We've had so many fantastic interviews thus far but I felt we needed an interview with someone on the front lines. Who better than Kathy Klinger from Epcon Communities. We had a great talk. It seemed we already knew each other from all of our Facebook banter but I knew she would have a lot to offer.
Please meet Kathy Klinger.

Kathy tell us how you got started in the industry.

I was working as a Director of Development for The American Cancer Society in Brevard County Florida when they eliminated that level job across the state. I decided to get my Real Estate license and volunteer instead of work for non-profits going forward. I was offered a position with Mercedes Homes as the Corporate Sales and Marketing Coordinator working directly for Sue Girard who started Mercedes Homes with her Father. I felt like I was being paid to learn. I worked directly with Sue Girard who is extremely intelligent, passionate about new home sales, a perfectionist and creative. I researched new home sales trends and reported findings to Senior Managers and Division Presidents, I created, analyzed, and disseminated pertinent financial analysis and budget reports, assisted in the implementation of corporate advertising concepts and promotions for all 12 divisions company-wide and many other varied sales, training, customer service and marketing responsibilities. It was a great chance for me to get baptized into the business.

I was then recruited by KB Home. Brad Jones and Scott Oberlink gave me the opportunity to work as a salesperson for a new division and then to move into the Performance Coach position. I received national level training as a result of my performance. Being in a start up division was another great opportunity to learn the business on all levels and aspects. It was my desire to work in management since receiving my degree from Purdue in Organizational Leadership and Supervision with a minor in Communication. I found a niche in coaching. I went on to become the Sales Manager/Trainer for Standard Pacific Homes in South Florida and managed 20 sales people and communities from West Palm Beach to Miami. I love helping people learn to sell new homes.

When I moved back to Indiana two years ago to be closer to my family and help with my aging parents, I wasn’t sure I would be able to stay in the same industry. It is my passion and I was thrilled to be recruited from my Linkedin.com profile for my current position with Villas at Summit Reserve an Epcon Community. I consider myself very lucky to have been in a lot of right places at the right time.

Allow me to say at this point....."recruited from her LinkedIn profile....Social Media at its best!"

What is your current business?

I simply find the right home for each customer that walks into my model. When they’re happy with their homes they tell other people and our business grows. As Epcon Communities Sales Manager, I need to be the expert and my customers expect that too. It’s my job to educate the buyer and build the relationship that will tell me about their needs. The easier I can make it for them the easier the overall process of buying a home will be for them. The more I know about them and what they want, the better my relationships and the better the customer satisfaction.

What makes your company different?

Epcon Communities, leads the industry in understanding and delivering on the benefit of maintenance free, step free living. This has been our singular focus for almost twenty-five years. We believe customers value the benefits of maintenance free, quality homes in boutique style neighborhoods and we provide that for our residents.. We’ve moved up the ladder in the builder top 100 list which is a great achievement. We continue to makes advances in our overall profits and customer satisfaction which says a lot about our company. Epcon is also different because we have franchises which is not common among national builders. It gives us the best of both worlds in that we have the backing of a national company but also the benefit of being a local mom & pop builder. This is important because so many people like to do business with local companies. We put money back into our local markets.

What benefit do you or your company bring to the building industry?

I get to work with a company with a great reputation in the industry and that builds in 31 states. I get a great degree of satisfaction representing a company with a great reputation and a top product like ours. I strive to personally be a trendsetter and bring value from my experiences in various areas of the country and many areas of the industry.

To our colleagues in the industry we are trend leaders who stay very focused on our target market. Through our franchise development system we offer them the opportunity to join the nation's leader in for sale attached condominiums..
What is your personal field of expertise?
I am creative, enjoy meeting people, training and building relationships. I love to network. This is one of the greatest extensions of my sales skills. Helping other professionals connect with the right people is rewarding and being successful is also about helping others be successful.

I’ve had the great privilege to train with some of the top people in our industry such as Charles Clarke III, Myers Barnes, Jeff Shore, Mike Lyon, Meredith Oliver, Ryan Taft, and Melinda Brody to name a few. As the team leader (a position normally assigned to the head of construction) for my community when I was at KB Home, one of my responsibilities was to keep the construction team on schedule, update status on homes under construction and hold everyone on the team accountable to overall customer satisfaction. I’ve been honored to study so many of the markets around the nation and understand so many of the processes that it makes it easy to convey that experience to buyers as well as those that I might train.

The building industry is evolving. What's your take on this?

I believe you will see a few trends, one larger builders getting larger by acquiring other building companies. The other trend, and the one we will follow, will be builders staying very focused on what they do and understanding that there is a market for builders who focus on a target and are very effective at hitting that target.

I think we’re going to see that less is more. Over size square footage homes are going away. Smaller homes and maintenance free living are going to become more desirable. People want to live more in community oriented homes where shopping is close, work is close and the demand for “living out in the country” is weakening. They value more closeness for economic savings as well as energy efficiency. This is why I earned my Green Certified Professional designation from the Builders Association. It will be the norm of the future and I strive to be a trendsetter and proactive.

Marketing has totally changed with regards to the Internet. We have to be way ahead of the curve in this area, so in response, I have plugged myself into the social media phenomenon. The Internet is a non confrontational way to make a presentation of our homes. It is an easy way to build relationships which is critical to success in sales. People have less time and they don’t want to be sold they want to be educated when they walk into your door. It’s a lot easier to use the Internet than spending a lot of time in gas, time and money to look for a new home. Too many builders don’t understand the importance of using tools like Face Book, YouTube & Twitter. Take for example our relationship with Ed. We’ve never actually met but we have a relationship and are now doing things together like this interview because of social media. This is no different than if you were a possible client. It costs me nothing and I’m building relationships with people. At some point when someone wants to buy a villa, they’ll think of me. Eventually people are going to realize the importance of this kind of marketing but where will you be? Ahead of the curve or way behind? The way I look at it, if it doesn’t cost you anything to be ahead of the curve then why not do it?

Another trend I’ve noticed are the children looking for homes for their parents. So who do you need to sell in that situation, those doing the looking (generation x’rs or the Baby Boomer parents that aren’t even there)?
I have to sell both. I need to appeal to both generations and social media will resonate with the x’ers , the product with the Baby Boomers.

What have you had to overcome to adapt to the market changes?

I have succeeded at being flexible in my approach to customers I meet. Understanding that what worked two weeks ago may be different than what works today and what may work in two weeks. For example interest rates drove buyers at one point, then upgrades for their homes, today we are seeing the market open up and their is a sense of urgency that is beginning to permeate with our buyers. This is what makes new home sales both challenging and exciting all at the same time!
I’ve realized the importance of being ahead of the curve, in touch with the trends and being creative to be able to supply the needs of my individual buyers.

This is one of my favorite quotes that sums up my focus in the current new home sales market:
“Tolerance and an open mind are practical necessities of the dreamer of today. Those who are afraid of new ideas are doomed before they start. Never has there been a time more favorable to pioneers than the present...” Napoleon Hill (1883–1970)

To connect with Kathy
Her LinkedIn profile
Her Facebook profile

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