So a few weeks ago Jim Garman calls me and tells me we're gonna shift things around a little. And by a little he means a lot. But it's all good. It's an all good shift. I'll tell you all about it but in the meantime I need to give you some quick historical context...
Garman Homes History lesson slash Behind the Scenes Building Industry Knowledge: most builders of our size (40ish homes per year) do not have their own sales team (sales team that is comprised of actual employees of the builder).
Then how, pray tell, do they go about the business of actually selling their homes you might ask?
Typically they hire a 'builder marketing company' which staffs their neighborhoods with realtors who are independent contractors. Have you ever seen a sign for a builder that says, So-and-So-Builder and then in little letters underneath it says 'marketed by xyz marketing company'? If you haven't noticed it yet I can guarantee you'll notice it now.
Anyway, I had to give you that context so I could tell you about the shift. The shift was that we're going to do something we've never done before...we're going to conform to the norm. YIKES, right? Well, not really, it just makes good sense. Good sense is also something we're not really known for-but not in a bad way-more in a way that makes good sense to us but maybe not to our competitors. I digress...what Jim called to tell me was that it was time for Garman Homes to be marketed by Go Builder. Basically, we're extracting our sales team (me included) and shifting everyone over to being independent contractors of Go Builder. And for me that meant going from being the sales manager of just Garman Homes to being the sales manager for Go Builder, Garman Homes and other to-be-named builders. All together now, YIKES!
I was equal parts excited and terrified as I digested this shift. Jim and I talked and talked and decided this shift, for me, was like going to grad school to be a Sales & Marketing Manager. After all, I was getting the opportunity to work with arguably the very best Sales & Marketing VPs in the local market and they were going to teach me how to be just like them. So excited. So terrified. But still all good.
I've been to grad school before (Go HEELS!) and I'm happy to be back in grad school again. I'm good with the shift. Stay tuned for changes to all of our signs and other cool stuff I come up with while I'm in grad school.
