The NEW Lessons Learned from This Year's Mystery Shopping Benchmark Study

Are Your Buyer's Stories Popcorn Worthy?

Are your buyers telling you their real story… or just the safe, rehearsed version they think you want to hear? In this Head-to-Head episode, Kimberly Mackey and Ryan Taft go back and forth on what it really takes to uncover popcorn-worthy buyer stories—the kind that reveal motivation, urgency, and emotional drivers that actually move sales forward. Ryan introduces his 3 R’s—Retell, Relive, Refill — as a framework to help buyers reconnect with their own experiences and decision-making moments. Kimberly challenges how—and when—those stories show up in real model home conversations, especially in today’s slower traffic environment. Together, they tackle the questions sales teams and leaders are wrestling with right now: * Why do buyers hold back their real motivations early in the process? * How do you move beyond surface-level discovery without interrogating or overselling? * What’s the difference between listening to a buyer… and actually hearing them? * How can sales leaders coach storytelling and discovery in a way that’s practical, repeatable, and measurable? They also dig into the realities of the sales environment itself, from getting out of the office and into the home, to creating space for conversations that feel collaborative instead of scripted. This isn’t about telling better stories to buyers. It’s about learning how to draw the story out of them—and knowing what to do once you hear it. If you’re a sales professional, sales leader, or marketer who wants deeper discovery, stronger connection, and conversations that actually convert, this Head-to-Head delivers both the framework and the field-tested perspective to make it work.

Persistence- The Key to Effective Follow-Up

Persistence: The Key to Effective Follow-Up Where’s the line between persistent follow-up…and being that salesperson? In this episode of Head-to-Head, Kimberly Mackey of New Homes Solutions Consulting sits down with S. Robert August of North Star Synergies, Inc., to explore the human side of follow-up—how to earn the right to stay in touch, deliver value with every contact, and remain top-of-mind without crossing the line. The conversation digs into discovery-driven questions, setting expectations early, and why most sales teams struggle not with effort, but with consistency and intention. This episode is especially valuable for sales leaders looking to strengthen follow-up discipline across onsite and online teams. Kimberly also shares a simple sales-meeting exercise: mapping follow-up cadence by buyer timeframe so teams stop guessing, start planning, and build confidence in what to say—and when to say it. If follow-up feels awkward, forced, or easy to abandon, this conversation will help reframe it as what it should be: a professional skill, not a personality trait.

Where Did All My Web Traffic Go?

Where did all your web traffic go? If leads feel softer… If traffic is down but nothing is “broken”… If sales teams are working harder and converting less… You’re not imagining it. In this episode of Head-to-Head, Kimberly Mackey sits down with Greg Bray, President of Blue Tangerine [http://bluetangerine.com] and co-host of the Builder Marketing Podcast, [https://www.buildermarketingpodcast.com/] to unpack how AI-powered search is reshaping buyer behavior, visibility, and lead flow—long before sales ever gets involved. This isn’t a marketing tactics episode. It’s a sales and business performance conversation. You’ll learn why traffic drops don’t always mean demand is gone, how AI search changes lead quality, and why alignment between sales, marketing, and leadership is now critical to protecting results. If you’re responsible for sales outcomes, marketing investment, or forecasting, this episode will help you connect the dots. Listen in. Because when visibility disappears, sales always feels it first.

The NEW Lessons Learned from This Year's Mystery Shopping Benchmark Study

In this Head-to-Head episode, Kimberly Mackey welcomes back Leah Turner of Melinda Brodie & Company to review the latest Mystery Shopping Benchmark Study and what it reveals about today’s buyer experience.  For the first time, the study showed a decline in every category—raising big questions about consistency, coaching, and execution.  Highlights include: builder story (30%), asking for the sale (45%), and model demonstration (84%)—plus practical guidance for sales leaders on getting out of the office and back into the field where performance is built.

Slowing Traffic? Now What? How to Keep Selling Now!

Head-to-Head: Slowing Traffic? Now What? How to Keep Selling Now with Roland Nairnsey | New Home Sales Plus Traffic slowing down? Models getting quieter? Waiting it out is not a strategy. In this timely episode of Head-to-Head, Kimberly Mackey is joined by Roland Nairnsey of New Home Sales Plus to tackle one of the biggest challenges sales professionals and builders face right now: how to keep selling when traffic slows. This isn’t theory—it’s a practical, high-energy conversation packed with a Top 10 list of actions you can take right now to create momentum, generate activity, and drive results in a tough market. From smarter Realtor outreach and community partnerships to creative social strategies that stop the scroll, this episode delivers ideas you can actually use—today. You’ll hear how to: * Build stronger Realtor relationships without sounding transactional * Create grassroots community connections that lead to real traffic * Use social media and video in ways that feel human, not salesy * Align Sales and Marketing to multiply impact * Turn slow periods into an advantage instead of a setback This episode is a rally cry for sales pros, marketers, and builder leaders who refuse to sit back and wait for conditions to improve. Because activity creates activity—and predictable sales don’t happen by accident. 🎧 Listen now, subscribe to Head-to-Head with New Homes Solutions, and get back in control of your sales—no matter what the market is doing.