Online People Talking with Jen Barkan

Jen welcomes Nicole Maggio-Deaton, our newest Online Sales Coach at DYC, to introduce her to the audience and dig into what she's learned in her first month on the team. The conversation covers Nicole's industry background, her biggest coaching "aha moment," and the unique multi-department perspective she brings to the role.

• Online Sales Academy - Oct 28-30 - Live Virtual - The Academy is for new OSCs, seasoned OSCs that want formal training, or OSCs that just need a refresher. Join the VIP list!

• The DreamFinders OSC team - Nominated by our friend, Jessie Suggs - they had a six-day call-a-thon and made over 7,500 outbound calls!

• The Online Sales role is bigger than people think: Nicole pushes back on the "just an appointment setter" label, noting OSCs are the face of the company, handle long-term lead follow-up, and now drive over 50% of total sales.
• The role is genuinely multi-faceted: She breaks down four skill sets OSCs need to hire and train for: sales, admin, marketing, and de-escalation.
• Leadership involvement is non-negotiable: Nicole warns against treating online sales as "set it and forget it" and stresses creating an open forum where the team feels safe sharing concerns, since OSCs are the first to face prospective buyers.
• Cross-department communication is critical: From her time as an onsite agent and online sales manager, Nicole emphasizes that OSCs and onsite teams must actively share metrics, build relationships, and train together on the handoff.

Audit your handoff tracking. If your spreadsheet doesn't have columns for whether the initial "nice to meet you" email went out and whether the after-appointment follow-up happened, add them now. It's an easy, often-templated step, but without tracking it at the salesperson and community level, you're relying on feelings instead of data, and in a market where every lead counts, that's not good enough.

Jen is joined by repeat guests Lacy Warburton and Ady Perkins from Stylecraft Builders to talk through their recent CRM implementation. The conversation covers what it's really like to change systems mid-career, from the initial fear of losing years of built-up processes to the practical tactics that made the transition manageable.

• Online Sales Academy - Oct 28-30 - Live Virtual - The Academy is for new OSCs, seasoned OSCs that want formal training, or OSCs that just need a refresher. Join the VIP list!
• Summit is SOLD OUT! It’s coming up soon - join the waitlist if you want to be the first to know if tickets become available.

• Ana Garcia, OSC with Smith Douglas Homes - She created an awesome video to send to her Realtor sphere about her new role and how she can help them.

• Change is Scary, but Necessary: Both Lacy and Ady admit their first reaction to the CRM switch was fear and resistance. Lacy was concerned about losing momentum with long-term leads after 5 years in the old system, while Ady had to gear up to lead the transition with optimism.
• Pro Tips That Made the Difference: Clean up your old CRM before migrating leads, build a terminology "translation" list between the old and new systems, give your OSC team early access to test workflows before the full sales team goes live, create org-specific how-to videos instead of relying only on generic training, and avoid launching during your busiest selling season.
• Ongoing Support Matters: Lacy still runs regular manager trainings and pairs new hires with "CRM ninjas," teammates with prior experience on the new system, so every sales team has a built-in resource.

If you're going through a CRM transition (or even if you're not), get your house in order: clean up your current CRM, update your ratings and follow-up process, and do a refresh. Most importantly, check your mindset. As a leader, your team feels your energy, so staying positive and optimistic keeps momentum going for everyone below you.

Yes, The Nationals are coming! It is that time of year for us to share Jen's past interview with Lisa Parrish, Chief Creative Chick with Team PMP - Peter Mayer Productions. The Nationals is the NAHB's premier awards event, and in this episode, Jen dives into all the insider details that will help you shine when submitting for this prestigious award.

Note: an old deadline is referenced in this episode, but the current deadline to apply is Monday, September 21, 2026. 

• What categories of awards are available for Online Sales
• Why you should consider applying
• Insider tips on the submission process

• Research The Nationals
• Have a discussion with your manager to see if this is something you are able to apply for! 

For more resources and information on the NAHB National awards, visit www.thenationals.com.

You can't wave a magic wand and get more leads in today's market. What you CAN do is make sure not a single one gets left behind, and Jen and Melissa lay out a high-impact way to do that with video! Learn the seven moments where it works best, and the tips that keep it from backfiring or getting stale.

Housekeeping

• Online Sales and Marketing Summit - Oct 1-2 - Austin, TX - Roughly 95% sold out. FOMO no mo. Get your ticket.
• Online Sales Academy - Oct 28-30 - Live Virtual Event - Join the interest list under Events on the DYC site and you'll be first in line.

TITO Shoutout

• Erin and Aeryn at Tim O'Brien Homes!. Melissa found a 100% personal video email one of them sent to a two-year-old lead, recapping his exact situation and timeline now that a new phase released.

Key Takeaways

• Why OSCs Avoid It: "I don't like how I look or sound." "Nobody watches these anyway." Melissa gets honest about her own resistance and what finally got her past it.
• Video Is Still an Opportunity: When we shopped the top builders last year, more of them were sending video. Out of all of it, only ONE was actually personal. Ten years in to us recommended everyone do this - it is still wide open.
• Authentic Over Perfect: One take. Don't watch it, wince, and re-record. You'll find a hundred things to fix and only send one video all day!

Skills Check

Go send three videos this week. One to a prospect, using the notes in your CRM so it's genuinely personal to them. One to a realtor partner, remembering that a B2B message sounds different than a B2C one! Finally, (and something that is most forgotten) send one internally to a salesperson who did a great job on a handoff or is staying on top of their CRM. You are in a front-facing role. Get out from behind the screen!

Jen is joined by Amanda Martin and Beth Russell to dive into the Q2 2026 Online Sales Benchmarks, which show a strong quarter despite declining lead volume. The conversation covers what's driving the national market trends, how top performers are pulling ahead of the pack, and practical takeaways for both leaders and OSCs.

View the full Q2 2026 Online Sales Benchmarks report.

• Online Sales and Marketing Summit - Oct 1-2 - Austin, TX - More than 80% sold out! Don’t get FOMO, get your ticket.
• Online Sales Academy - Oct 21-23 - Live Virtual - The Academy is for new OSCs, seasoned OSCs that want formal training, or OSCs that just need a refresher. Join the VIP list!
• Clash of the Titans with Karla Tuten and Kevin Oakley - Aug 4 at 3pm EST - FREE Virtual Event - They will debate which is more important: visual design or words and ideas? It will not be recorded, so you have to register!

• Jessica Myers at Caviness & Cates - She has been the CRM champion for her organization! Way to go!

• Market Pulse: Beth gives an overall read on traffic and lead volume trends across the industry, plus where that data comes from and what it means for OSCs day-to-day.
• Q2 2026 Benchmark Data: Online Sales is now driving the majority of total company sales industry-wide for the first time in a while, and the top online sales programs are only getting better.
• Aged Leads Still Matter: Even with a strong quarter driven by fresh-lead conversion, 20% of appointments still came from aged leads already in the database, reinforcing that the database remains a valuable asset worth working consistently.
• Prove You’re Human: Top builders aren't leaning on AI for first touch or prospecting. Their results come from personalized outreach and genuine database mining.

Go do some data storytelling with your marketer. If you're not meeting with your marketer, you absolutely should be meeting with them at least once a month. Look at year over year. Go back and look at what last year looked like during this time compared to what this year looks like during this time. What are the changes? Are there new lead sources? What are those conversions happening? And work with them together on what your data is telling you. What's the story behind it? That is your opportunity to make such a huge impact on your organization.

Jen welcomes DYC Online Sales Coach Molly Adams to the podcast for a wide-ranging conversation about professionalism in online sales roles, covering everything from office setup and equipment to dress code and daily mindset routines. 

• Online Sales and Marketing Summit - October 1-2, 2026 in Austin, TX - We are in full-on summit prep mode - it is over 70% sold out - so you better get your ticket soon!
• Jen and Mike recently hosted a virtual online event covering the four things online sales professionals need to do to maintain their "human edge" in an increasingly digital world. If you missed it, don't worry, this topic will be covered at Summit.

• Kait Estes, OSC at Landmark Homes - Kait is brand new to the role and is stepping into a long-held seat, learning new leads, and diving into her CRM all at once. Excited to watch all that she’s doing!

• Setting Up Your Home Office: Jen makes the case for a dedicated office space with a door, positioned so that a window is in front of you (not behind you), and a pretty, professional-looking backdrop.
• Equipment That Sets You Up for Success: Molly walks through the tech stack for success, including dual monitors, hardwired internet, a separate webcam, good lighting (they use a Lume Cube), a wireless keyboard/mouse, and more.
• Dress for Success: You’re the face of your organization! What does that look like? How are you showing up to work? No one needs full glam, but if you're doing video emails daily - are you showing up ready? If you had to hop on a call, what impression are you making?
• Mindset & Planning: Both Jen and Molly share their "commute to work" routines to their home offices and how they plan their day each morning, step outside during the day, and close the office door at the end of the day to create boundaries and separation. 

Evaluate your office setup. Do you need to upgrade? Really check yourself on your professionalism - are you business ready?  

Host Jen Barkan welcomes award-winning OSC Alex Neller of Dream Finders Homes into the studio, who shares her journey from bartending to online sales and the mindset and habits that have driven her success. The conversation covers what makes a great OSC from the inside out, touching on authenticity, AI adoption, realtor relationships, and the power of genuine human connection.

We are hiring for an Online Sales Coach! If you have a passion for the role and you want to take that passion into training, coaching, and leading, this is the job for you - apply today.

Natalie Smeby, OSC at DR Horton Houston Division - Natalie puts her training and knowledge immediately into action and has been seeing results right away.

• Background and the Bartender-to-OSC Pipeline: Alex shares how her restaurant and bartending background gave her a natural edge in reading the room, adapting to different people, and building rapport. 
• AI Adoption and Overcoming Resistance: Alex was initially resistant when encouraged to use AI, worried it would make her communication feel transactional. She came around by treating AI as a baseline formatter rather than a replacement for her voice, and now uses it daily to operate at a higher level across all her relationships.
• Superpowers and Kryptonite: Alex names human connection as her superpower, knowing her leads' dogs' names and following through from first contact to close. Her kryptonite is a "buy or die" mentality that can lead to task fatigue from over-assigning follow-ups, though she shared a win of finally booking an appointment with a lead she had been nurturing since 2023.
• Realtor Relationships Challenge: In today's market, Alex says realtors are being flooded with emails and simply not reading them. Her approach is to get intentional: pick up the phone, text to flag an email, and position yourself as a one-stop resource. She also emphasizes treating realtor partners the way you treat leads, making them feel seen and valued.

Check yourself, check your mindset, check your perspective. When you get up in the morning, pause and think about something you're grateful for. Start your day with that mantra, and write it down.

Take a moment before you roll into the craziness of the day, pause, look around, and reflect. That will set the tone and shape your mindset.

Host Jen Barkan is joined by the one and only Coach Melissa Fort to discuss strategies for online sales specialists to make the most of a historically slower summer market. The conversation centers on focus areas to maintain momentum and level up skills during downtime.

• 2026 Online Sales and Marketing Summit - October 1-2, 2026 in Austin, TX - The biggest party for online sales and marketing and it’s already over 60% sold out!

• We want YOU to send in your nominations to [email protected]!

• Mid year Gut Check: Revisit goals set at the start of the year, assess what's working and what isn't, celebrate wins, and recalibrate for the second half. This includes checking in with sales leadership to see if company goals have shifted and working backwards to understand how OSCs can contribute.
• Learn AI: Take some AI courses and lean into tools like Claude - think about how you can use it in your role to analyze call transcripts, identify objection patterns, draft prospecting emails, and build presentations. 
• Lean into prospecting (with a fresh approach): Get creative with your outreach. And make those calls. If you are getting a lot of bot leads, flip the script by leading with "I'm a real person" messaging to build trust and spark engagement.
• Refresh your follow up: Is it stale? Have you been sending the same thing for years in your short term follow up messaging? Audit existing follow-up, then tailor messaging by how leads found you, keep it simple and engagement-focused, and don't set-it-and-forget-it.
• Foster relationships: Use slower periods to get out from behind the screen. Is there an onsite sales person that you need to build a better relationship with? Get out onsite. Take them coffee. Record a video together. Tour an inventory home.

Which one of these 5 are you going to commit to doing right now? Write out a plan. Talk it over with your leadership, put it out into the universe, and then report your results!

Host Jen Barkan talks to Emily Tucker, an award-winning OSC with Robuck Homes, about how she goes beyond traditional lead management by visiting communities, creating successful video content, and building relationships with on-site sales agents and realtors to amplify her builder's brand presence.

• 2026 Online Sales and Marketing Summit - October 1-2, 2026 in Austin, TX - According to Emily, if you’re an Online Sales Specialist, you have to go!

• Kelly Ward and Athena Azan with M/I Homes - Internet Sales Team of the Year at the MAME Awards.

• Be the face of your brand, not just a phone answerer: Emily makes monthly on-site visits to each community to create video content that humanizes her as an OSC and builds a personal social media presence alongside the company's corporate accounts. A personal brand reaches people differently than a builder's corporate page alone!
• You don't need fancy equipment to get started: A phone, an inexpensive tripod, and a lapel mic from Amazon are all Emily uses. The bigger barrier is perfection paralysis - use the mantra "progress over perfection" and just do it, even if early videos are rough.
• One site visit can fuel weeks of content across multiple channels: A single afternoon on-site can generate a month's worth of video content that can be repurposed across social platforms, text prospecting, emails, and realtor outreach. 
• On-site visits strengthen the OSC-to-sales-agent relationship: Collaborating on videos builds trust and connection with on-site agents. Teaching agents video skills and inviting them to participate turns the visit into a relationship-building moment, not just a content-creation task.

Pick one community, talk to leadership and/or marketing about how you can create some content. Think about how you could leverage this content across multiple channels - marketing, prospecting, and follow up. 

Melissa, Amanda, and Molly take over the OPT studio to share Q1 industry benchmarks, discuss key trends in online sales, and offer actionable advice for OSCs and leaders navigating a lower-volume, higher-quality lead environment.

Online Sales and Marketing Summit - Oct 1-2 - Austin, TX - We encourage OSCs to attend, with new interactive programming planned.

Monica Fikany at New Home Inc - Monica had great lead-to-appointment conversions in Q1.

Danielle Evans at Bishard Holmes - 38% of Danielle’s appointments came from aged leads.

• Lead volume is down, but quality is up: The top of the funnel remains constrained, volume hasn't fully bounced back. However, conversion rates are improving, meaning OSCs are doing more with less.
• Prospecting is the biggest win of Q1: Normally, prospecting dips in Q1 as new leads come in during selling season. This quarter, prospecting stayed consistent and even increased -- a major highlight. The 22% age lead appointment rate is a direct result of sustained prospecting effort.
• Your CRM is your most valuable asset: Maximize CRM usage by logging detailed notes after every interaction - aged leads hold untapped opportunity, and leadership relies on quality CRM data to make strategic decisions, so consistency matters.
• Personalization wins appointments: Buyers are on a longer journey right now. Personalizing outreach and follow-up, based on good notes and CRM data, is what sets top OSCs apart.

For Leaders:

Stop measuring program success purely on lead volume. Conversion percentages are the more meaningful metric right now. Scorecards should reflect this shift.

For OSCs:

• Be disciplined and consistent with prospecting.
• Treat every lead like it's gold.
• Respond to new leads fast, speed to first response beats the competition.
• Stay process-driven: no lead left behind.