Now, if I just ask you that question out right your answer will certainly be, “well of course I am Ready, Willing and Able.” But let’s examine this a bit more closely—beyond just what we think. Let’s look at this from the customer’s perspective:

The READY SELLER has their model centers open and staffed with motivated, knowledgeable and professional sales persons 7 days per week. Their hours are posted, and are hopefully adjusted to meet the needs of their prospective buyers. The READY seller has a system in place to ensure that phone calls are answered in a timely, professional and courteous manner even when the on-site agent is with another customer out on site. The READY SELLER has follow-up systems in place and is holding their team accountable. The READY SELLER has someone available 24/7 to help the on-site agent with any challenges they might encounter or any negotiations that might need to be facilitated in order to close the sale without any delay to the buyer.

The WILLING SELLER has taken the time to ensure that they only have the best of the best representing them in their sales centers. They have their agents mystery shopped so they are sure that each agent is Meeting and Greeting, Discovering (Wants, Needs and Finances), Demonstrating (not only the model but the community, the amenities, and the available inventory homes), Overcoming Objections, Asking for the Sale, Following-Up and Following-Thru! The WILLING SELLER has a sales management team who understands the importance of being out in the field at least 80% of the time in order to help, coach and mentor their team to keep them on task and motivated.

The ABLE SELLER is currently investing in their company by building the greatest sales force they can. The ABLE SELLER has sales managers who not only have business acumen, but sales experience themselves, and are constantly investing in their own self-improvement for the betterment of the sales team. The ABLE SELLER knows that every prospect is valuable whether they can buy today or next month or 6 months from now and employs sales professionals who view it as their ethical duty to the company, the customer and themselves to follow-up and follow-thru. The ABLE SELLER ensures that everyone in their company understands that we all in customer service.

Thankfully the recession is behind us. Now is the time to move on, to rebuild and remove our proverbial heads out from the sand so that we don’t relive the things that got us there to start with! Let’s don’t get complacent as the market comes back, instead let’s get back to doing the things that we know we need to do to be successful.
“The worst that happens to you can be the best thing for you, if you don’t let it get the best of you.”—Unknown.
“Successful people do the things that failures refuse to do.”—Anthony Robbins.
I can’t wait to visit your model center soon to find out that YOU ARE A READY, WILLING, AND ABLE SELLER!

Kimberly Mackey, MCSP, CMP, Realtor® is the founder of Creative Sales Solutions.  A company dedicated to providing the Sales and Leadership Solutions Needed Right Now.  She is a published author Keynote Speaker, Trainer and Management Consultant.  She specializes in all aspects of Sales and Marketing Management and Training and enjoys a reputation as an innovator, strong team builder and is a specialist in bringing the Building World and the General Real Estate World together.  For more information and for a free subscription to SOLUTIONS E-newsletter, please visit http://www.creativesalesnow.com or interact with Mackey at http://facebook.com/CreativeSalesSolutions , http://www.linkedin.com/in/KimberlyMackey or http://www.twitter.com/CreativeSales

Recently, I have been thinking about the way On-site Agents attempt to communicate with our General Real Estate friends, and this line just keeps popping into my head, “What we have here is a failure to communicate.”  Except with us, it is almost the opposite scenario as in the movie.  We have all conformed to basically the same script over and over again and it just isn’t working, but we keep doing it anyway.

Let me set the scene for you.  On-site agent, doing what their manager has instructed them to do, reaches out to a Broker’s office and asks if they can speak at the next office sales meeting.  Once there, the presentation goes something like this:  “Hi, my name is Suzy On-site, and I work for Bodacious Builders in Shady Acres. Thanks so much for having me here today.  I want to invite you out to our community, where we build homes from 1400 to 3000 sf, priced from the $150’s.  We have a community pool and park, and are conveniently located…Oh, and did I mention, we are paying an additional $1% Bonus to all our Referring Realtors® for anything that can close by July 31^st.  I have packets up front for you, and now I’d like to collect your cards because we are going to have a drawing for a $50 gas card.”  (at which point Suzy passes a basket or a fish bowl to collect the cards)…”and the winner is…Rhonda Realtor®, congratulations Rhonda…”

Right!?  This is pretty darn close to what we say, isn’t it?  What’s wrong with that, you ask?  Well, the challenge isn’t so much what you said, it is what was heard.  Because we are all saying the same things, the General Agent’s hear the same thing, which is something like, “Blah blah, blah, blah, a builder’s rep is talking, what builder was it? Oh yeah, Bodacious Builder.  I don’t even know where Shady Acres is…huh, what, an extra $1%?, oh well, not working with anyone who would want to live way out there anyway…oh wait they are doing a drawing, did I bring a card with me?, I sure could use that gas card…”.

You see, the only things they heard was, WIIFM (what’s in it for me?) —which is the way most of us listen. So, what can you say to really make an impact?  I am glad you asked, why don’t we start by helping them with a problem they are currently having?  In other words, let’s show them the BENEFITS rather than just listing the FEATURES.

Here is an example of a better script for you to use:

“Hi, I am Suzy On-site with Bodacious Builders at Shady Acres.  Let me ask you a question, who is working with a buyer who has been burned at least one time in the short sale process?  Wow, that many of you?  Did you know that the average cancellation rate in New Home Sales is less than 10% right now?  Compare that with the average cancellation rate in general Real Estate, which is running around 35% because of all the fall-out from short sales and REO’s .  Wouldn’t you and your buyer appreciate knowing that once they have fallen in love with a home, it will close and they will be able to live there an enjoy it with their family without any last minute surprises?  I would be delighted to work in partnership with you to make that happen.  We have everything from 1400—3000 sf, so I am sure we can find a plan that will work for you buyers.”  Then, proceed to the drawing & commission announcement…

OR, how about this one?

“Hi, I am Suzy On-site with Bodacious Builders at Shady Acres.  By show of hands, who is working with a buyer who needs a home office (_________________) fill in the blank with whatever your featured home has to offer (just pick one home)?  Fantastic.  How many of those buyers are also concerned about the cost of ownership with utilities, etc. in their next home?  Right!? Most understandable.  Let me show you our featured home this month.  It is called the Key West Model and has this incredible, oversized, home-office/den/work-out room/hobby room—really, whatever extra space your buyer needs this room to be, it is large enough to accommodate and with it being off-set from the main part of the home, they won’t have to worry about privacy or if it gets a bit messy from time to time.  Don’t you agree that is a great benefit for your buyers? (Pause for head nodding).

Now, let’s discuss the H.E.R.S. rating on all our homes at Bodacious Builders.  Since we are Energy Star and Green Certified, you can count on greatly reduced utility bills and keeping that cost of ownership much lower than a home built just 5 short years ago.  I will be right over here after your meeting, so please see me and let’s put our heads together to figure out how we can make this work for your buyers.”  Then proceed to drawing and commission announcement…

This works with any feature you can turn into a benefit.  Closing cost contributions, buyer incentives, any plan…you name it.  Your homes, your community, and you have a unique story to tell so why not make your presentation unique? So, let’s take a page from the movie script and be just as determined as Cool Hand Luke.  If you do, I just bet those same Realtors® who have ignored you for years, will start to say, “WHAT WE HAVE HERE IS SOME SUCCESSFUL COMMUNICATION!”

Kimberly Mackey, MCSP, CMP, Realtor®, is the founder of Creative Sales Solutions, and has been called a rising star in the Homebuilder’s World for her reputation as someone with real world SOLUTIONS in a competitive and rapidly changing sales environment–SOLUTIONS like “50 Sales per Year before Any Walk-in Traffic”. She is a published author of many Sales and Leadership articles and a keynote speaker with over a decade and a half of experience as an executive in the residential home building and real estate industry.  She has experience working with Builders and Developers of all sizes –from the local/regional companies to the publicly traded nationals.  She also works with Realtors® and Brokers from across the country and is the architect and director of the highly successful Preferred Builder Partnership program with Prudential Tropical Realty where she has increased new home builder sales by over 200% in this large General Real Estate firm.

For more information, visit the Creative Sales Solutions Web site at www.creativesalesnow.com, or visit Mackey at LinkedIn, www.linkedin.com/in/kimberlymackey; Twitter, www.twitter.com/CreativeSales; and Facebook, www.facebook.com/CreativeSalesSolutions.

During all my years as an On-site Agent for builders, and then later as a Vice-president of Sales and Marketing, I thought General Real Estate Agents should be incentivized with “Bonuses” rather than” Commissions”.  “Bonuses” are generally paid to the sales agent without the office split being taken out of it or for some, they receive a higher split on “Bonus Dollars” versus “Commission Dollars”.  Those dollars sometimes require a franchise fee deduction (if applicable), but even so the net to the sales agent on Bonus Dollars is much higher than it would be for Commission Dollars.

I always structured any additional general real estate incentives as Bonus Dollars because I believed that would drive more Realtors® into my communities with their buyers.  While it was somewhat successful, what I didn’t know was that if I structured those same Bonus Dollars a bit differently, WOW what a huge difference that would have made.

Now that I have had the opportunity to run the Builder Relations Department for Prudential Tropical Realty where we have successfully partnered with 26 Home Builders around the Tampa Bay Market, I have learned a few things about this Bonus versus Commission issue.

Being a good partner to the General Real Estate community means more than just being a partner to a handful of Preferred Realtors® or Realtor® VIP’s.  It means reaching out to the Brokerages themselves, talking to them about their needs, and figuring out a way for everyone to work together toward the common goal of helping prospective buyers find that “One & Only Home” right now.

In order to achieve broad level changes in these relationships that in many cases have been developing over years and years, we have to start at the top, between Builder Management and Brokers/Owners.  You see, paying a Bonus encourages 1 or 2 Realtors® to show your homes and your communities.  BUT, paying a higher Commission Percentage instead (when you are already budgeting incentive dollars) will encourage the Broker/Owner to also become your champion.  The Broker/Owner can affect tens or even hundreds of Realtors®, rather than just the few you would have been able to reach on your own.

Of course, just passively raising your Commission Percentage is not going to help you a whole lot unless you communicate that to the General Real Estate Community. Besides sending flyers and sending E-blasts I encourage that your on-site schedule presentations at our General Real Estate Offices.  This can be particularly effective if your on-site agent “sells the sizzle”.  More on that in a later message.

As I said before, being a good partner with your market’s brokerages involves having the Builder’s Management Team sit down with the Brokers/Owners and find out what they need and how you can best help.  Talk to them about the additional Commission you are paying instead of Bonuses so they now have some benefit too and I just bet you that you will see your Broker/Realtor® Relations start to soar. Because now you will have a relationship and relationships, lead to partnerships, which leads to  that particular Broker/Owner being your champion who will influence, promote, and encourage their teams to show your homes whenever possible.  And don’t worry about those individual Real Estate Agents being upset because you are paying a higher commission, rather than a bonus.  I have yet to hear a complaint about making higher commissions!  And now instead of just the WIN/WIN, you can go for the WIN/WIN/WIN.

Kimberly Mackey, MCSP, CMP, Realtor®, is the founder of Creative Sales Solutions, and has been called a rising star in the Homebuilder’s World for her reputation as someone with real world SOLUTIONS in a competitive and rapidlychanging sales environment, SOLUTIONS like “50 Sales per Year before Any Walk-in Traffic”. She is a published author of many Sales and Leadership articles and a keynote speaker with over a decade and a half of experience as an executive in the residential home building and real estate industry.  She has experience working with Builders and Developers of all sizes –from the local/regional companies to the publicly traded nationals.  She also works with Realtors® and Brokers from across the country and is the architect and director of the highly successful Preferred Builder Partnership program with Prudential Tropical Realty where she has increased new home builder sales by over 200% in this large General Real Estate firm.

For more information, visit the Creative Sales Solutions Web site at www.creativesalesnow.com, or visit Mackey at LinkedIn, www.linkedin.com/in/kimberlymackey; Twitter, www.twitter.com/CreativeSales; and Facebook, www.facebook.com/CreativeSalesSolutions.

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We speak with Kimberly Mackey, Creative Sales Solutions

Who is responsible for filling up your pipeline of prospects? Your marketing department?

Think again.

Kimberly Mackey believes that every salesperson should be self motivated and a self-marketer.  That is, they should feel accountable for generating at least a portion of their own leads.  Through her company, Creative Sales Solutions, a sales and marketing management consulting and training company, she sees first-hand what can happen when salespeople are motivated to do more than just sit in the sales model and wait for traffic.

Listen to the our conversation with Kimberly to learn how you can increase your leads by 3o% or more  and your sales up to one home per week… Or more!  Or, continue reading our highlights of the conversation below:

<<CLICK HERE TO READ THE REST OF THE ARTICLE OR LISTEN TO THE PODCAST INTERVIEW>>

Ever notice how those people who enroll in a weight loss program that involves accountability and long term maintenance do much better than those who try to go it alone? The same is true in sales. It is not enough to simply “train” your team with a 1 shot, 1 size fits all “motivational rah, rah”. That is certainly a good start, but that is all it is—a start.

Zig Ziglar tells us: “People often say that motivation doesn’t last. Well, neither does bathing – that’s why we recommend it daily.”

Now as a Sales Trainer, you probably find this line of thinking peculiar, but often I am invited into a company to do training on a particular discipline with the sales team because there is the feeling that the team “isn’t closing enough” or “they aren’t doing enough to drive traffic”, or their “follow-up needs work,” etc.  However, what I generally find once I begin working with the team is that there is more of a systemic break-down and that those particular challenges are merely a symptom of a greater issue.

Sales people, like any other, will perform in direct proportion to the level of expectations set—WHEN AND ONLY WHEN those expectations are reinforced, coached, and inspected. Yet all too often, we leave these very sales people out in the field alone, without a planned encounter, without working with them on their very specific and time oriented goals (not our quotas), or even giving them a road map on how to reach those goals and check points along the way where we, as leaders, step in and guide them.  Then, when our sales teams fall short, we start to make excuses for them about how bad the economy is, or they didn’t have enough traffic, or this or that…and yet we scratch our heads and wonder why we aren’t getting results.

Here is another little known fact—when you hold sales people accountable, they will resist at first—UNTIL they start seeing results.  Once those results start to happen, and we celebrate those results with them, well the desire sets in to not only repeat the results but to up the ante.  The key is us, the leaders.  We have to dangle both carrot and stick and we have to hold ourselves accountable to be what our team needs us to be. Here are a few simple thoughts to help you get started down the right path:

1.      SALES RESULTS HAPPEN IN THE FIELD, not in your office at your corporate headquarters. You must be in the field, spending quality time with your team each and every week.  If you can’t spend at least 4 hours 1:1 with each of your sales team each and every week, then either your territory is too large or your priorities are not straight. *If your territory is too large, get help—outsourced or otherwise because your team deserves focused attention, and you will never be able to grow until you increase your sales.

2.      You must have a planned encounter and you must expect your sales people to use it religiously every single week.  I have a simple form that I use to track traffic, appointments, be-back appointments, and sales. This form also includes all of the activities it takes to be successful using a simple formula based on a 10% conversion ratio.

3.      You must have, in writing, minimum performance expectations and have each and every one of your sales staff sign it and have it placed in their official files.

4.      Be prepared to provide a realistic disciplinary plan of action and stick to it (up to and including termination)—in other words you can’t make exceptions for this one and not that one or for the one who is making at least the minimum number of sales, but refuses to take part in the rest of the program.

5.      If all else fails, don’t be afraid to “Top Grade”. Sometimes bad habits are just too hard to break, and if you can truly look yourself in the mirror and say that you have done all that you can to help someone to achieve at a higher level, but they just refused to go along on the trip, well it may just be time to invite them to take their excellence elsewhere.

6.      REWARD not only RESULTS but also EFFORT. Celebrate successes every step of the way.

7.      Bring in professional help. Hiring a trainer/consultant, to support and reinforce your efforts, not only helps hold you accountable, but it adds credibility to your efforts. *Ever notice how your kids will listen to a teacher or a coach, but you try to give them the same advice and it falls on deaf ears?

Your team can perform at a higher level. There are teams all across this country who are succeeding despite current economic conditions because they are focused, they have a plan, they are disciplined in working that plan, and they know that the only way to get out of the hole they are in is to not only stop digging, but to start to filling it back in by getting more and more sales!

Kimberly Mackey, MCSP, CMP, Realtor®, is the founder of Creative Sales Solutions, which provides sales and leadership consulting and training, outsourced sales management, on-site sales coaching, social media strategy and training — and other sales and marketing management SOLUTIONS. For more information, visit the Creative Sales Solutions Web site at www.creativesalesnow.com, or visit Mackey at LinkedIn, www.linkedin.com/in/kimberlymackey; Twitter, www.twitter.com/CreativeSales; and Facebook, www.facebook.com/CreativeSalesSolutions.

Sounds simple enough, a prospect comes into your sales center and you greet them warmly and invite them to come on in.  Then you take part in “small” talk, getting to know them, where are they from, are they from there originally, what line of work are they in, etc. Thus allowing you to create some rapport and build a common bond before you start the more serious Discovery process. Yet all too often, what we actually see is what I like to refer to as, “Premature Presentation”.

It is almost as if we are so excited to see a prospect…any prospect that we just jump up and immediately start spewing off all sorts of virtues and benefits of our builder and community, and the Great Deals we have to offer– hardly giving the prospect time to get a word in edgewise.  Then, we shove the registration in their hands and immediately ask them to fill it out.  All the while, the door hasn’t even closed behind them where they entered.  Next thing you know, we have them in the car and we are out showing inventory homes before we have ever had the opportunity to find out exactly what it is they want and need in a home, or what kind of timeframe they had in mind.  We aren’t helping our guests to own one of our homes, we are simply playing “Tour Guide Barbie” and showing them everything we have, hoping that by process of elimiation we will find a home for them.  HOPE is NOT a STRATEGY! So our one and only prospect for the day bolts as quickly as they entered and it won’t matter what kind of follow-up we do because we didn’t earn the right to follow up with them, we didn’t engage them in the process or try to help them.

So just what should this process look like?  Well for one thing, if we are welcoming a guest into our home, shouldn’t we actually WELCOME them? Forget the topo table and the floor plans and awards on the wall to your sales center—they are not important now, you can get back to them later. When a guest comes into your sales center, we know they are usually in a hurry and they are usually confused. Change it up a bit. Don’t be like the other 5 builders they visited on the way to you. Warmly greet them, and then invite them to Come On In! I usually like to do this by saying something like, “Hi! Welcome to Bodacious Builders, I am so glad you stopped in today.  I was just on my way to the kitchen for a fresh cup of gourmet coffee, why don’t you join me?” And, then I just turn and head out through the trap, around to the front door. Guess what?  They follow.

Once we are outside, I usually stop and say something like this, “Oh my goodness, where are my manners, my name is Kimberly and you are? _________________ Well is a real pleasure to meet you Mr. & Mrs. Prospect. Tell me, where are you folks from?…” Then we walk through the front door and head straight toward the kitchen (we are not demonstrating the model at this point—we don’t even know if that is relevant yet). While I am making their coffee or getting them a nice bottle of water they will generally lean on the breakfast bar or counter and I can continue to get to know them a bit, find some common ground and ever so gracefully enter into the Discovery Process because I now have some rapport and some basic information. This is information I must have in order to be effective in my presentation, which I will have then earned the right to do. *NOTE: The more time you spend in the kitchen with your guests, the more comfortable they become and the more information you will be able to learn in order to help them to find the one and only home that fits their needs.

I don’t care how much of a hurry they are in (or tell you they are in), if you invite them into your kitchen and walk that way—not waiting for a response, they will “free up” more time for you because, guess what? It was never about you, or your builders story or your great deal, it was all about them all along. And, once you make it about them instead of you they will relax and you will have earned the right to help them.

Kimberly Mackey, MCSP, CMP, Realtor®, is the founder of Creative Sales Solutions, which provides sales and leadership consulting and training, outsourced sales management, on-site sales coaching, social media strategy and training — and other sales and marketing management SOLUTIONS. For more information, visit the Creative Sales Solutions Web site at www.creativesalesnow.com, or visit Mackey at LinkedIn, www.linkedin.com/in/kimberlymackey; Twitter, www.twitter.com/CreativeSales; and Facebook, www.facebook.com/CreativeSalesSolutions.

Recently, I was out at a Realtor® luncheon being hosted by one of the builders in our area (not my client) where they had fake food on the stove, on the table, and on the breakfast bar.  Then they had the real food they were feeding the Realtors® right next to it.  I had several Realtors® pull me aside and say that fake food turned their stomach so much they couldn’t possibly partake in the real food offered.

Well that certainly validated the way I had always felt about fake food.  Believe me in my tenure as VP of Sales and Marketing for several large national builders, I offended quite a few merchandisers when they would come back through the model and find that I had removed all of their fake food from display.

Then last week I was out in a model center with one of my clients where I do Outsourced Sales Management and Field Coaching and we had a hot prospect come in.  This prospect (a couple) was accompanied by 2 friends who already lived in that area.  The friends were obviously starting to get a little bored with the whole house hunting adventure and were becoming a distraction to the buyers, so I engaged them in conversation so our sales professional could continue her discovery process with the buyers.

Now we had held a Grand Opening event the evening before in this particular model so we had some food left over and we had set out brownies and cookies to share with our guests.  Before I ever got the chance to offer some to our guest, they spied them and were staring at them.  One of the fellas says to me, “those brownies look real”.  I chuckled and stated that they were and that I was just on my way to the kitchen to offer them some along with a beverage, would they like some?

About that time the buyers also entered the kitchen and they all had a big laugh about “the real food”–which they all slowed down to enjoy.  [Of course, this gave us the opportunity to get further in the discovery process and find out their true wants and needs.]  As they were all going out to select a home site to put their new home on, the husband (prospect) leans over to me to say, “I really like this place. You made us feel right at home and everything just seemed so much more real, including the food.  I just didn’t understand that whole fake food thing. It was really gross.”

Now if that isn’t food for thought, I don’t know what is!

What is your fake food horror story? Please share it here:

Kimberly Mackey, MCSP, CMP, Realtor®, is the founder of Creative Sales Solutions, which provides sales and leadership training in all aspects of business development — including social media strategy and training — and sales and marketing management and training. For more information, visit the Creative Sales Solutions Web site at www.creativesalesnow.com, or visit Mackey at LinkedIn, www.linkedin.com/in/kimberlymackey; Twitter, www.twitter.com/CreativeSales; and Facebook, www.facebook.com/CreativeSalesSolutions.

While standing in line for check-out at the store though, a very nice clerk named Joe asked me if I was having a nice day.  Something in Joe’s voice broke the spell I had been under–you know the one, the running dialog in my head with all the stuff that soooo important that I just couldn’t forget to do it.  So, I looked up to see Joe smiling at me, patiently waiting on my reply.

That smile brought me to where I should have been all along–right there, in that moment.  I couldn’t help myself, I took a breath and smiled right back at him.  I thanked him for asking and told him that I was in fact having an unbelievable day and how grateful I was for so much exciting work–especially in light of how little work there had been not that long ago.

Then, I asked him how his day was going.  The look on his face changed quickly to that of a bit of surprise. I know he could tell that I was genuinely interested and I believe that is what surprised him. Putting myself in his shoes, I bet he encounters so many people who were just like me, rapidly going about their day, running through their chores, and never even seeing him. Our pleasantries extended only until my items were bagged and placed back in the cart, but when we smiled and both said at the same time, “have a great rest of the day”, we were both standing a little taller, both smiling genuinely, both a little more energized.

You see that is what happens when you really engage with someone, rather than just going through the motions.  Your energy and their energy combine and create so much more.  It may sound cheesy, but try it today as you go about your life.  Really engage the people you come in contact with and be open to where that might take you. You just never know who you might meet and how they might impact your life.

Thank you Joe, for reminding me to slow down and connect.  After all, that way more important than anything else I had on my to-do list.

Kimberly Mackey, MCSP, CMP, Realtor®, is the founder of Creative Sales Solutions, which provides sales and leadership training in all aspects of business development — including social media strategy and training — and sales and marketing management and training. For more information, visit the Creative Sales Solutions Web site at www.creativesalesnow.com, or visit Mackey at LinkedIn, www.linkedin.com/in/kimberlymackey; Twitter, www.twitter.com/CreativeSales; and Facebook, www.facebook.com/CreativeSalesSolutions.

Contact: Linde Hyder

Director of Marketing & Communications

Phone: (727) 569-2328

Email: lhyder@prutropical.net

For Immediate Release:

KIMBERLY MACKEY NAMED DIRECTOR OF BUILDER RELATIONS FOR PRUDENTIAL TROPICAL REALTY

TAMPA, Fla. (May 14, 2010) – Kimberly Mackey has been named Director of Builder Relations for Prudential Tropical Realty.  The announcement was made recently by Dewey Mitchell and Allen Crumbley, Broker/Owners, Prudential Tropical Realty; and Rob Hilliker, Vice President of Sales and Marketing for the company.

In this position Mackey will be responsible for growing the company’s new homes division by establishing productive relationships with builders throughout the Greater Tampa Bay area.   Doing so will allow increased opportunities for new home sales with our sales executives while strengthening Prudential Tropical Realty’s presence within the builder community.  Additionally, Mackey will be responsible for providing ongoing training to the firm’s sales team on the nuances associated with new home sales and will be actively involved with promoting the benefits of associating with PTR to area builders.

Mackey has more than a decade of experience in the residential homebuilding and real estate industry during which time she has earned numerous certifications as an expert in the field of new home sales.  She has been awarded the designations of Master Certified New Home Sales Professional (MCSP) and Certified Marketing Professional (CMP) by the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) and also completed the association’s “Train the Trainer” course.  In addition to being a published author of several articles on sales and leadership, Mackey is a keynote speaker and nationally recognized expert in Social Media Marketing for Realtors and New Home Builders.

Having served as the Immediate Past President of the Tampa Bay Builders Association’s Sales and Marketing Council, Mackey is also a member of the Board of Trustees for the Florida Home Builders Association Sales and Marketing Council, and serves on the Board of Directors for the Tampa Bay Builders Association.  She has been recognized on numerous occasions for her outstanding leadership and service to the homebuilding industry and was awarded SMC Member of the Year in 2008 and 2009.

A Hillsborough County resident since 1990, Mackey graduated from the University of Tennessee with a degree in Corporate Communications.  Additionally, she is the founder of Creative Sales Solutions, a company dedicated to providing sales and leadership solutions to real estate brokerages, residential homebuilders and developers on local, regional, and national levels.

Prudential Tropical Realty has 15 offices located throughout Hillsborough, Pinellas, Pasco and Hernando counties and consistently ranks among the top three real estate companies in the area.  Locally owned and operated since 1959, the Prudential Tropical Realty team offers residential, commercial, property management, relocation, title, and mortgage services.

When I first got into the New Home Sales World, one of my colleagues handed me a book and said, if you want training here is everything you need to know.  The book was, The Official Handbook for New Home Salespeople, by Bob Schultz.

I read it and re-read it over and over.  And something must have “stuck”, because here I am today.  And, then over the course of the last few months as my career was once again really taking the shape I wanted it to, I reached out to Bob.  Long story short, the following press release has just been issued:

Press Release

For Immediate Release

Kimberly Mackey of Creative Sales Solutions [Tampa, FL] has been selected to present at the prestigious Home Building Industry’s Premier Serious Sales and Marketing Management(sm) Symposium May 6^th – 8^th, 2010 in Delray Beach, Florida:

Housing execs and sales professionals from across the world are traveling to learn from world renowned new home sales and business management guru Bob Schultz and his team of nationally recognized experts during a two section, five-day symposium, consisting of New Home Sales Boot Camp® and the Serious Sales and Marketing Management^SM Symposium, being hosted at the Delray Beach Marriott from May 4^th, through May 8^th, 2010.

From as far away as Australia, Canada, and all across the USA, more than 100 CEOs, COOs, CFOs, managers and salespeople are making the pilgrimage to learn what to do during these uncertain financial times and in the troubled housing market.

Named by Builder magazine to its Power On 50 List – The 50 Most Influential People in Homebuilding (a list that included The President of The U.S., The Secretary of Homeland  Security, and The Chairman of The Federal Reserve Board) Schultz and his team teaches sales and related business management strategies and systems designed to help get through the chaotic market conditions being experiencing all over the globe. Bob was named a Legend of Residential Marketing at the recent International Builders Show in Las Vegas.

Along with Bob Schultz, Mackey will be presenting with several other industry experts who will present strategies for sales success in this difficult market.  Among those will be Jon Gordon, NY Times best selling author of The Energy Bus, Roland Nairnsey, SR. Vice President of Training and Development for Bob Schultz & The New Home Sales Specialists^SM, and Millie Allen Eubanks, an Associate Consultant and Trainer with Bob Schultz.

Schultz said he personally chose Kimberly Mackey to be a presenter at his twice annual event because of her industry knowledge and skills, and she is real. Schultz said he feels there are far too many people trotting around attempting to be “experts” who have very little provable experience, depth  and solutions to today’s home builder sales challenges. Mackey is a published author of many Sales and Leadership articles, a keynote speaker and is a nationally recognized expert in Social Media Marketing for t Realtors® and New Home Builders.  She has over a decade of real world, practical experience as an executive in the residential homebuilding and real estate industry.  For more information on Kimberly Mackey or the New Home Sales Boot Camp® and the Serious Sales and Marketing Management^SM, please visit: http://www.creativesalesnow.com.