October 2014
A tailor-made sales training programme is being rolled out internally for Story Homes’ sales executives.
Story Homes’ ever growing sales team is undertaking the ‘Aspirational Sales Performance’ programme which has been specifically designed with Story Homes’ aspirational product and customer base in mind.
Story Homes own sales team, including Louise McGuckin, Head of Sales, and Sales Managers Susan Pollard and Hayley Blair, have designed the unique programme alongside sales training expert Patti Bailey. Patti will also deliver many of the modules and training days to the sales team.
The training programme was launched in October at the North Lakes Hotel in Penrith with two days of training and sessions with external partners. The training is ongoing and can be added to as the business evolves, with the sales team themselves also asked to lead on aspects of the training, championing certain areas of the role and supporting their colleagues to deliver the best customer experience at all times.
Louise McGuckin, Head of Sales, and Patti Bailey
Louise McGuckin, Head of Sales for Story Homes said: “Just two years ago, we had ten Sales Executives. Now, thanks to the growth in the market as well as our expansion into new geographical areas, we have 22 Sales Executives within our team.
“The main aim of our Aspirational Sales Performance programme is to ensure that as we grow, we can retain a top class sales team who can meet the expectations of customers who are buying high quality and high specification homes. We have referred to ‘The Emirates Experience’ throughout the design of the programme to ensure we maintain best in field at all times.
“We need consistency across each of our developments and as we grow into new regions, this is more important than ever. Our training programme will be delivered on an ongoing basis to ensure we don’t get complacent and we continue to stay at the top of our game. The training has been extremely well received by the team, has encouraged camaraderie amongst colleagues and has proven to be invaluable in the first few weeks alone.”
Sales Executive Jane Graham, 43, has been working in sales for 19 years, working at Story Homes for four of these. Jane said of the programme: “It’s not only a great refresher for me but I have also picked up some new ideas and techniques on advising customers about various buying incentives.
“The face to face training was a chance to meet up with the team and discuss experiences and ensure that we are all working to the same processes. I’m looking forward to the next sessions as it has given me a real boost and made me think about my role in more depth.”
Story Homes has been developing high quality and high specification homes for more than 27 years. The family grown business, which started in Carlisle, has big expansion plans and has recently opened new developments in Lanarkshire in Scotland, Teeside in North East England and Lancashire in the North West.
