sales counselor

field manager

new home sales consultant

coordinator

Fischer Homes

I have 2 years experience as a sales counselor for Fischer Homes in the Atlanta market I will speak mostly on what it is like to be a sales counselor, but some aspects of the review may be applicable to other positions with Fischer. I going to do my best to write a fair review. 

The First thing you need to know about Fischer Homes is that the company is headquartered just outside of Cincinnati, Ohio. Of course, they do have a regional office in Atlanta, but their business practices are stuck in their Midwestern ways. In markets like Ohio, Kentucky, and Indiana where Fischer conducts most of their business, there is not very much competition and Fischer is recognized as one of the top builders in each of those states. They get away with their laughable included features, poor land positions, and poor price per square foot in these markets because they are well established, not a brown box builder, and there is a lack of competition. In Atlanta, these poor traits are what you will deal with every day. Fischer Homes in Atlanta has only developed about 3 communities on their own. 99% of the land they own and build on is recession era or middle of nowhere property. They have a track record of going into failed communities and buying the already developed lots and hoping their Midwestern business practices will compete with Lennar, DR, Century, and the other big players in Atlanta. I cannot stress enough that you will be selling in a community that has failed previously under another builder and now Fischer has gone the cheap route, bought the already developed  lots, and are hoping you can sell them. There is a reason the other builder left that community and it wasnt because the lots were flying off the shelf. Land position is the biggest problem with Fischer, however, you will deal with other issues such as tragic included features. In the entry level communities black and white appliances, 8 foot ceilings, 30 in cabinets, no bath tub in master suite, single vanities, rolled vinyl, no lights in several rooms, no trim except base, laminate counter tops, no fireplace, and much more are included. All competitors will far outpace these features and it make the customers feel like there are getting a poor value and as if they are getting nickle and dimed. In higher end communities the included features are also poor compared to competition. No double ovens, no fireplace, poor trim, no tile, oak cabinets, and more. Fischer does use a Steel beam as the structural support in their basements in all of their product lines which creates a wide open basement which is a great selling feature. They also have unique exterior elevations which are vastly different than the brown box competition which is also a nice feature, but these two are the only truly unique things people care about at Fischer. 

In the Atlanta market, Fischer is a small fish in a big pond. This leads to them having to employ poor subcontractors and to delays and poor craftsmanship during constructions. Of course, construction is a challenge industry wide, but subs are going to work for the biggest players where their work is more secure. Fischer does do a good job of helping customers who have been affected by delays and poor work but it can create nightmares for sales and supers. 

The culture at Fischer Homes is pretty good. There is usually a quarterly meeting at places like top golf or bowling that are pretty fun. The division president is a nice man who likes to have fun and keep things lively. Sales meetings generally are full  of comradely and usually have food provided.The culture is one of the best parts about Fischer. 

Turnover is extreme at Fischer Homes. It is the worst I have ever seen at any company I have ever worked for. This is the case in every department. Sales, constructions, office, and management. There has to have been at least 50 employees (only 50 work in Atlanta) who have come and gone in the past 2 years. Sales managers are the worst. No sales manager has spent more than like 8 months. The problem is, sales managers are not empowered to make any changes. The corporate office in Ohio is stuck in their Midwestern ways and is unwilling to adjust to the much more competitive Atlanta Market. The division president fills in as a sales manager but has a background in construction and is doing the job of 2 sales managers and his own. He is stretched thin. The reason for high turnover for Sales Counselors is because Fischer is not competitive and the grass appears greener at other builders. 

Fischer Homes does not have design packages and offers tremendous selections at their design center. This is a selling feature for sales counselors and most customers do like this. Be aware that most customer will be limited to level 1 products at the design center or else they will blow the budget and possibly bring in appraisal concerns. 

COMPENSATION-sales counselors are given a draw (not a base salary, you pay this back out of your commission) of about 35-45k depending on experience plus a 1.5% commission on each home sold. If you sell a 2nd home in a month, you get a 1000 dollar volume bonus. You get that volume bonus on each home above the first you sell in a month. You get half your commission when the deal if "firm"(about 4-6 weeks after the sale) and the second half of commission when the home closes. The volume bonus is paid the month after it is earned.  Any cancellation of a contract results in the commission you have already received being added into your draw.  Fischer does offer sales incentives every 2-3 months where extra cash can be earned. You do not split commission with anyone else like at some builders.  The 106k compensation that Fischer Advertise is misleading. The calculate this amount from employees who have been with the company for at least 1 full calendar year.They average the amount people who have been with the company for a long time make to get that figure. You will not make this in your first year. In Atlanta, unless you get a very prime community (unlikely) you will struggle to make it. 

The realtor incentive is laughable at Fischer Homes. While some builders offer 4 or 5 % commission, or 5k bonuses for agents, Fischer offers a 1000 dollar Ritz Carlton gift card and 750 dollar flight voucher if an agent sells two homes within 6 months. Most agents dont care for this. They want the cash. And although it would be unethical for an agent to steer a client away from Fischer so they can get a different bonus, this does happen from time to time. 

Sales meeting are every Friday at 9 in Vinnings, GA right near Home Depot's HQ

Model hours are 
11-6 Monday-Thursday + Saturday. 
Friday you have meetings at 9 and Need to open model by 1-6
Sunday is 12-6
They do expect that you are willing to come early and stay late to accommodate customers.

You will work every weekend and have either Monday/Tuesday off or Wednesday/Thursday off. Fischer does advertise that you have the ability to take 1 weekend off per month, however, your area must be fully staffed (which with turnover problems never happens) and you must work your normal off days leading up to that weekend to get the time off (meaning you would work 9 days in a row prior to the weekend off)

Walk in traffic at Fischer Homes seems pretty weak. Some areas only see 15 people a month. Some will see more. It is up and down and seasonal, but my gut says its low compared to competition.

Benefits at Fischer Homes seem reasonable. 2 weeks PTO, standard health, dental, and vision. Pretty good 401k match and contributions. They dont have any sort of wellness stipend which is surprising.  

Summary;Fischer Homes is a good place to start in the home building industry, especially if you are young. Experience sales agents will not like it at Fischer. Most people do not last long at Fischer because they think the grass is greener at other builders. Do your research and go talk to sales counselors before accepting a job at any builder.

Working on your own in the model homes and the training process were fun but you start to see high turnover with the sales team. They put so much effort into training just to hire and fire people. Micromanagement includes constant one-on-ones and reports to management, weekly training sessions and frequent secret shoppers. They control every step of the sales process which can be very unrealistic when working with actual clients and quiz you on each section. The sales quota is very strict, and they will let you go quickly no matter the market or how much extra effort you give if your numbers are not there. Management doesn't listen to needs of sales team when discussing community needs vs competition to help gain sales. Coming in on your days off and working after hours to get a sale is expected and still does not guarantee your job. Mileage and gas are not reimbursed though you are required to drive all over the city to trainings, cover model homes, show customers other homes on the other side of the city. Other work (besides selling) fills your time and takes away from selling such as training homework, customer issues, stocking model home supplies, lending approval issues, showing multiple homes in other communities, making sure communities are clean, signage is up-to-date for secret corporate visits, required community and marketing events, etc. Supplies and events are paid by the sales person and reimbursed by the company later. There are two payment plans (all commission or base plus commission) and you had to make sure you were being paid accordingly. They also do not pay you on homes that are not completed or closed after you leave or are let go which is convenient for them. You are paid part upfront (once they have everything approved with lending and full deposit) and part on the back end when they close but a lot can change during the build time of 8 months. 

Overall, I enjoyed my time at Fischer Homes. The CCM role at first let me create my own schedule and gave me a lot of autonomy to just get my work done without someone breathing down my neck. The company also did division outings and get togethers for different things all during work hours, so that helped boost morale. 

On the other hand, Fischer has a lot to learn about customer satisfaction. They claim to be one of the leading home builders in customer satisfaction, but they’re getting a false reading due to pressure from upper management to get a yes on the homeowner survey. FM’s and CCM’s year end reviews and bonuses partially hinged on one question about recommending to friends and family, and this often caused us to feel forced to pressure homeowners into saying yes. As a CCM, I would have to ask people who were upset with the company whether they would recommend based on the service I provided, just to get a yes so that my review (which also affects raises) and bonus wouldn’t be affected. This often resulted in yes responses in the high 90’s, when in actuality over 50% of the customers would tell me their real answer is no but they would recommend me as an individual. 

My only other complaint is the corporate construction manager that took over the warranty department and started trying to make changes, even though he didn’t fully understand warranty himself. He had his buddies from Indianapolis try to get everyone to do things their way, and all of it just led to a huge amount of micro-management from the top down. They took everything that was good about the role and completely ruined it.

I would have loved to stay at Fischer longer, but between these forced tactics on surveys and the new corporate CM taking over warranty, I had to leave. I’m forever grateful for everything the company taught me about the building industry. I wouldn’t be where I am today without them.

Long work days if you want to be successful. ZERO life/work balance.  Unrealistic ecxpectations.  Can be all about who you know. Management CAN and WILL  MANIPULATE your earning potential with Pod scheduling. Company does  secret shops that are videotaped and graded must get 80% or better to keep your job, which is ridiculous because it’s another persons opinion on whether you pass or not.  The company has the right idea with compensation, bonuses,  and cross selling.
Corporate at some point needs to hold their management team accountable for huge turnover. I seen over 20 sales people come and go in my two + years there. That should cause some red flags at a higher level. 
Normal work week consists of long days when cross selling expected to go in before and after normal hours to accommodate displays being open. Daily managing of CRM tasks call/text/email prospects and realtors repetitive non productive useless tasks to meet insane prospecting #s. Sales are responsible for all signage on homes and expected to be in business attire while doing it. Stocking of displays and realtor events all out of pocket and  reimbursed. Responsible for community appearances. Unproductive weekly one on ones with management biggest waste of everyone’s time. Weekly team meetings with role playing in front of group  learned very little, but always went along to get along. Top 5 updates to your manager Fridays and Sundays in addition to one on ones. The worst micro managing I’ve ever seen. Corporate events always held on days off huge inconvenience. With all the management they have in place you’d think things would get resolved not the case constant run around when actually needing assistance with unhappy homeowners. Cancellations due to poor management decisions count against your budget/performance. 

By the time I had been working at Fischer for 5 months, 13+ employees had quit between sales, construction, and management. Fischer has bought distressed land in far out locations which makes meeting sales goal extremely difficult. There is a tiny hand full of communities that sell regularly, and are constantly fought for by sales counselors. The work life balance was out of wack. Fischer offered one weekend off a month for sales counselors as a way to recruit, unfortunately that does not truly exist. It is also expected that you consistently work on your days off. I think Fischer could be as great in Atlanta as its Northern markets, but better locations and stable managers are key.

If you want to just sit around all day while you watch your co-workers joke inappropriately and gossip about everyone, this is the place for you. To say that the training is lack luster is a huge understatement as they gave me MAYBE half a day of “training” before throwing me into the thick of it. Not to mention that they readily threw me under the bus on multiple occasions even though I wasn’t ever told how to do my job properly. A lot of the “team” made me feel like they are in a club that I wasn’t invited to and even excluded other employees from events. They prioritize co-ops over their full-time employees and make empty promises about the amount of advancement opportunities available. Overall, I caution anyone interested in this company. 

If you love beautiful homes, decor, people, and marketing this is the best job ever!  A typical day consists of sitting in a beautiful model home, contacting interested prospects, greeting and giving tours to new people walking in, building rapport and discovering what their needs are in a new home.  Networking with realtors, you have an expense account to take them to coffee or lunch.  Management is very supportive!  The culture here is amazing!  The most enjoyable part of the job is helping people find and purchase their dream home.  The hardest part is probably finding serious buyers.

Everyone is kind and friendly and very helpful. The team tries very hard to make everyone feel appreciated. 

Autonomy in most departments once you understand your job description. 

Some department Managers stronger than others.

Old Processes but great company culture.

No room for advancement.

Management jobs are assigned and not posted internally or externally.

Performance Reviews Performed on truck tailgate within hearing distance of of other employees and trad partners 3 consecutive years in a row.

Home Show Schedule is no fun. They make you volunteer. Volunteer time is mandatory, volunteer time is assigned by management,  its not horrible, but could be better

Your day is what you make of it. There can be as little or as much down time as you deem necessary; as long as your performing. 
My co-workers are what has kept me here and are my only hesitation for looking elsewhere. They are very friendly and helpful to those new to the industry.
I have learned a great deal for my future; not just about sales, but about building a home, obtaining a mortgage, and managing my free-time by staying productive.
The hardest part of the job is accepting potential clients' dishonesty and concluding that your success is reliant on whether your time is being invested in a true prospect or dreamer.

Can definitely be a great workplace. You can choose a high stability (base+.5% commission per sale) or high potential (no base, 1.5% commission per sale plus volume bonus for multiple sales per month). The people are awesome, although it can be cliquey sometimes. You will be working by yourself in the model home most of the time so you must be very self-driven in this role. Training is 3 months and can be fantastic depending on who your elite coach (trainer) is. Lots of turn over with young employees, but I’ve also seen a few exceptional employees get promoted internally. It really is what you make it!

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Sales counselor 7 salaries reported	$45,429 per year
Field manager 8 salaries reported	$59,500 per year
New home sales consultant 3 salaries reported	$42,333 per year
Coordinator 1 salary reported	$19.00 per hour

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