#34 - People Over Process with Ryan Taft

Jen Barkan welcomed a very special guest to OPT this week, Ryan Taft, the Founder and CIO of Impact Eighty-Eight! They kicked things off sharing key takeaways from the 2025 International Builders' Show, recapping DYC's upcoming Online Sales Academy, and giving a shout out to Lena Burgin with Level Homes, who recently won OSC Rookie of the Year for 2025! Topic of Today: People Over Process (19:00): There is a lot of conversation happening right now surrounding "We need more sales!" The 2025 spring selling season feels a bit different this year, hence the importance of the saying, "Don't get prepared, stay prepared." In every sales team, often the #1 closer is the online sales professional. There is a difference between getting a customer to agree to an appointment, and wanting to go to an appointment. There's a transfer of emotion when setting appointments, and it's important to promote the experience. Avoid making it feel transactional! People don't buy with logic, they buy with emotion, and it's important not to go too far information-wise on initial calls. The goal of the handoff is to excite the imagination of meeting the sales person, and to reduce anxiety by humanizing them. Addressing friction between online and onsite sales, and understanding that the relationship is a give-get model. Anytime there is friction, you can complain about it, or you can do something about it! Ryan shares the story of Impact Eighty-Eight, and how the question of "What do you want to do?" changed everything. He shares his perspective that when the process becomes priority, the people can get lost, and his goal is to put people first in his training. Skills Check: Are You Tracking the Handoff? (45:30):  It's important to be proactive if you feel like your team could be doing a better job with the handoff process. Jen suggests tracking the handoff in your CRM or appointment tracker. This will allow you to have more concrete information to base next steps off of.