In 2012, as part of real estate company Gables Residential’s multi-year learning transformation, Learning & Development (L&D) met with operations leaders to identify key areas having a negative impact on customer satisfaction scores. That’s when they realized Gables hadn’t changed its sales training since the mid-1990s. The core sales course, Leasing the Gables Way (LTGW), was more than stale: cumbersome learner guides with lots of fill-in-the-blanks, and three full days of lengthy instruction with little opportunity for practice or activities.
In response, L&D developed a three-part sales workshop called Engage, Connect, Inspire—The ECI Method, designed to provide sales associates with a fun, interactive, and effective learning experience.
Program Details
The ECI Method is delivered over one week with opportunities to immediately apply classroom learning in a real-world setting. Sales associates attend the first workshop, Engage, on Monday, focusing on developing awareness and the importance of listening skills and product preparation, with the aim of an optimal first impression. On Tuesday, they complete a checklist of hands-on activities including listening self-assessments, shadowing a tenured associate assigned as their coach during their first 90 days of employment, and going to “secret shop” another apartment community and assess their experience.
Wednesday is the second workshop, Connect, which helps associates learn to gather pertinent information to help them not only achieve a sale but also build customer relationships, leading to them finding the perfect new home. Salespeople spend time learning about buyer behavior, understanding and focusing on the customer’s emotional needs, and appealing to the senses.
The final workshop, Inspire, is all about inspiring customers to decide to rent an apartment in a Gables community. Inspire focuses on helping associates understand different personality types and how to adjust their presentation to help fit their customers’ preferences toward interaction and information gathering. In addition, this workshop delves into the science of the brain to create awareness of human reaction to decision-making during a sales presentation. Each workshop incorporates videos, some “starring” Gables associates demonstrating best practices. Facilitators also use experiential learning activities, such as peeling an orange to understand how powerful questions can peel back layers of customer information.
Results
Results to date are positive:
- Learner evaluations indicate high overall satisfaction with course material (average 6.5 out of 7 points) and strong anticipation of using knowledge gained during the workshops (6.3 points out of 7).
- In 12 months, 98 percent of associates assigned ECI in their formal development plan completed the series, 419 in total, indicating high supervisor commitment to this learning program.
- Within 30 days of completing ECI, trainers contact the learners’ supervisors; in more than 90 percent of these post-evaluations, supervisors report that learners have acquired sales skills they did not have before attending ECI.
- Average evaluation scores for LTGW vs. ECI have increased by more than 10 percent.
- Most importantly, ECI workshops helped drive a 15 percent increase in customer satisfaction scores in 12 months, exceeding the corporate goal by 10 percent.
