ESI vs. In-House
You have a great location. You have all the latest amenities. The property will virtually sell itself. So why hire a company like ESI when simply hiring a sales manager and a few sales agents and managing them yourself could get the job done? For many developers, the answer is that, along with this option being incredibly time-consuming, it usually leads to a revolving door of managers, sales agents, marketing personnel, and an overall mediocre sales performance, while reducing your focus on other business and development issues. Here are just a few reasons why:
Talented leadership is hard to find.
A sales manager is responsible for the attitude, culture and level of professionalism for your entire organization. Trying to find a sales manager who understands sales training, the principles of leadership & motivation, and has a measurable system to judge performance and correct improper methods is one of the greatest challenges for a developer regarding sales and marketing. Simply put, experienced leaders in the real estate industry are few and far between.
Sales and Marketing become two separate divisions.
The sales team blames marketing; marketing blames sales. Without a system in place for all to follow, the two divisions operate independently of each other and the result is a dull, flat organization that isn't working together and isn't getting results.
Most developers are not experts in sales or marketing.
It's hard to fix a problem when it's not your area of expertise. While many developers know the importance of sales and marketing, most developers don't know exactly how to align the quality of their sales and marketing with the quality of the community or project they are creating.
Lack of systems makes troubleshooting impossible.
In the absence of a set system, sales people are left to improvise. When each team member is doing it his or her way, it's impossible to identify problems and implement meaningful change.
With the involvement of ESI, you get experienced leadership in both sales and marketing, proven systems that produce results and a professional, unified team of highly trained sales agents and marketing personnel that will convey the vision of the developer in a manner that is consistent with the quality of your project or community. We take on the task of providing and managing a sales and marketing organization so you can focus on running your business. As Randy Banks, developer and CEO of Mountain Air, put it, "I can rest my head at night not only knowing that ESI is handling all aspects of sales and marketing, but they are creating a culture and a reputation that I can be proud of."
And the best part is that the ESI team works in transparent fashion with each developer. Our on-site personnel take on the identity of the project or community, allowing developers to build their brand and deliver a consistent experience to the customer. And, since the majority of our compensation is commissioned-based, the cost of having ESI involved almost always fits in the developers' existing budgets and proformas. When you compare all of this to doing it in-house, the value of having ESI becomes clear.
