From 2-3 pm this afternoon, Professional Builder and TopBuildingJobs.com teamed up to host a ‘webinar’ titled Leverage Your Success: Career Building to Succeed Tomorrow. Speakers included Mark Thomas (Senior VP, Ashton Woods Homes), Mitch Parnell (Regional VP of HR, Mid-Atlantic and Carolinas, Centex Homes), and Marilyn Gardner (National VP Sales, Richmond American Homes). Topics spanned from sourcing talent to Dr. Seuss (surprisingly pertinent to sales…I promise!), but focused mainly on information and advice directed at those who currently have, or are considering starting, a career in the homebuilding industry, specifically in sales.
While each of the presenters did a fantastic job and had their own unique and individual insights, there were common threads tying the presentations together. These included the composition of the sales team, attributes of a standout salesperson, resume and interview advice to land you a position, and why you should consider a career in homebuilding.
All three presentations discussed the importance of having a diverse sales team. Mark Thomas expressed this idea by recommending that managers hire a “staff of promotables and pros”. Mitch Parnell was perhaps more descriptive when he described the differing sources of candidates: professional networking, college recruiting, and professional search firms. These sources of candidates immediately suggest what Mr. Thomas said, in that some (college students/interns) are ‘promotable’, while others (professionals acquired through networking/search firms) are already ‘pros’. You want to have a team that encompasses both less-experienced people looking to learn and ‘move up the ladder’, and highly experienced sales experts who have made sales their career. Also, the speakers pointed out that successful new home sellers can come from nearly anywhere. Marilyn Gardner pointed out that some of her best people have come from car sales or retail industries, and Mitch Parnell noted that people working in jewelry stores “make the transition [to homebuilding] quite well”. Mark Thomas summed it all up in just a few words: “[You want a] diversity of veterans, other industries, and new recruits out of college.”
When it came to describing the attributes of successful home sellers, two words were undoubtedly used more than others: Leadership and Attitude. At one point in her presentation, Ms. Gardner correctly observed that there is “a leadership void in America…and in homebuilding,” and Mr. Thomas proposed that “what really makes or breaks a person is their leadership skills.” Why is leadership so important in sales? First of all, salespeople should, and do, have opportunities to be promoted and move up to management and, eventually, executive positions. Also, part of being a leader is having the drive to self-motivate, another extremely important quality in sales where, as Mr. Thomas noted, “you are not micromanaged”. Yet another part of being a good leader, arguably the most important part (indeed I believe Ms. Gardner would agree), is your attitude. As she said, “Attitude is everything!” Mr. Thomas mentioned attitude in his definition of ‘leadership’ (interpersonal skills, communication, core attitude and outlook), suggesting that “people want to follow people that are positive and are focused on where they want to go.” Having a positive attitude cannot be underestimated… do as Ms. Gardner suggested and remember the acronym ‘KASH’: Knowledge, Attitude, Sales, and Habit.
The speakers were not lacking on resume and interview advice, either. “Do your homework!”, or some variation of this old adage, was on the lips of nearly everyone. The bottom line, as Ms. Gardner put it, is “if you haven’t been to our website, visited one of our worksites, and done your homework, you probably are not ready for your career”. Along similar lines, Mr. Parnell stressed the importance of “finding the area sales manager for the specific job or position”, vehemently instructing audience members to “reach out to ‘em!” This “greatly accelerates the possibility of getting that face to face,” he continues, “so don’t just send your resume in!” There is a lot of resume “traffic”, they all start to look similar, and, as Mr. Parnell puts it, “it is difficult at best to determine the ’substance’ of the different roles [applicants] have been in”. Along the same lines, Mr. Thomas suggested that individuals “get to the hiring manager and convince them to consider you!” Ms. Gardner had another fascinating piece of advice for resumes. For individuals who have had experience buying or selling their own homes, she recommended that they put it on their resume alongside their other experiences. It is, after all, direct, first-hand experience undeniably related to the field of home sales.
Lastly, all three speakers seemed enthusiastic about housing sales jobs. Even in the midst of a housing slowdown, they offered compelling reasons to consider a career in homebuilding and sales. “This is a downturn,” admitted Mr. Thomas, but qualified it by adding “but this too will pass. As a company, we’re all in it together. I’ve found myself being more empathetic and supportive of the sales team than ever…in management, we provide the sales team the maximum support we can so they can prosper.” He later pointed out that learning sales in this weak home market will likely provide better training and experience than learning sales in a strong market would. Then, “the skills you learn selling homes in a bad market will pay BIG in a good market”. Additionally, Mr. Thomas and Ms. Gardner did not move from the position that home sales, whether in a weak or strong market, are both emotionally satisfying and lucrative. There is nothing like helping a family get their first home or dream house, and the paycheck that comes with it is pretty swell too!
I strongly encourage anyone who attended the webinar to comment on it here. If you missed the webcast, check out the blog to see what everyone is saying about it...maybe you can skim a few tips yourself off the commentary!
Contact Mark Avera at MAvera@TopBuildingJobs.com.
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