Effective Marketing Strategies for Real Estate Professionals (or anybody who has a family to feed)

Posted by on October 5, 2009 · Leave a Comment 

by Jennifer Thompson

Whether you are a third generation Realtor® or you’re brand new to what can be a very exciting and lucrative career, you would probably agree that the real estate business is constantly evolving. There are times when the market is strong and everything seems to sell within days and there are times where you must go out and work for every penny you earn. While you do not necessarily have control over the ebb and flow of the market, you do have control as to how you set yourself apart. Below are five basic marketing tips designed to give Real Estate professionals an edge.

  1. Have a plan for managing your personal and professional contacts.

Real Estate, like many industries, is built around successful relationships. However, if you simply have a knack for meeting people yet haven’t got a plan for managing how you will communicate with all your new friends, then you are essentially up a creek without a paddle. After all, what good is it to have hundreds if not thousands of business contacts yet not have a plan for actually building relationships that will ultimately lead to sales? Here are three ways to get your database management on the right track:

a. First, decide what information you should be gathering from your prospects. When was the last time your new friend purchased a home? How old are their kids? Is this an active family that needs recreational options in a particular community? Will they need a home office? Develop a series of questions that you might ask at a networking event or wherever you might meet your next potential new customer. Develop a series a targeted questions you might ask in order to qualify your new sales leads.

b. Second, determine how you will collect your data. Once you have gathered the information important to your business, you need somewhere to actually house this new information. There are many, many data management tools available for purchase. Before deciding which is best for you, try to have some idea as to how you would like to ultimately use your new data. Are you looking to create direct mail campaigns or send individual birthday cards? Would you like to effectively manage your sales pipeline? Is sales forecasting important to you? Having an idea how you would like to use your data will save you time in the long run. That’s time that you can be out selling more homes!

c. Finally, when marketing your products or services be sure that you are sending messages relevant to your customers. This may sound easy enough but so many people waste time and money by marketing the wrong products to the wrong customers. For example, it doesn’t make sense to market a hot new retirement community selling in the low $300,000s to a young, active family you just met at your son’s daycare.

  1. Communicate consistently and consistently communicate.

All good relationships start with great communication. Think of it like dating. If you want the relationship to go further than the first date, then you’ve got to work at it. Email is a fantastic and cost effective method for establishing consistent communication with your new prospects. A weekly email that provides useful, relevant information to your prospects will certainly lead to a chance at a second date. For the sake of example, let’s say that you meet a new prospect at a local networking group on a Tuesday night. On Wednesday morning, you might send your new prospect an email accompanied by a piece of relevant information:

Example:

Dear John,

It was a pleasure speaking with you last night at the Signature Title Agency business after hours event. Following our discussion, I checked into the rating for the schools in your neighborhood. Indeed, both of the elementary and middle schools in your neighborhood received a ‘C’ grade. Again, it was a pleasure. Please let me know if there is anything I can ever do to assist you.

Best Regards,

Thomas

Even more personal than an email is a hand written thank you note sent the day after your initial meeting. Remember, all good relationships start with communication. After you have sent your initial follow up email to your new prospect, invite your new friend to an upcoming event that might be of interest to him. Put yourself second in this equation. That is, during this initial phase don’t become overly concerned about getting the business. Rather, focus on helping your new business prospect with building their business.

Send your new prospect a potential lead to help them grow their business. Communicate with them that you have sent them a lead. Follow up to see how it worked out. Did they get any new business? Remember the information that you collected during your first conversation with your new prospect? Use this information to send useful, relevant marketing messages.

While it is important to communicate consistently with your prospects, it is also important for you to have a clear, concise and consistent message to communicate. See #5.

  1. Develop a USP (unique selling proposition)

There are literally hundreds, if not thousands, of real estate professionals in our community. Each is competing for the same pool of customers and each customer is forced to make a choice when it comes to soliciting the help of a professional in their next real estate transaction. What makes you different from every other Realtor™ out there? Why would a customer choose you versus somebody else?

In his book, Reality in Advertising, Rosser Reeves gives the advertiser’s definition of the Unique Selling Proposition (USP). He tells us that every advertisement must make a proposition to the customer. “Buy THIS and get THIS.” The proposition must be unique. It must be something your competitors cannot or are not providing. The proposition must be strong enough for the customer to come to you versus sticking with what they are used to doing. Some modern day examples of great USPs are:

“You get rid of dandriff” – Head & Shoulders

“You get younger looking skin” – Oil of Olay

“You get stimulation of mind and body” – Red Bull

Here are a few more great USPs that were considered remarkable when they first hit the market during the past few decades.

“You get fresh, hot pizza delivered to your door in 30 minutes or less” – Domino’s Pizza

“Your package absolutely, positively has to get there overnight” — FedEx

Developing your USP is an important first step to establishing your brand. Once you have decided on your USP, start working to communicate why you are the better choice to your prospects. Remember, consistent communication is the key to developing successful relationships.

“If we don’t sell your house, we’ll buy it.” Now that’s a unique selling proposition! Spend some time determining what sets you apart from the competition.

  1. Find Your Niche

How many calls did you receive from that last advertisement you ran in the local newspaper? Probably not many considering you have absolutely no idea exactly how many times people really saw your ad, actually took the time to read it and then ultimately referenced it when they decided to go ahead and put their home up for sale. What type of response did you get from that last direct mail campaign that you did? How many homes did your generic postcard reach in your targeted neighborhood? If you are like most, then you most likely received a two percent or less response from both your advertisement and your direct mail piece. Sure, broad-based advertising and direct mail are great if you are trying to maintain a strong brand and or create top of mind awareness, but if you are concerned about cost per customer acquisition, then it’s time to find a target market—or a niche.

There are many, many niches out there. And, your niche doesn’t have to be geographically based. Hence, your unique selling proposition should not be “I’m the number one agent in your neighborhood.” As soon as you say you’re number one, expect to become number two. It’s just Murphy’s Law. Rather than choose your niche based on geography, take a look at what your interests are and who out there might share similar interests?

For example, are you interested in local politics? Do you regularly attend the meetings of your political party affiliation? Have you become a member of your city’s non-partisan political club? When was the last time you contributed to a local campaign? Have you volunteered to help on a high-profile race?

Maybe your niche market is Senior citizens looking to downsize, or baby boomers looking to start Part II of their life. Whatever your niche, choose it because you share common interests with this group of individuals. Establish your relationships based on your common interests. Market your services to your niche and remember that communication is the key to any successful relationship.

  1. Be in the Game

If you are going to play the game then you might as well play it to win. Much like what an athlete does to prepare for a pending sports season, you need to get your head in the game and make sure that you have the necessary training and supplies for getting to the top of your game.

You’re either in it to win it or you’re sitting on the sidelines. If you want to be a top producer in your field, then you’ve got to go for the gusto. Make an investment in creating a consistent message for yourself and your business. From your letterhead, business cards and website to your direct mail campaigns, email signatures, name badge and vehicle magnets, be sure that all your marketing materials are conveying a consistent message and brand image.

Be sure to incorporate your brand message into your unique selling proposition and to share it with others. Remember that you are an extension of your brand. If you are serious about what you do, other will notice.

Filed under Sales & Marketing