Get Sold: Realtors Stand Out against a Slow Market

"Traditional marketing techniques are failing"...this is the consistent message in each trade and marketing magazine I've read lately. What's changing? Why do ads in magazines and generic fliers not deliver the same results that they once did 30 years ago? The public has spoken and their message is, "Give us what we want, when we want it and how we want it." Our buyers are becoming more and more picky about their consumption and their reponses to marketing techniques are following suit. Buyers are submursed in an instant culture where need meets satisfaction in an instant. Now, more than ever, marketing material must be timely, pertinent, targeted, and personal.

What does this mean for realtors as they face a slowing market? You must stand out. Here is a short list of ways you can begin setting your marketing plan in motion so that you can emerge as an industry leader.

1. Blog about it.
Blogs are everywhere and you should be there too. Go to blogger.com, choose a template and start creating your world where you can send potential clients to learn more about you, your products, and your valuable advice. Treat it like a service, not a selling tool. Put anything on your blog that makes you a valuable source to the buying community. Remember to "sell your blog" in all your communications with your clients (emails, mailings, phone calls, etc). Have fun with it and it will draw active readers.

2. Use Targeted Mailing Lists
Stop generic mail outs. Mail lists are available that are separated by zip code, housing districts, buying habits, etc. Then plan smaller mailings to correspond with each audience. (www.artechgraphicsinc.com).Targeted mailings have proven themselves to increase response rates by as much as 30%!

3. Enhance your Listings
It's time you invest in your clients. It's a known stastic that virtual tours and multiple photographs draw more attention and sell a house faster. Besides, you are not selling a number, you are selling a home--One of the largest investments that a person can ever make. Embrace technology and the revenue stream it can provide.

4. Focus on your Sphere
Outline the individuals that are in your sphere of influence. Friends, past co-workers, recent and old aquaintances, and neighbors. Decide which ones are likely buyers and which ones you may need to facilitate a relationship with before they are ready to buy. Once you pinpoint these individuals, plan a weekly contact with them, send them valuable information, and educate them about your services. Having a realtor you can trust is everything-thus making the people you already know your most valuable potential clients.

Monitoring Customer Touchpoints Generates Efficiency- (A whiter smile helps too)

When you go to the grocery to get toothpaste, your only interaction is not with the check-out girl. When you drove up to the grocery, you saw the cart boy in the parking lot who offered you a buggy, then you exchanged pleasantries with the produce manager who was straightening the melons and misting the veggies. That's where you picked up a sale sheet that was designed by corporate diplaying the giant coupon for Deluxe LT Extra White Toothpaste (normally the most expensive brand, but with $1.00 off, it would be hard to resist). Walking over to the personal hygiene isle, you see an endcap for detergent which reminds you that your socks are piling up and the last time you did laundry, you had to flip the detergent bottle for an hour allowing it to drain in a small cup to get enough for suds. So you pick one up. On you go to the toothpaste where you splurge on the Deluxe LT Extra White but also notice a grocery coupon on the shelf that boasts a buy-one, get-one offer for toothbrushes. Who doesn't need a healthy stock of toothbrushes, you ask yourself. So you pick up two for the sake of convenience. Off you go the the checkout where you are greeted with a lovely smile and a short pitch on the point system that could win you a brand new set of All-Clad cookware that you know your wife would love to have for Christmas. Picking up your bag you dash out to your car feeling warm fuzzies and planning the next trip so that you can have something to put under the tree for the Mrs. You have become a great example of touchpoint marketing and didn't even know it.

Touchpoint marketing is simply identifing every interaction (every touch) that a customer has with your company and maximizing those interactions in a way that creates more customer satisfaction and generates larger sales. Every interaction from the flier they get in the mail and the buggy-boy's smile to the strategically placed coupon and attractive end-cap display has an overall effect on the consumer.

List out each time your customers are touched by your company. Take stock, assess, and evaluate to see if your company is doing it's best with the opportunities it already has. Make changes and see what happens. I'm sure you will be delighted with the results.

Tasty Loss Leaders Make for Satisfying Revenues

Everyone has seen a fish bowl sitting on the local deli's counter boasting a "FREE LUNCH" to the lucky winner of a business card drawing. I'm sure you've tried your hand at one of these contests and maybe even folded a card corner or two to increase your chances. What appears to be a harmless little giveaway designed to make a restaraunt more friendly and fun is actually a genius marketing plan in disguise. Not only do they get the customer excited about their lunch and create instant word of mouth marketing but this little collection of voluntarily dropped business cards contains the coveted ingredients for a qualified marketing list.

Use your creativity and see what kind of loss leaders you could use to get the names you know will be interested in your product. Just remember the rules: no SPAM, no annoying phone calls, and no list sharing. Have fun with it and remember that a $5 loss could lead to a big win!

Marketing from Within

Do your employees know your marketing plan? So many times, small businesses focus so much on the outside, that they foget who's making it happen on the inside. Inform your employees of your marketing strategies so that they too can be valuable sales people on your team. Each employee, from President to Maintenance should know your company's vision, mission, marketing goals and events. Your customers most likely interact with different employees at different times. Each interaction is an opportunity for another sale or at least a small chance for your employees to talk positively about your company. Ways to include your employees are:
1. Weekly Meetings
These can be brief 5-10 min. meetings on Monday mornings that serve as a sort of "State of the Business Address." Keep it brief so that your production is not inhibited.
2. Internal Newsletter
Is email the best way to reach your employees? Type out a short weekly or bi-weekly newsletter announcing any new strategies or events being planned. Encourage them to talk up your company with their friends and professional connections. This is a great way to increase excitement and personalize your work environment. Remember to add fun photos and graphics.
3. Stick it Up
Simply post a flier on the corkboard in the coffee room making employees aware of your marketing efforts. Announce changes to the website, new products being launched, and events or expos being promoted.