What is the sales administration department within a company like Maisons SIC, a specialist in the construction of individual houses for 50 years? It is, among other things, the monitoring and support of all the administrative stages (including relations with the bank, the broker, the notary, etc.) up to the programming of the opening of the site. With, as a primary objective, always, the greatest possible customer satisfaction.
Sales administration: a service at the heart of the company
Martine Laborde is an executive assistant, in charge of the sales administration department within Maisons SIC for over 6 years. With her 3 assistants, Martine Laborde follows sales, from the signing of the purchase order to the signing of the construction contract, until the lifting of the suspensive conditions. Once these suspensive conditions are lifted, the opening of the site can be scheduled. Each assistant then has a specific geographical sector and Martine Laborde supervises the 5 sales sectors: South, East, West, Center and Paris, with the 5 commercial sales managers and the 30 sales representatives. The company Maisons SIC also has an office in Paris which allows it to build new houses in the South-West for Parisians who are leaving the region and coming to settle elsewhere.
Where does Martine Laborde come from? The head of the sales administration department of Maisons SIC worked in a financial institution for over 20 years, but which was closed down. In this former profession, she already worked in collaboration with the Maisons SIC since it dealt with construction contracts Maisons SIC but on the other side, on the financing side. And when a position became available at Maisons SIC, she did not hesitate to apply and has never regretted it.
How does a file evolve within Maison SIC's sales administration?
At Maisons SIC, as soon as the purchase order is signed by the sales representative, the file is created for the design office. Once the design office draws up the contract, it goes back down to the sales administration department, which will proceed to draft the construction contract and all the CERFA administrative documents for filing the building permit. Working on the suspensive conditions allows the sales administration department to help customers with all their administrative procedures: obtaining the permit, loan offers and land deed.
As Martin Laborde rightly points out: “we are really in the concrete help for the customers, in order to carry out their projects. On a daily basis, we are in external contact with town halls, town planning departments, banks, brokers and notaries. And internally with the design office, the sales representatives and the technical department.”
If the members of the sales administration department work in close collaboration and in beautiful harmony with all the colleagues of Maisons SIC, relations can be a little more complicated with external services. Because town halls, urban planning departments can be difficult to reach, as can banks and notaries. The deadlines have also lengthened enormously since the COVID period. Same thing with notaries.
In order to better manage all the stages and carry out all the files, the sales administration department has a very effective tool: the portfolio, by sector. This is the company's logbook.
“Our goal is to complete all these steps within 5 months between the signing of the construction contract and the signing of the land deed”
A key value: customer satisfaction
Les valeurs de l'entreprise Maisons SIC in general and the sales administration department in particular are very dear to Martine Laborde's heart. Among her values, the most important for her are: being as close as possible to customer satisfaction, demonstrating responsiveness, speed, listening to their requests so that their project is carried out as best as possible. “When customers are happy, we are happy too.”
Martine Laborde loves her work and finds it very rewarding because it is a very diversified and rewarding profession: “we never get bored because each client is unique. So each course necessarily is. No day is ever the same.”
For example, she cites the example of this couple of first-time buyers, who had signed a construction contract and who had just had a child. They had then asked to build a small two-bedroom house. And during the completion of their project, the woman became pregnant and was expecting… twins. The entire project then had to be reviewed. The entire team of Maisons SIC then mobilized to make all the necessary changes to their situation as quickly as possible, so that they could be as comfortable as possible in their new home when the children arrived. A great anecdote that perfectly highlights the solidarity and positive interactions between each department of the company Maisons SIC. “We had big projects, very beautiful houses and it is always a pleasure to accompany clients in their beautiful houses and it is very rewarding.”
Reality and typical day in sales administration Maisons SIC
What is the typical day for a sales administration manager? Martine Laborde starts by checking the emails that have arrived, processing them, then she calls her assistants and together they give a daily update on the progress of the files. It is she who organizes all the technical development appointments with the works manager, the client and the sales representative. Then she takes care of the management of the construction contracts since they are all solely managed by the head office: she checks them and they are prepared for the signature at the management and the sending to the client.
On average, over a normal period, the sales administration department of Maisons SIC processes around thirty contracts per month. “Last year, for example, we processed around 290 construction contracts.” But today, with the rise in materials, RE 2020, inflation and the drop in purchasing power, for buyers, it can become complicated to build a new house, the banks having increased their rates. But the teams of Maisons SIC remain mobilized so that each of their client’s projects can see the light of day.
—
Discover Martine Laborde's video RIGHT HERE !
