I’ve been looking forward to the Jeff Shore Sales Leadership Summit since we left last year’s event. It’s high-energy, high-quality production that’s packed with positive open-minded sales and marketing leaders eager to talk about what makes our worlds go ‘round.
A Venue to Inspire
This year’s summit did not disappoint, as the Shore Consulting team served up timely content (more on that later) in a another amazing venue.
The event, and onsite food options were top shelf. Why get stuck on pancakes vs waffles when you can order Pancetta Bacon French Toast. Half Keto is still basically Keto, right?
Goal Clarity
Energized and eager, all attendees were in their seats and laser-focused on the stage as the Summit got underway. After some inspiring kick-off videos and content, the first exercise had attendees look back on the previous ten years to reflect on the challenges and obstacles they had overcome in that time. Coincidentally, I just went through this same exercise of examining ONeil Interactive’s first ten years in business and found it therapeutic, heart-filling, and encouraging. I can completely endorse Jeff’s assertion that the exercise results in goal clarity — drinking in the confidence of your past achievements, recognizing all of the problems that didn’t end your story, and then using that fuel to power forward.
SoCal Rivalry
At the end of the first day, everyone headed over to Petco Park to enjoy a patio reserved just for us. With ballpark food flowing, we watched Anthony Grasst of Homestreet Bank throw out the first pitch of the Padres vs Dodgers game.
The trauma of being a Baltimore Orioles fan (have you seen their record this season?!) meant I wasn’t paying very close attention to the game. I was more impressed by the spirit and creativity of the CBH Homes team, who are truly in a league of their own.
#TheresNoCryingInNewHomeSales
Prospect Panel
Early on in day two, Jeff interviewed a panel of six active home shopping consumers. Yes, real people who are looking for a home, touring models, and eager to share the stories of their experiences, hopes, and dreams with us. Incredible.
Some of any favorite quotes from the consumers include:
“My first impression is made when I enter the community, not the model home.”
All that talk about dirty streets, three-foot weeds, and sun-faded signs really does have an impact. [winky emoji]
“Home is life.”
This was in response to Jeff asking what buying a home meant to everyone. It was a touching moment, and a critical knock-on-the-head reminder of how our industry serves the whole person — body, mind, and spirit.
“Having someone with me for the model tour is nice personal touch.”
Yes, those words were spoken. If this had been a script, immediately after those words were spoken, the cameras would have dramatically zoomed in on Jeff’s face as he glared a “See?! Did you hear that?!” back at the audience. Seriously, though, there was a 100% consensus from the consumers. Don’t ever let someone say all shoppers want to browse alone.
Friends
Brian Kittle of Meritage Homes and Dennis O’Neil
Even without the stellar content, the Summit is worth attending for the personal and professional relationships built and grown with like-minded individuals. Adam and I thoroughly enjoyed seeing friends and partners from Lasso, Computer Presentation Systems, JWilliams Staffing, Impact Marketing, and Rendering House. We were also excited to make new friends at AltasRTX, Focus 360, and Outhouse. And of course getting to spend time with many of our clients.
My summit experience included an extra-special highlight. I was able to see a longtime friend, Brian Kittle, for the first time face-to-face in 13 years. Brian and I were both sales managers for Ryland Homes at the same time, in the Orlando and Baltimore markets respectively, and bonded over a number of shared experiences during those years. I’m crazy happy that Brian is now Orlando Division President for Meritage Homes, and is the same genuine big-hearted guy I’ve always known. Plus, he’s got a cool haircut. 👍
What Would Perfect Look Like?
A number of Summit attendees are also current or past participants in Jeff Shore’s Sales Leadership Roundtable – a year-long intense journey into high-performance sales, accountability, and management, led personally by Jeff. It’s funny (read: “amazing”) how you can spot the Roundtable members because of the comfortable confidence they share.
I’m proud to say that our own Adam Van Bavel is among the newest class of the Sales Leadership Roundtable. Adam is pumped to work directly with Jeff and new home sales managers across the country to grow his skills and gain a deeper understanding of the home building business.
Cassandra, Adam, and Ali
Like Jeff’s question earlier in the day, we ask ourselves often what the perfect customer experience looks like. In fact, we have many written narratives that tell the story of a perfect client onboarding experience, a perfect website design experience, among many others. These “perfect narratives” help set our bar for responsiveness, thoroughness, and true problem-solving. I’m excited about how the Roundtable is going to strengthen Adam’s ability to solve big problems and enable our team to provide a more perfect client experience.
So Much More
I’ve shared just a tiny percentage of the content from Jeff, Amy, and Ryan. If you want more, we’ll be seeing you next year, right? You can sign up to be notified here. And if you have some questions about the event, don’t hesitate to ask me. We hope to see you there!
