Skip to content
Let's Talk

Issue II: Leadership, Sales Science, and Quarters Ending

Diana Wallace
Diana Wallace |

Leadership for OSCs

OSCs can get a bad rep for how their program or leadership does or doesn't operate. Yes, a huge part of this role is personality and drive; but an OSC without a leader who trusts and believes in them often appears to be lazy, unengaged, or just plain bad. 

Sometimes it's a program that's set up without OSC input. These can be corporate programs where in order to create fairness they have to take out nuance or it's someone heading up the role who hasn't sat in the role. 

What OSCs need most in a leader is trust and that's something that takes time on both ends. Trust means your OSC can actively manage your CRM and design the system so they can maximize their efforts. Trust means your OSC has complete transparency into company goals and objectives. Trust means your OSC is part of conversations even when the sales team may not be. 

Your OSC is the front line and they've got to be trusted with a lot of information and know how and when to use it. Their emotional maturity and ability to discern what information to use when is their superpower. If you lead an OSC, are you lifting them up to that space?

You can plop a lot of people into this role but when you have the right kind of leader and OSC together it means the program soars. 

If you're not sure if you're doing it right or you want to chat about it, I offer open hours every Thursday here: On Demand Coaching.

Still not sure how to best help your OSC thrive? Our fractional OSC leadership is a great way to get some eyes on your team. Ask about our Residency next time we chat.

This Month on Substack

We explored some big topics last month, click here to read them: 

I Didn't Want to Go Here

Maybe it’s self-preservation but I have been lying to myself about addressing the big elephant in the room. If I’m honest with myself, the whole point of a weekly guide is to address things that are going on right now for all of us. Still, I didn’t want to talk about this and turn anyone off, but you know what? You all are dealing with it every day on the phone.

So it’s time to talk about the T word.

Let's Do A CRM Audit

You can see big shifts in profiles based on who’s caring for your CRM.

As an OSC we have to be bulletproof in our CRM audits. It’s our entire workspace and we have to keep it up to date. You wouldn’t let your car go 5 years without an oil change right?

Think of your audits just like that: every quarter doing a little maintenance to keep the whole operation running smoothly.

Change My Mind: The Most Impactful Communication is Your Day 1 Messaging

It’s easy to compare ourselves on social media. The best OSCs are out there being interviewed and winning awards…but what’s really happening behind the scenes?

We’re all assuming everyone is responding to leads or has the basic processes in place.

For me, I don’t just stop at curiosity. I verify what’s going on. That means I shop OSCs in and out of the spotlight on a regular basis and every single time I am reminded that we all need some support.

It’s not enough to say we’ve hired an OSC our problems are solved, no, we have to get really detailed about how that program is running and what’s going on.

Don’t have an OSC? This still applies to you.

You know what happened on my shop this month? I got zero response from every form I filled out, except for an obvious owner, who emailed me after 8pm and asked me to come in for a meeting.

Proptech and the OSC

The OSC is supposed to be the tech person on the team, right? I’ll let you in on a little secret: for all the tech I use to make my day more efficient and communicate better, I find myself identifying with Luddites more than I care to admit.

This week I read a post from someone on LinkedIn who was really frustrated with a closet supplier. They wanted a quote and not to spend hours in an in-home consultation. Instead as they said, ‘they got put into a process just because it was ‘the process’’.

So, how does this relate? Well, it had me thinking about the mental gymnastics we go through to gatekeep pricing and details from our potential customers just to score a meeting with them.

Closing the Quarter

We're just about to close out our quarter and I'm getting mixed signals from most of my clients. While many created aggressive first quarter goals knowing that things might still be shaky, it's been a bit of a roller coaster ride. 

And that feels pretty normal.

While the market has been somewhat unpredictable, we know that's actually more predictable at this point. We wrote about handling that on our Substack and how some of those conversations might go. 

Here's the thing: you're quarter is likely set at this point. You might have some sales trickle in, but as an OSC your foundation was set in month 1. 

Whether you're there or not, it's time to look at Q2. What did you learn the last month that you can use to your advantage? Everything you're booking now is going to make your next quarter. Are you completing the right discovery? 

Reflect now so that you can dial yourself in. 

And if you did knock this quarter out of the water, congratulations! This is not an easy time to do our job, but it's what we're made for. We are built for the long game as OSCs. 

 

Featured Service: Execute | Program Design

Our program design is based on nearly a decade in the OSC seat and it comes from experiencing nearly every CRM. Knowing the fundamentals means we can walk into almost any tech set up and find a way to install your OSC processes. 

Who's this for?

This is not just for new OSC programs. Often folks think they've got what they need in place already, it's just the OSC. The thing is that our systems change and so do our methods. Getting your program and processes correct for who you are now is paramount. This is for any OSC program that isn't utilizing their CRM to it's fullest. If you don't have automation in place or email templates you can rely on, this is for you. If you do, maybe you just need a redesign because it isn't working so well. 

What does it look like? 

This requires a bit of interviewing and learning from you up front. We spend time getting to know you and your company and what your current goals are. We always put that in place first. Once we understand that we can build and shape your program. Technical implementation will be completed before we train you and your OSC on what we've built. We include check-ins post project completion to make sure you're utilizing everything to its fullest. 

Book an Intro Call to Learn More

Share this post

Keep reading