Jen Barkan
Time and we are live. Hello, everybody. My name is Jen Barkan, online sales coach at Do You Convert and welcome to online people talking or out as we like to call it. This series is dedicated to you the new home online sales specialist all about enhancing your lives and careers. We'll talk about real life scenarios dedicated just for you.
Jen Barkan
I am so excited to talk about this topic today. I think mainly because when I was an online sales specialist, I did not have a like really good backup plan, partly because I was stubborn and wanted to do everything myself and nobody could do it as good as me. And I quickly learned that was a mistake. Totally regretted that because having a true backup plan to give you that piece and mindset that you can take breaks is so important.
Jen Barkan
So I'm excited to introduce our special guests today. Welcome, everybody.
Tara Barlia
Tara Barley Hello, everyone.
Jen Barkan
Hello. We are so excited to have you, Tara. Tara is the online sales specialist, senior online sales specialist now at the neighborhoods of EIA. So welcome to.
Tara Barlia
APSARA. Thank you. Thank you for having me.
Jen Barkan
Yeah, absolutely. So before we kind of get into our topic today, talking about backup plans, tell us a little bit about EIA for us. Like where in the world are you located? Tell us a little bit about yourself.
Tara Barlia
Yeah. So we EIA has been around for about 30 years, mainly townhomes for new construction. We are located in the DMV area, so we have communities throughout the D.C. District, Maryland and Virginia, as in, say, the DMV, the head of motor vehicle. I know we do get that a lot, but so it's interesting to have you at the same time might have different types of sales going through anywhere from, I guess price range from 600,000 to a mid million.
Tara Barlia
So big range there. And the market can be different between DC, Maryland and Virginia at the same time. So it keeps it keeps it exciting.
Jen Barkan
Yeah. And how long have you been in the role of online?
Tara Barlia
It will be about two and a half years I've been with you.
Jen Barkan
I like, like almost O.G. status.
Tara Barlia
I know through COVID that CRE.
Jen Barkan
Probably fielded longer.
Tara Barlia
And then into now. Yep.
Jen Barkan
And what and what did you tell everybody what you did prior to that? Because I think it's interesting.
Tara Barlia
Yeah. So prior I worked with the Washington Nationals baseball team here in DC. I was part of their ticket sales and service. So. So a lot of sales, a lot of customer service, just a very different product that we were selling.
Jen Barkan
Yeah. So Haaz, if you, if we have any baseball fans watching this. Yeah. If you're joining us, definitely chat and tell us hello that you're here. We want to say hi to you. A special shout out to the Chesapeake home team who told me that they were logging in and watching today. So hello, Chesapeake Homes here in Virginia Beach.
Jen Barkan
Let me ask you, Tara, really quick, because I think as an online sales specialist out there watching, they can probably join in and answer this question, too, with you. So if you're online sales and you're listening, chat this out, what what's the biggest challenge that you're dealing with right now?
Tara Barlia
Biggest challenge, I think just you don't have control of the market, of course. So just going through the ups and downs of that summer months can be a little bit slower when people are on vacation and trying to still find what that urgency is for for our homes. So I think that's that's been the biggest challenge. But before we know it, it's going to be fall and it'll pick back up.
Tara Barlia
So just trying to get people in before that craziness and find a home for everyone.
Jen Barkan
So, so true market fluctuating is one of the the hardest or most opportune time to be an online sales specialist. Right. Because as things fluctuate, we have to continue to evolve. However, what we do is the it's the constant, it's the constant and the variable of the new home industry. So I'm sure everybody can share in that with you that there's a lot changing.
Jen Barkan
We've had a pretty great year so far, right. And we'll see what the second half of the year brings for sure. So guys, I wanted to bring Tara on to talk to you today about having a backup plan. This is something that we see is still sometimes a challenge to figure out. And there's certain there's lots of different scenarios when you would need a backup plan.
Jen Barkan
So you could be a solo online sales specialist like Tara was before today.
Tara Barlia
Yeah, literally today.
Jen Barkan
Literally today. Do you have a special shout out to.
Tara Barlia
Shout out to Simone? First day today? She's joining me. Very excited.
Jen Barkan
Yes. Shout out to Simeon. We're so excited to have you join the team. Hey, Jesse. Hey, Sam. Sam barking shout out to you, son. Okay, so there's several different scenarios. You might be a solo Aussie and as a solo Aussie, if you're working, if you're on demand seven days a week, you need to have a break, right? So who is going to in the fort while you're off?
Jen Barkan
You have, of course, vacation. We do want you to take vacations, right? I know, Tara, you like to travel. So figuring out like you love to travel. So taking those vacations, sometimes there are emergencies you need to have. Like who is going to take the leads? And then there's like, overflow situations where maybe you have a lot of leads and you want to have that overflow person that can kind of be your support and backup.
Jen Barkan
And then you have the long term leave type of situation, which is like a maternity or paternity leave. And for example, and you've got to figure out who is going to cover for you. So there's lots of different scenarios. The one that I want to talk about with Tara that she has recent experience with is having being that solo.
Jen Barkan
LSC So Tara, when did you like talk a little bit about when you realized like, Okay, like we got to figure this out?
Tara Barlia
Yes. So as many of you guys know, leads continue to come in. It doesn't matter if it's a weekend week day holiday. Everyone's continuing to look for for home. So weekends were technically my days off, but people are still coming in, asking for questions, asking for appointments. And like Jen said in the beginning, too, you don't want to miss out on something and you want to be there.
Tara Barlia
But it's also important to not get overwhelmed and take that break and it'll make you better when you come back and get back on the job. So when I really notice that something might be needed, I'd come in on Monday morning and my inbox would be filled with leads coming in and you wanted to get to the ones that looked like they were the most important or how to prioritize that.
Tara Barlia
Really, You still wanted to get back to everyone. So that's when I really realized that something might need a backup plan. Someone else might need to come help and cover because it is. I think we've all heard Jen say that if you the sooner you get to someone, the more likely they'll still be interested. Haven't shopped around yet.
Tara Barlia
More likely to get that appointment. So the sooner the better. And as I realized when I was trying to catch up from all the weekends, my Monday was gone. I didn't even get to my Monday people. And then all of a sudden it's Wednesday, Thursday and I'm still maybe playing catch up. So really important to try and get that backup plan.
Jen Barkan
Well, I want to go back to something you said really quick before we move forward. And you're in the way that you're structured before having a teammate as a solo. I see you were working five days a week and on two days that you were off, What was happening on those two days that you were off.
Tara Barlia
To the leads online? Any forms? Still went to my inbox now and then.
Jen Barkan
They were just getting it. Okay, So they were sitting waiting for you? Yeah.
Tara Barlia
Monday the phone calls, the phone inbound. The phone calls did go to these sales reps on site, which is great. You know, someone's still answering. However, if they're on an appointment, the phone will ring, There's a voicemail maybe going on, then I never get to them since they might have just called in to the sales rep and hopefully, you know, you booked a lot of appointments for the weekend and they're full are open houses.
Tara Barlia
But yes, the phones were going to the sales reps to see if they could answer any initial questions.
Jen Barkan
So a little bit of a it was kind of like a like halfway kind of a backup plan. Right. Like the the on her days off the sales reps were taking the calls. So in in your call tracking system, you were forwarding those calls to the sales team. But the E leads, Internet leads that were coming in. We're just sitting there in her CRM.
Jen Barkan
And so what she was saying, guys, and if you're a solo LC, we want to hear from you like solo or team like chat it out and want to see who's on. If you if they're sitting in your inbox and you wait until Monday like you're trying to catch up and they need your new leads that are coming in on Monday are not you're not getting to them, right?
Jen Barkan
It's like you're playing catch up, right?
Tara Barlia
Yes.
Jen Barkan
And then it's like, you know, hey, Steven, how are you? You're playing catch up. And so it's just like a domino effect and you never feel caught up, right? So I finally said how.
Tara Barlia
I admitted it. I did it. I needed help. Yes.
Jen Barkan
I said, okay, okay. I given help. Okay. So where did you guys go to look like who? When you're thinking like, okay, who's this person going to be that's going to manage the elites? Who did you help for?
Tara Barlia
So initially we had luckily we had a community that closed out. Okay, so we had a sales rep that had kind of waiting for the next community to open, had some more free time. So she filled in on just Saturdays and Sundays and would get the leads. We knew this was kind of an short term decision right then since we thought, you know, down the road we may hire another one if this ends up working out.
Tara Barlia
And we would look at the answer how many people are answering and seeing if that number, the percentage goes up, which it did since I think people were getting we were getting back to people quicker. So that's why we ended up hiring another one. But Tammy was our sales rep who would help me out on the weekends. Okay.
Tara Barlia
Actually log into my email and get all of the leads and be able to respond to everyone throughout the weekend. And just coming in on a monday. The first week I came in on Monday had only eight in my inbox, and just like that, I was so relieved. I felt like I can get to those people right away.
Tara Barlia
Starting Monday fresh as opposed to dread. You know, people dread Mondays already. You don't want to do them.
Jen Barkan
More like, Oh, my inbox is going to have.
Tara Barlia
A hunt. Exactly. So even week one, just, just for myself to see that was was huge and we'll get around it.
Jen Barkan
So why do we need a backup as a solo O.C. To prevent burnout, first and foremost, right To handle our leads better. I mean, if you are if your leads are sitting untouched for two days, you're missing opportunity, right? So there you go. And leads. Right now, if somebody has a lead that's like golden butter role, right? I mean, that's a big deal.
Jen Barkan
So that's why we need to look at having a backup in that situation. Who you have like Tara close out community, a sales rep could come over and assist in that way. You might look at a sales assistant or marketing somebody on the marketing team possibly that could do that. Let's see what else? A design assistant I've seen.
Jen Barkan
I've even seen managers. Yes, managers fill in right. And learn how to just be in reactive mode, how to enter the leads in CRM, how to what to do on the phone call, just basics. And so let's kind of get into that segment now as the case you have Tammy Yes, thank goodness for Tammy. MAN Hey, Tammy, what did the like what type of training or what were the expectations set for your backup?
Tara Barlia
So it was, of course, great that she already had a sales background, new know with our company a while she knew a little bit about each community. Of course she knew about hers the most, but I made sure that she had all of our pricing and floor plans. That was simple. As far as other training walked her through sequences.
Tara Barlia
So she actually would say if she did not get in touch with anyone just like us, she would set up a sequence. And it actually, if they didn't answer the sequence would then turn into me. So would be like, Hi, I know we didn't catch up over the weekend. And then if they did answer now it's a weekday, I'm back, it comes to me, they call me and they email me so we don't have to worry of losing a lead or anything like that.
Tara Barlia
And then I just pick back up where Tammy left off and it was pretty much it was a pretty good smooth transition from there. And just the beginning of teaching the sequences, sales on site, as we know, may not know all the sequences and all of that, but just teaching that and taking the time to do that was definitely paid off.
Jen Barkan
So yeah, you definitely didn't need a teacher internal backup, right? They're going to know your opinion, they're going to know the homes and the communities and things like that. But you need to take some time to teach them, okay, When you get a new lead, this is what you need to do in the CRM, right? So it's it's very minimal, though.
Jen Barkan
We don't need to put our part time backups through for like online sales training necessarily. Right. In certain situations, we're just kind of teaching them the basics and how to be reactive. And something that Tara said that was really important is that when you have your backup that's filling in for you, it's not necessarily like you don't need to assign mind, like they're not taking ownership of those leads, right?
Jen Barkan
If somebody calls in and she's helping them and she sets the appointment, great, But she's not carrying them through the 30 day follow up process as her own. You know, she's just starting them on the follow up process. And then when you came back, you're picking that back up. So we get a lot of questions about that. You know, as far as like do does does the backup like hold on to all the leads?
Jen Barkan
Is the backup doing the the process prospecting? Well, thank you. Steve. Yeah. I mean, in a perfect world, I think everybody should be trained in online sales. But, you know, that's just me. Now, listen, the devil is in the details. What I mean by that is it's one thing to go, Yes, I've got a backup. We know Mike is stepping up.
Jen Barkan
He's going to be my backup. But now what? Like you've got to take some time to figure out the logistics. And we actually have Amanda martin from our team is getting ready to release a playbook for online sales on the logistics and setup for how to do your backup. So I'm not going to go into too much detail here.
Jen Barkan
But Tara, talk a little bit about the logistics as far as like in your call tracking in your like what did you guys do for like email and CRM and call tracking?
Tara Barlia
So a lot of it we use HubSpot at, at our company here. So a lot of it was training through there. And again, luckily the sales rep has already has an account with HubSpot, but she actually would log in as me too. So it was fully taking on my role just for Saturday and Sunday. That way no confusion on the client since that's kind of most important.
Tara Barlia
And if we if they didn't connect, it's, you know, they might have thought it was just me all along. But she did sign her name, you know, in regards to Tara, just so people knew something like that. But again, as far as the sequences would go, it would then go straight straight to me for phone calls. All of our communities then got switched.
Tara Barlia
I think it was Saturday morning at 10 a.m., got switched to her so that she can get started and do Saturday and Sunday and then it automatically for call will automatically switch back to me on Monday morning. So okay so let's work on our end all computer and it again it was very smooth transition so.
Jen Barkan
That's the beauty of having a call tracking system and being able to set up like a workflow and schedule. So what I'm hearing you say is like this schedule was when this time hits, calls are flipped over to Tammy, and when the shift ends, the calls are flipped back over to Yep, right? Yeah. And that's the beauty of automation and setting all of that stuff up.
Jen Barkan
So that's great. The other thing to think about too, I don't know that you guys did this, but you know, if you have a let's talk a little bit about like a longer extended like say you're taking a vacation and you're going to be gone for more than just a couple of days, really thinking about don't just set up an auto responder that says, you know, hey, I'm out on vacation, contact my teammate.
Jen Barkan
Somone, you know, really look at having those work emails forwarded to your teammate so that it's a seamless process. We always want to keep the customer in mind here. So if the customer then has to go do another step to contact, now somone that's not as that's not the best experience possible. So we want that to be seamless as set up filters in your inbox that forge your emails over to your teammate.
Jen Barkan
Don't just rely on the auto responder and then definitely have some time to do some lightweight CRM training, lightweight call tracking training just so they have the basics and understand all those things. Anything else to add there? Tara Then I'm thinking about logistical, logistically.
Tara Barlia
Logistically, I think, yeah, that, that was it. And then also the big thing to still still try and get them to know most of the basic qualifying questions just so that they're making good appointments. And it was fun to kind of do that with her since she was an onsite sales rep. So she got to see the side of of seeing how we qualify them for appointments for her.
Tara Barlia
So that was fun too, to kind of do with her.
Jen Barkan
I just saw this out of the corner of my eye here and, you know, give your backup, you know, make them a prospecting sheet that has the things that you want to make sure get asked and get entered into the CRM on your behalf. You know, like, these things need to be asked. They need to go in the CRM.
Jen Barkan
This is really important and this gives them a guide to make sure that they they do that. Yeah. Now a couple of other things to think about. Here's some pro tips for, you know, if you're going on vacation and okay, so we've are going to be out. You have found your backup. You have figured out all the logistical things that you need to the first thing you want to do, too, is test it out.
Jen Barkan
Test your backup Plan out. Okay. Meaning while you are still working and on, you know, you go ahead and you turn everything over and you make sure technically that it's working, that they're getting the leads that they know how to while you're still there and you can answer questions, so do a practice run. The other thing is give yourself a ramp down period and a ramp up period.
Jen Barkan
Here's what I mean by that. So if you know you're going to be going out for the weekend or going on vacation or going on maternity or paternity leave to start your time a little bit earlier so that you're not getting new leads right up until the time you go on vacation. Go ahead and turn things over to your backup either a half day or a day before you are going to be out.
Jen Barkan
And then also when you come back, you're going to have some catch up to do, right, Tara? Yes. You're going to have to come back. You know, even Tara just being out for the weekend, right, as a solo or what? See, you're going to have stuff too. So when you come back in and give yourself a ramp up period, I don't have, you know, keep your backup on until half day or even a full day.
Jen Barkan
If you've been out a while, you have have that person stay on until you can get caught up. So just a couple of things to think about. And then my advice and this is definitely for Martha, who's watching, Don't sweat. Don't sweat the small stuff. Right. The the benefit of taking the time off are going to outweigh it not being perfect.
Jen Barkan
What do you think about that, Tara?
Tara Barlia
You burnout is real. You you deserve a break. And that's why we have these backup plans. So so definitely enjoy that break. And you come back, you feel revamped, re-energized and maybe better for the clients in the long run and your success. So totally agree.
Jen Barkan
Hey, listen here. This is something small. I just did this on vacation, like actually take the time to go in and turn your notifications off, like, turn your email notifications off, Turn your internal slack off, you know, and just really have a break. You know, sometimes when we it's called a fake break, when we when we're like, yeah, like we're off, you know.
Jen Barkan
But what happens is you're anticipating that you might have to do some work, like I might have to go in and respond to that person. I might have to answer that lead really quickly or whatever. It's not a big deal. But what happens is you never fully relax, you never fully recharge. And so what we know, Tara, right, is that if you're not happy, neither are your customers either.
Jen Barkan
If you're burnt out, neither are your customers. So were you feeling that way? Like, were you starting to feel like, Oh.
Tara Barlia
It was just the dreading of Monday more than it should have been? It's probably how I felt. And then, you know, you have your phone on you, even if you're like, I will not answer it. It's the weekend. But you see it and you see it going, Yeah, it's oh gosh. And then you think, All right, if I answer a few now, maybe Monday won't be so bad and you know it can cycle.
Tara Barlia
So that's I think when I realized, yeah.
Jen Barkan
And now you have a you have a team, right? And then and this is a big leave that you're taking.
Tara Barlia
I and.
Jen Barkan
What's the reason.
Tara Barlia
I'll be going on maternity leave at the end of August. Sorry. Good timing for this.
Jen Barkan
So this is, this is a big leave, this is a big back up situation which now is a teammate. But I just want to also caution everybody that even if you have a team and you're watching this, that happens like on teams where you need a backup, you need to have somebody on the bench that's ready. So don't wait.
Jen Barkan
I guess what I'm saying is don't wait to maybe cross-train or get somebody in the know on what it is that you're doing, how your systems work. Take some time to create some SOPs, you know that you have ready and available that if there was an emergency, if somebody needed to step in, you would have some documentation and be able to help.
Jen Barkan
So flip the switch is what you guys need to be thinking, Hey, I have an emergency, but that's okay. I've got a backup plan that I can just switch on, right, and execute right away. Okay, fine. Rapid fire fun questions.
Tara Barlia
Okay.
Jen Barkan
Is your favorite thing about being an online sales specialist?
Tara Barlia
Favorite thing? I mean, there's so many, but I think it's fun to be that first voice or face that they see and really represent the company. So I think it's just fun to set the expectation high of what they'll experience throughout their new home buying experience. And it's fun to be that that person.
Jen Barkan
Oh, I love that answer. What do you do when I what do you do to recharge your battery when you're off?
Tara Barlia
I exercise. I know it's kind of funny, but, you know, let out that steam not get that I used to run a little bit. Now it's been a little bit more weight lifting. Lightweights. Okay. Obama But getting still getting that hour in for exercise. It's super important.
Jen Barkan
Okay, guys, She says she has to run a little bit. Oh, what did you just do?
Tara Barlia
I did do the New York City marathon last year.
Jen Barkan
Any other New York City marathon runners out there, shout it out your ass, your whole group of people. What any current books that you're reading.
Tara Barlia
So I literally just start I think I'm late to this trend, but lessons in chemistry. I'm two chapters in so do not know much about it, but I just finished Verity two, which is very good.
Jen Barkan
That was really good. I literally was I was reading it and I went, Oh my gosh, yeah. My husband's like, What are you reading over there? I was like, Oh, don't worry about it.
Tara Barlia
She added a chapter too. So I don't know if you read the the add on chapter. It's very interesting.
Jen Barkan
Hoover fans out there. Yes. What's one thing that most people don't know about you?
Tara Barlia
I, I was a division one gymnast in college.
Jen Barkan
Martha.
Tara Barlia
So. Yeah.
Jen Barkan
Have you met Martha?
Tara Barlia
I have not, no.
Jen Barkan
Oh, my gosh. Any other gymnast out there? I mean, Martha, I'm pretty sure was like a Division one gymnast, too. But when you guys are like.
Tara Barlia
We have a lot to talk about, then. Yeah.
Jen Barkan
Yeah. Okay, last question, because I'm always looking for something great to watch on TV. Are you watching anything good on TV? Like, what's the latest thing?
Tara Barlia
The latest? We just finished The Bear on Hulu and it's very good. It's about kind of starting a restaurant in Chicago and how crazy that industry is. Speaking of different industries, it is wild to see see the food and restaurant industry.
Jen Barkan
Does it make you not want to eat out?
Tara Barlia
No, that's fine. It just intends to start at your own restaurant. It's a big challenge, but it's very, very good. Yes. Okay.
Jen Barkan
Well, okay. I'm going to have to check it out. It's very fair. Thank you so much.
Tara Barlia
Yes, thank you for having me. This is so fun.
Jen Barkan
Oh, my gosh. You are just fantastic. I'm so excited that you took the leap to have a backup. It also just validated the fact that you needed a teammate, your company supported you, got you a teammate, and we're just looking forward to that. So much. So thank you so much and thank you guys.
Tara Barlia
And can yes, we might have to do an update when I get back from maternity leave. Yes. Okay.
Jen Barkan
Okay. We are we're going to do an update. Thanks for watching.
Tara Barlia
Thank you.
Jen Barkan
Yeah. Thanks for watching. Opt in. Hey guys, make sure you check out D ConvertKit com sign up for our newsletter if you haven't because we are constantly sending out great content and be sure to watch out for Amanda's playbook on backup plans and how to set those up. And we will see you next time.
Tara Barlia
Thank you.
