InSite Sales Drives Improved Results for Gene B. Glick Company

In several previous blog posts, newsletter articles and Multi-Family Executive magazine articles, I’ve talked about the need for us to have a conversation about sales. It’s a critical part of the demand management platform, yet it rarely gets much serious attention in the C-suite—certainly not as much as pricing, marketing and expense management receive. And sadly, when it is discussed, it’s often done in a rather simplistic, “How can we just train our sales associates to close better?” kind of way. Deep down, we know that sales performance is really about a lot more than just “closing,” but we can’t help but focus on that key moment for success and wish it was as simple as emphasizing training about that segment.

I’ve also written about the sales performance improvement model D2 Demand Solutions has developed - about authenticity, being truly prospect-centered, understanding our prospects’ emotional journey, and advancing - not merely continuing sales conversations. Based on real-world conversations and social media comments, I’m sure that this has resonated.

But there’s one thing I haven’t talked about until now. And that’s real-world results. Now that is finally changing. We are pleased to announce the release of our first case study on an implementation of the InSite^TM Sales Performance Improvement System. Our friends and colleagues at Gene B. Glick Company have graciously allowed us to share their story: what motivated them to change their approach to sales, what they learned through this process, and what quantitative results they observed.

The Gene B. Glick Company is regional owner/operator of more than 19,000 market rate and affordable units in the Midwest. Headquartered in Indianapolis, Glick is continually looking for ways to improve their resident and associate experience and grow NOI.

Here are some highlights from their story:

• Occupancy immediately started to grow, with overall performance exceeding the market by more than 300bps in the six months following the rollout.
  
  
• Rave reviews from sales associates and management stressing how valuable they found the system and how it allowed them to be themselves instead of “playing a role” in sales conversations.
  
  
• A reduction in sales associate turnover driven by both higher satisfaction in being freed from scripted sales models, and higher earnings from better individual sales success.

Glick’s leadership also shares some “lessons learned” in the case study:

• Their success was based on approaching this as more than just a training program.
  Training was a critical component, but the approach addressed their entire sales ecosystem.
  
  
• They made sure associates didn’t mistake being prospect-centered as being weak or passive. The key was to teach associates when to back off and let prospects process and when to tactfully push them towards a decision.
  
  
• They didn’t try to do it on their own. As Chad Greiwe, Glick’s EVP Operations put it, “If you had all the right people and time to design and implement a program like this you would have already done it!” More to his experience with Glick, he noted “We have a great team, but we’re focused on daily execution. Using D2DS brought in expertise and experience that blended well with our culture, and they brought a perspective and energy that really drove our success. D2DS has a great sales model that fits multifamily housing’s unique needs, they have a deep understanding of our prospects’ journey and their execution drives the ‘stickiness’ needed for people to really change their behavior. Simply put, they were (and still are) a great partner for us.”

If you’re interested in learning more, download the full case study below, give Glick a call or reach out to us as we’d love to talk sales process improvement with you!