

If we look at our mobile device, Google Sheets/Excel, Apps, CRM, ERPs, Interactive tools, etc., most of us know less than half of what these tools can do for us. We usually use the bare minimum. When I read a trick my cell phone can do, my mind is blown. Then I start thinking, how many other tricks don’t I know about? In 2022, look at the tools your team has invested in and invest time in learning new tips/tricks on a regular basis. Identify what tools the team is most hungry to learn more about, and start there. Schedule training, webinar, watch videos and/or bring in an expert to help you get started. Self-education can help continue this trend throughout the year. Sales team members can each participate weekly or monthly in sharing tips/tricks/success stories in using the “tool” you selected. The goal for 2022 is to become proficient in tools you already invest in and learn to leverage them for success.

Shari Morton, Shared Drive

OSCs: the Valuable Resource for Builders

I believe we will look back at 2021 as the year the building industry started to realize the full potential of the Online Sales Concierge (OSC) role. When builders faced a sales cap, the OSC came to the aid of their sales team by maintaining effective waitlists through CRMs. When builders faced unprecedented lead volume, the OSC community moved to leverage technology to efficiently service customers.

While the industry struggled with remote work, many OSCs found success in the freedom of meeting the customer where they are. I believe, through the support of great industry leaders, the online sales concierge will prove to be a valuable resource for builders as they tackle the new frontier — buying online.

Heidi Schroeder, ECI Software Solutions

Your Buyer is Your Customer for Life!

As we enter an era of heart, where authentic relationships are more important than ever, we have the opportunity to leverage all of the technology, tools, and processes available to foster true connection with our customers. To create meaningful relationships with our buyers and show them how much we love what we do and the pride we take in creating quality homes.

More than ever, customers are leaning on friends and family to recommend products, services, and experiences. The larger the investment, the more buyers shop with a wary eye. As more knowledge about the challenges of our industry hits the media, it will become more difficult to “win” skeptical buyers. To that end, it will be more important than ever to develop relationships with our current buyers and look to them to spread the love. We are all looking for meaningful connections – with people AND with the things we choose to allow into our lives. Our customers are making more thoughtful choices about how they want to live and what kind of companies they want to support. Our customers have more choice than ever, so it is important we offer GREAT service, QUALITY homes, and a TOP NOTCH customer experience if we want them to share the love.