266 Distinguishing Your Sales and Marketing - Taylor Humphrey Apr 30 2025

Greg Bray: [00:00:00] Hello, everybody. And welcome to today's episode of the Home Builder Digital Marketing Podcast. I'm Greg Bray with Blue Tangerine. 

Kevin Weitzel: And I'm Kevin Weitzel with OutHouse. 

Greg Bray: And we're excited to have joining us on the show today, Taylor Humphrey. Taylor is the Director of Sales and Marketing at Pacesetter Homes. Welcome, Taylor. Thanks for being with us. 

Taylor Humphrey: Hey, thank you so much for having me. 

Greg Bray: Well, Taylor, let's start off. Let's just get to know a little bit about you. Give us that quick background overview about yourself. 
Taylor Humphrey: Uh, background overview. I like to say I'm just a construction manager or an ops guy that just likes to talk to people. Started as a construction manager [00:01:00] almost 20 years ago. I'm working on year 20 and have pretty much either managed or been in just about every seat in the industry. So, I get to be the director of sales and marketing for a wonderful company today, but hopefully that's just today's seat. So, we'll see how it goes.

Kevin Weitzel: You know, it's crazy that Taylor says right out of the gate that he's been in the industry almost 20 years working on his 20th year because we don't use video on our podcast, obviously, but if it wasn't for his beard, you'd swear he was like 12. He's got the youngest, most youthful face, I think, in the entire industry, at least on the male side of the spectrum.

Taylor Humphrey: I love you. I love you. Thank you so much for saying that. As a construction manager, when I first started, I was 22. And I would always have the same joke like, Hey, I'm super excited. This is my first house, even though I had been doing this for eight, nine years at that point, but, uh, yeah, no, thanks, Kevin.

Kevin Weitzel: That's funny. Well, before we get started, can we find out one personal tidbit, some item about you that has nothing to do with work, family, or the home building industry? 

Taylor Humphrey: You [00:02:00] know, this is good information. My sales team was asking me some background information the other day. When I was younger, much younger, for 13 years, I was a sponsored triathlete. So, I've done just about every race you can do from an endurance standpoint. Now that my daughter's a little older, I think you might see me getting back into some new stuff. So, yeah.

Kevin Weitzel: Well, you're talking to the founder of the largest triathlon shop in the western half of the United States. It was called Tribe Multisport.

Taylor Humphrey: What? 

Kevin Weitzel: So, what was your bike of choice? What was your ride? 

Taylor Humphrey: One of our sponsors was Felt. I always rode a Felt. But, no knock on anybody, I think I'll be getting away with that with my next purchase. 

Kevin Weitzel: There you go. All right. 

Taylor Humphrey: Yeah. I didn't know that, Kevin. 

Greg Bray: And you see, you don't necessarily always get to pick the bike you want. You pick the bike that's paying for everything else. 

Taylor Humphrey: That's exactly right. I still have it. His name is Chuck Norris. I love him. 

Kevin Weitzel: So, speaking of that, Greg, you're speaking the truth because when I was racing pro, I was a professional cyclist, not a triathlete, [00:03:00] professional cyclist from 83 to 89 and Oakley was this up-and-coming eyewear brand. And I was the first junior, the first junior, sponsored by Oakley, and I had the first year factory pilots. The very next year I get picked up by Avocet Bolle. Bolle glasses, there were these big giant bug-eye, they practically were goggles, and I felt so stupid wearing them. But they actually paid us. It wasn't just a product sponsorship, they actually paid us. So, I think I made like four grand as a 16-year-old wearing bole glasses. What am I going to do turn that down? No,

Taylor Humphrey: Right. You're definitely going to do it. Yeah, there were some sponsorship for well, I won't mention any brands, but they were supplements and it's a lot easier to not use those than sunglasses, you know. 

Kevin Weitzel: Yeah, absolutely. 

Taylor Humphrey: Yeah. 

Greg Bray: So Taylor, tell us a little more about how you went from being on the front lines of actually getting the homes built to moving into the lead generation and the sales management and that piece of the business. [00:04:00] 

Taylor Humphrey: Yeah. So, it was one of those things where I came into the industry, I didn't know I wanted to do it. If you know the company called Lovesac, they're giant bean bags. I actually got into where I was building their stores around the country and then met a girl where I wanted to stay in one location. You know, women will do that. Right. 

Kevin Weitzel: Oh.

Taylor Humphrey: She's still my wife today, 21 years, something like that. Anyway, so I was like, what can I do where I stay in one location, but I'm still building something? And that's how I got into home building. My grandfather sold homes in Houston for 25 years. So, I grew up running around model homes, running around neighborhoods and I was like, I don't want to do it his way. Right? Every young guy does that. And I'm like, I want to do it my way. 

So, I was like, I'm gonna go through the construction side and so it kind of took off from there. From day one, I had a fantastic owner. His name was Bill Darling. He made an impression on me day one and I was like, I want to be like that guy. And so, my whole career path has been every day. How can I be a division president? How can [00:05:00] I make it to that role? 

To go to the triathlon terms brick by brick. I wanted to learn something every day and I want to sit in the roles of the people that I, you know, manage. Right? So, having built homes forever I was like, well, how can I manage salespeople having never sold something? And so, I went to my manager at the time and was like, Hey, I've been building now at this point for eight years. This is the role I want to go to, and can you make me into a salesperson? 

And for that company that has now been purchased by Taylor Morrison, but I was the first trainee that they'd ever had to move into sales. And so, the rest is kind of gone from there. I've been a part of starting three different home builders. So, been able to sit in different seats. 
Kevin Weitzel: Well, that's an interesting take about helping start three different companies. But I have a question for you because a lot of companies have moved into having a VP of sales or having a VP of marketing. Do you find that being a major player both that that is a benefit or do [00:06:00] you think that it taxes you a little bit too much? 

Taylor Humphrey: You know, it's funny. I was just having this conversation last week. I think it takes the right person. I think there are sales leaders that are great sales leaders and they just don't think marketing wise, and that's fine. And I think there's really good tactical marketing people that they focus on that. If you like myself, where you like to live in both worlds, then it's all about communication. 
We were just talking about, hey, we want to do a promotion. If you're the sales leader, well, you kind of know your budgets and you know what, especially today, there's a lot of interest rates and things that are not necessarily super sexy to be marketed. Well, you need to package that and then go to your marketing side and go, okay, here's what I want to do, but how do I get it out there? And there's a lot of trust that needs to go into that. So, for me, I'm just lucky that I feel like I can live in both camps. 

Greg Bray: So, before we get too far into some of these details, because I think there's a lot to unpack in some of this, let's just learn a little bit more about Pacesetter [00:07:00] Homes, specifically. Where do you guys build? Who are you guys working with from a target audience and buyer demographic? 

Taylor Humphrey: Yeah. So, worldwide or all of the US and Canada, we're owned by Qualico, which is our parent company, privately held. But for Pacesetter, we've been in Dallas for 8 years now, and we'll do about 500 homes this year.

Our target audience is really that second, third-time move-up. We're a huge focus on choice, meaning there's a lot of builders going the opposite direction where it's like, oh, great, we make all the decisions for you and here's your just straight payment. We're trying to go the opposite direction. And while in some of our communities, we have some packages, really, it's about choice and personalization and some higher architectural details. There are builders that want to live in that low price four walls and a door. And we kind of want to elevate and go where there's air in the room if you will. 

Kevin Weitzel: Wait, you get a door?

Taylor Humphrey: Yeah, I know, [00:08:00] right? Man, right now, I know everybody's trying to get to the lowest price point to try and get a payment down because of rates and everything. You know, we're trying to do that too where it makes sense. But also, you should be proud about your house when you look at it. Kevin, if you and I bought the same floor plan with Pacesetter, we can spend the same amount of money and our homes will not look anything alike. Whereas at other builders, they're going to look the exact same. We're going to have the same tile. We're going to have the same flooring and countertops and everything. And there's a buyer for that. We're just trying to elevate a little bit higher. 

Greg Bray: So, Taylor, talk a little bit more about the influence of your opportunities to work in other parts of the business and how that Influences and illuminates your view of the sales and marketing and customer journey process. Do you find that you have more empathy for the customer or more empathy for the production team and the things they're going through when you have to be the one to tell the customer there's this delay or there's this product [00:09:00] issue or whatever? How does all of that experience kind of roll up to make your job today either easier, harder, better, or worse?

Taylor Humphrey: I think it's kind of my secret sauce, honestly, is that having set in those different roles. You know, you're probably like, Hey, he's talking a lot. Yes. I like to talk a lot, right? That's what I do. 

So, I focus on communication and you hit the nail on the head with empathy, having respect and appreciation for everybody's seat in the business, and at the end of the day, knowing construction and sales, those are your frontline people. Those are your customers. As a manager, the focus is on the sales and construction that are taking care of the customer. And if you can take care of that customer, they're going to take care of your external customer. 

So, being able to set things up and go, Hey, I understand salesperson you want to do this and that'll take care of the customer, but here's the impact that it's going to have on your partner and vice versa. At the end of the day, we sell houses. That's what we do as a company. We're a sales [00:10:00] driven company. So it helps me kind of explain to the different departments that their job matters. And everything we're doing at the end is to have a better customer experience and have a better product, and I think our customers see that. 

Greg Bray: So, what are some things that you guys are doing digitally then to enhance that customer experience? What are some of the tools that you find that make a difference or that help the sales team in their communications or help the marketing team with lead generation?

Taylor Humphrey: Yeah, there's a lot to unpack with that. I feel like right now definitely with today's consumer video is key. Whether that's updates, whether that's prospecting. We do a lot of BombBomb videos. You're seeing a lot more realtors and salespeople out on Instagram and we need to be there too, having a digital presence there.

But then, once you're under contract with us, or even going through our prospecting, a lot of our stuff is digital. We use a company today called NoviHome. And so, that acts as a platform for us to upload videos and [00:11:00] pictures as the buyer is going through the process. And then, it also is a front-end platform, every home has a Matterport, every home has a digital brochure. And then we've expanded that too.

So, we feel like somebody does want to have something when they come through the door. You know, you're not going to end up with 20 pages in a packet that costs a million dollars to keep in front everybody and then, oh, you do plan changes and now it all needs to be updated. So, what we've done is really put a big focus on our digital brochures. So, it's a simple QR code the buyer can scan and it has everything that they would have in our brochures digitally attached to Matterports and a bunch of additional information that you just really couldn't get on paper. And we really digitize that experience. 

And I've got one more step there too. I'm rolling out a big project actually at the end of the month, where as a consumer, a lot of buyers have never been through this process. We do it 500 times in a year. They've never been there. We [00:12:00] put a lot of emphasis over the last couple of years laying out our customer experience, training to what we want that to look like. But now, through HubSpot, we have done, ultimately it's 13 videos with 13 different emails that come out every step of the way. So, as a construction manager clicks off, your roof is completed. The next meeting would be your frame walk. 

So, you get a nice video that says, Hey, here's what a frame walk is. Here's what to expect. And then we've kind of put in some memories in there of, Hey, while you're there, we're going to supply you with some Sharpies if you want to mark on the two by fours or whatever, to just enhance the overall experience. Plus we're going to put in some tags that you can use on Instagram so we can get credit for those things, so.
Greg Bray: Kevin, do you hear that? They let them color on the walls to enhance the experience. 

Kevin Weitzel: I love it.
 
Taylor Humphrey: Not on the concrete. Every construction manager is like, don't touch the concrete, but the two-by-fours. Think of the emotional connection when that spouse or daughter goes and marks on [00:13:00] the two by four that that's their room. What's your cancellation rate do if they write on the two-by-four that this is? You know, Molly's room. You're not going anywhere. That's Molly's room now. 

Kevin Weitzel: And if you do cancel, Molly's gonna have psychological issues for the rest of her life. She's gonna be that nightmare child that you just worry about that's gonna be in a gutter someday. So, I've got a question for you because you mentioned some fantastic partners out there. We've got relationships with all those guys that you mentioned. Because a lot of companies are like, wow, we got to just do this in-house. My nephew knows how to build websites and I've got my niece that she knows how to shoot videos. When do you determine what you're going to do internally with your team and what you're going to bring in a trade partner for? 

Taylor Humphrey: Man, I got a couple of answers for that. One of which is that we run a small team. There's myself and two other people that's on our team, and so we look at work geniuses. What are things that we as a team do really, really well, and what are we not? What's time? Bandwidth, bandwidth, bandwidth. What can we actually get [00:14:00] to and what can we execute on? Right now, we were talking about digital things. We're working on interactive plat maps that Kevin at OutHouse you're helping us do that. Not to just throw that across the bow, but it's Hey, we're not good at that, but you are. 

And then the second half to that, too, is there's so many things like Google Analytics, we've seen Facebook change over the years. Our job is not to stay on the forefront of that, but our partners, it's their job. That's what they do. It's like, Hey, I would rather spend more time, money, and effort having a really great Sherpa that's going to tell me where I need to go because I'm really good at home building. I'm not the world's best at digital marketing, but I can go get somebody that is, that can coach me and my team to be, the best that we can be in home building. 

Kevin Weitzel: So, basically you can hope that your bike is just going to stay levitating in the transition area, but in all reality it's better just to hang it onto the ready bar.

Taylor Humphrey: Yeah, go with what's proven and true and go with the experts. Don't go on your [00:15:00] cousin that thinks he can roll out a website. Because at the end of the day, your customer is going to go to that website. They're going to go to whatever your cousin created, and they're going to rule you out quickly because it doesn't look like the professional one that they see at brand X. So, I'll go, Hey, you know what? I'm not even going to get a look at that customer because I decided to save a few bucks versus being a professional home building company. 

Greg Bray: You know, Taylor, that really highlights a really interesting emotional, psychological phenomenon that's always fascinated me. And it's the way that someone will judge the quality of your product based on the experience they see on your website. Whether your website looks good or bad really has nothing to do with the quality of the home that you guys are putting out. But yet, in that moment of looking at it, it does reflect the quality of the home that you're putting out. Have you had any conversations like that with your team? Like, how do we make sure we really communicate the kind of home we're doing with the way the website works and [00:16:00] looks? 

Taylor Humphrey: 100%. Especially with rates and everything that's going on right now, every consumer is looking for some reason to rule you out. Exactly what you just said. They go to your website. It's a clunky experience. It doesn't matter whether it's true or not. But if Pacesetter's website is clunky, their customer experience is going to be clunky, meaning that is my first taste on Pacesetter. If that's any representation to the buying process, then it's going to be a clunky process with them and we never see that consumer. 

Greg Bray: So, you mentioned a few minutes ago about this whole video series that you guys have put together and how you are using that to enhance the entire journey and this is after contract during the build process that you're talking about right? Do you find that it's hard to keep your sales team focused after they've got the sale done, and then they've got to kind of wait all the way through the rest of it, or are they all fully engaged, hey, it's our job to kind of be there the whole way with the buyer?
 
Taylor Humphrey: So, we [00:17:00] have really great salespeople and we want them selling. But we also want them having a great customer experience so we require them every single week to touch base with their customers. But you can have the best training in the world, which I'm the best in the world. I'll say that, right? And I tell them all the same thing. And surely because I told them all the same thing, they're going to go say all the same things to their customers, right? It doesn't work that way, right? 

So, Chick-fil-A. I'm a huge Chick-fil-A fan. If you go to Chick-fil-A, every single time that sandwich tastes the exact same, right? It doesn't matter if I go to this one by my office or I go to one down the street, the sandwich is going to taste the same. So, if I can put some things in like these videos to ensure that the customer experience, they're going to get the same expectations every single time, I'll do that. That doesn't take away from the salesperson still having to check in with the customer, give them updates, and create a wonderful experience.
But I want my overall experience whether you walk into the model home I want the [00:18:00] front door to always be heavy so the first thing you do is you feel quality. I want my model homes to smell the same exact way, and I want the expectations to be set the same exact way every single time so we automate. 

You should always personalize, always personalize your customer experience. There's builders that are going away and minimizing the sales position. No, we're the opposite. We put a lot of time and effort into training those salespeople because at the end of the day, that's where your customer experience is at, and that's where your trust is at. We just want to put some tools around them to create the overall experience.

Kevin Weitzel: In 1974, before you were born, in 1974 Mercedes, in an effort to stay competitive and have that upper edge against all the competitors that were out there, that was during the gas crisis and cars were becoming lighter, smaller, cheaper so people could afford to buy them. You know, that Mercedes used the front door as their example. They said that when you walk into a house, you wanna feel the stature of that [00:19:00] door and the heft of it to know that you're in a quality home. So, they did not reduce the quality in the heft of their doors on their cars for that exact reason. 

Taylor Humphrey: I did not know that, but I 100 percent agree. There's a lot of builders that have fiberglass. You can feel it on the model home, right? And I'm not knocking it. There is a product for that. I want all of our models to look, smell, sound the same. So, every model has music going in it. This goes back to those Lovesac days. 

I look at every model as a retail space. As a salesperson, if you're listening to this, go check the air on the second floor. Because you can have the best energy-efficient home, but if you didn't turn the air up on the second floor, your prospect goes to the second floor. They're not there with you to realize, Oh, Hey, I didn't turn the AC on. They just think immediately, Oh, the second floor is hot. You can have the best AC in the business, you can have the best energy program in the business, but those silent sellers can go the opposite way and your buyer [00:20:00] goes, Oh, well, all the second floors in their houses are hot all because you didn't go check your retail space before your customer got there. I don't know how we got on that, but.
 
Greg Bray: Great example. Yeah. I keep waiting for Kevin to ask what you want the houses to smell like when they smell all the same. 
Kevin Weitzel: When he was talking about the temperature of the second floor. I'm like, well, can I smell the cookies on the second floor? That's what I want. 

Taylor Humphrey: Those things matter. It should smell clean. We've got some fragrances. I'm not going to tell our secrets, but it should all smell the same when you're there so that you know when you open the door, Hey, I'm in a Pacesetter Home. There's a difference. Because your customer doesn't realize what those differences are, why they feel so comfortable, but we're in the background going, Hey, this is your scene, this is your stage. We've set the stage and they know that there's mentally there's something different about the home that I'm in.

Kevin Weitzel: There are some truth to the scent. When I go through a mall, I can't even fit in this company's clothes, but when I walk into, I think it's Hollister is one of them and Abercrombie and Fitch or whatever [00:21:00] it is, when I walk into their stores, they smell amazing. 

Taylor Humphrey: It's fierce. I'm not going to say what my role was, but I'll tell you, I did work at Abercrombie and it's fierce. It was a great job when you're whatever, 17, 18 years old. 

Greg Bray: So, Taylor, you've talked a bit about the physical model. Let's talk about the digital model and a little bit about how you take that same type of care and the experience and how does that apply to the online lead and kind of the nurturing there through the website and some of the instances before they're visiting on-site.

Taylor Humphrey: Yeah. So, I just heard this by a good friend of mine, Ryan Taft. He did a podcast the other day, actually, where he was saying your best closer at your company is your online team. So, your first impression is that website, and then you want that website to be guiding them towards something, something that gets them to your salesperson, which is your online team so they can then set that meeting. So, follow-up is critical, first [00:22:00] impressions are critical by your online team. 

I can tell you I'm blessed in that I've got two in Austin and one here, and they're some of the best, just genuine people, and they care when they're asking the questions. They don't come off as cheesy and salesy, but they're ultimately trying to answer your questions and set an appointment. But they wouldn't even get that conversation if they got to your website and it didn't feel like something I want to buy.

We're going through a whole brand refresh right now, and that's one of the big focuses on our website is does it feel elevated? Does it feel like, hey, I want to buy this home? Or does it feel clunky and cheesy when I get on the site? I've got my opinions. I'm not going to bash my own website. But I've got some key things that I'm like, hey, we're changing this just because I want it to feel smooth. I want it to feel interactive and I want it to feel like, hey, there's a reason why I might be paying 5,000 dollars more, and I could feel it when I'm on the website, I can feel it when I talk to their team, and I can feel it when I'm in their model [00:23:00] home. 

Greg Bray: I applaud your vision there, Taylor. You're really connecting it all together and we don't always see that out there. People get a little too focused on one part over the other sometimes. 

Taylor Humphrey: Yeah, yeah, I think again, it's on the leaders themselves, And if it's not your focus, I mean, there's a lot of people that are operational leaders and they focus on home building, but that goes back to, that's why you hire some of these other companies to go, Hey, you're not thinking about this and you probably should be.

Greg Bray: Well, Taylor, you've been very generous with your time today, and man, we've covered a lot, but is there one thing as someone who kind of came into the sales and marketing, you know, not as your first step and you had to kind of teach yourself and learn, is there something you look back on as like, Oh man, if I had only known this sooner, if I'd only learned that, you know, earlier on, it would have made such a difference for me?

Taylor Humphrey: Yeah, two answers to that. But one of them is keep the main thing, the main thing. Lead generation and lead conversion, that's the business, right? Like, as a marketing [00:24:00] side, you're trying to generate those leads. From a sales side, you need to convert them. That's what you're looking for is, when I'm looking at my website, when I'm looking at my NHCs, when I'm looking at my walk in traffic, where's the funnel? Where's the breakdown? What do I need to do to increase both of those, lead generation and lead conversion? 
And then the second half to that is, hey, take a chance. Do something. Do something different because I see a lot in home builders that they all look the same, especially when you look at Facebook ads, it's just, hey, that's a house. 

Kevin Weitzel: That's craziness. 

Taylor Humphrey: Right. I know, but hey, there's people, like I said, they're really good at building houses. That is great, but trust your marketing team, trust yourself, trust your gut, go take a chance. 

Kevin Weitzel: Greg, I'm glad you asked that question because we are so tired of hearing the same answer to that what advice would you give yourself? And almost every time it's, I want to be more like Taylor. And we're getting tired of that answer. We truly are. 

Taylor Humphrey: I feel great about myself. 

Kevin Weitzel: It's getting ridiculous. [00:25:00] So, the fact that weren't self-centered and say I want to be more like me, you know, it's a breath of fresh air, brother. 

Taylor Humphrey: Thank you so much. 

Kevin Weitzel: Hey on a serious note, man, you are amazing. And I'm going to put this out there, Greg. You ready for this one? This is gonna be oneof our top ten episodes.

Taylor Humphrey: Oh man, that's a huge compliment. Thank you so much. 

Kevin Weitzel: Well, the numbers will be the proof in the pudding, but I am a firm believer in you and the game you play and the path that you walk. I'm just paying you a compliment, my man. I truly respect you in the industry and even though you look like you're four, Uh, no. You know what? Today you look like you're 12 'cause at least you have a beard.

Taylor Humphrey: It's about to go. It's about to go. 

Kevin Weitzel: But, but as young as you are, I do love the fact that you are constantly looking at betterment. You're constantly looking at ways that you can make yourself better. Not just your team, but yourself too. So, that's an admirable. 

Taylor Humphrey: Thank you. 

Greg Bray: Well, Taylor, do you have any last thoughts or words of advice that you want to leave with our audience today before we finish up? 

Taylor Humphrey: Yeah, words of advice is don't let somebody pigeonhole you. I [00:26:00] was a construction manager and I wanted to be in sales and they would say, oh, you're just a construction manager. Then I went to sales and they were like, oh, you can't be in ops and you can't be in management because you're just a. So, if somebody tells you just a then tell them, watch me. 

Greg Bray: Awesome. Great advice. Well, Taylor, if somebody wants to connect with you, what's the best way for them to reach out and get in touch?

Taylor Humphrey: LinkedIn's huge. I have a big presence there. And then Instagram, it's taylor.humphrey.new.homesales. Reach out there. It's long, but I was like, hey, it's gotta be different. But LinkedIn's probably the quickest and easiest. Reach out. If you got questions, whatever, I'm always here to help anybody I can.

Greg Bray: Well, thanks again, Taylor, for your time today. And thank you everybody for listening to The Home Builder Digital Marketing Podcast. I'm Greg Bray with Blue Tangerine. 

Kevin Weitzel: And I'm Kevin Weitzel with OutHouse. Thank you. [00:27:00]