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A new launch can bring thousands of enquiries in its first weeks. The pre-sales team decides how many of them turn into site visits. If the team is too small, leads go stale. If it is untrained, buyers get poor first impressions. If incentives are wrong, it books visits that never happen.
This guide covers how to size the team, who to hire, how to train them before launch and how to run them day to day.
01Roles in a launch sales team
| Role | Main job | Measured on |
|---|---|---|
| Pre-sales executive (caller) | Call new leads fast, qualify, book site visits | Time to first call, contact rate, visits completed |
| Pre-sales team lead | Assign leads, coach callers, check quality | Team visit rate, response time |
| Sales manager (closer) | Meet buyers at site, present, negotiate, close | Visit-to-booking rate, discount per booking |
| Site visit coordinator | Confirm visits, arrange pickups, manage reception | Show-up rate |
| Channel partner manager | Brief brokers, register their leads, resolve disputes | Partner bookings, disputes resolved |
| CRM or back office | Bookings, documents, agreements, demands | Booking-to-agreement time, data accuracy |
In smaller teams one person may hold two roles. Keep pre-sales and closing separate where you can. The skills differ, and closers who also cold-call new leads tend to neglect them.
02How many callers you need
Size the team from expected lead volume and the work each lead needs in its first week. Use your own numbers where you have them. The example below uses assumptions you should replace.
| Input | Assumption |
|---|---|
| Expected new leads in launch month | 3,000 (about 100 a day) |
| Call attempts per lead in the first week | 5 |
| Follow-up attempts per contacted lead in weeks 2 to 4 | 4 |
| Share of leads contacted | 60% |
| Productive dial attempts per caller per day | 120 |
Daily load in a steady state: 100 new leads × 5 attempts = 500 attempts for new leads, plus follow-ups on contacted leads from recent weeks of roughly 100 × 60% × 4 = 240. That is about 740 attempts a day. At 120 per caller, you need about six callers, plus one lead for coaching and quality. Add capacity for weekends and leave.
03Who to hire
- Language. Callers who speak the languages your buyers prefer. In Pune or Mumbai that often means Marathi, Hindi and English. Mismatched language lowers trust on the first call.
- Local knowledge. People who know the area can answer questions about schools, commute and neighbourhoods without a script.
- Phone manner. Test with a short role-play in the interview. Listen for clarity, warmth and whether they ask questions.
- Discipline. Pre-sales is repetitive. Check how candidates handled targets and logging in previous jobs.
- Agency or in-house. Outsourced calling teams scale quickly but know less about your project. If you use one, put your own team lead in charge of quality.
04Training before launch
Start at least two weeks before launch. Training should cover:
- Project knowledge. Location, master plan, configurations, carpet areas, amenities, specifications, possession date as registered with RERA, approvals and lenders.
- Pricing basics. Price ranges by configuration, what is included, payment plans, GST rate, stamp duty and registration in your state.
- Rules they must follow. Never promise a possession date different from the registered one. Never quote a discount. Always mention the RERA registration number when asked.
- The call script. Opening, three qualifying questions, value statement, visit booking with specific slots.
- Objection handling. Price, location, builder track record, delays in the market, 'just looking'.
- The CRM. Logging calls, voice notes, follow-ups and visit bookings on the phone app.
End training with a written test on project facts and recorded role-plays. Do not put a caller on live leads until they pass.
05The handoff from pre-sales to sales
Most launch teams lose buyers at the handoff. The caller books a visit, and the sales manager meets the buyer knowing nothing about them.
- The caller logs budget, configuration, timeline, loan plans, decision-makers and objections before the visit.
- The visit is booked in the system with the sales manager's name, so it appears in their day plan.
- The sales manager reads the notes before the buyer arrives.
- After the visit, the outcome is logged the same day, and the caller sees it. This closes the loop and helps callers learn which leads convert.
LeadOne AI keeps the caller's notes, including voice notes in Hindi or Marathi, on the lead, and shows the sales manager's site visits for the day with the history attached.
06Daily rhythm
| Time | Activity |
|---|---|
| 9:30 am | Team huddle: yesterday's visits and bookings, today's visit list, new leads overnight |
| 10 am to 1 pm | New leads first, then follow-ups due today |
| 2 pm to 5 pm | Second attempts, visit confirmations for tomorrow |
| 5 pm to 8 pm | Calls to salaried buyers, evening confirmations |
| End of day | Team lead reviews overdue follow-ups and unassigned leads |
07Incentives that do not backfire
Pay pre-sales on outcomes they influence, and protect against gaming.
- Reward completed site visits, not booked ones. Booked visits that never happen cost money and time.
- Add a share of bookings from their visits, so callers care about lead quality.
- Set a minimum on response time and logging. Incentives are paid only if these are met.
- Avoid rewarding raw call counts. They encourage short, useless calls.
08Metrics to watch daily
| Metric | Healthy sign |
|---|---|
| Median time to first call | Minutes during working hours |
| Leads with no attempt | Close to zero at end of day |
| Contact rate by caller | Similar across callers on similar leads |
| Visits booked and completed | Show-up rate stable or rising |
| Overdue follow-ups | Falling through the day |
09Common mistakes in launch pre-sales
- Hiring callers a week before launch, with no time to train or test them.
- Letting callers pick leads from a shared sheet, so difficult leads are never called.
- Sharing a single 'project script' that nobody has tested on real buyers.
- Measuring visits booked instead of visits completed.
- Losing the caller's notes at the handoff to the sales manager.
- Not planning evening and weekend coverage, when many salaried buyers are free to talk.
