May
08
2008
To gain an edge in today’s overly competitive market, we have to think beyond the usual marketing avenues of the past. As Web 2.0 develops and evolve, it has created some new technologies and marketing principles that could be applied to the real estate market.
Crowdsourcing is leveraging the mass collaboration enabled by Web2.0 technologies to achieve business goals. Applying the principles of crowdsourcing can be a very powerful tool to accelerate the sales of new construction properties.
To illustrate. The best marketing tool of any new development project on the internet is it’s website. Developers spend a large investment time and money to create an amazing website/marketing tool. Currently, the website can only be used by a handful of people (usually the in-house sales team) as a marketing and sales tool.
Realtors will not send their clientele to the new development website. With the in-house sales team’s contact information on the website, there’s a huge potential for the Realtor to get cut out of the transaction. With only a few people using it, the website’s market penetration is very limited and thus the development’s exposure to buyers is limited.
Imagine what would happen if that new development’s website was provided to the 2 million+ Realtors in the US and the millions more around the world to use as a marketing and sales tool? It would exponentially accelerate the development’s exposure, reach and velocity of sales. Real estate agents are the crowd!
With the invention of Agent Shield’s Web 2.0 technology, the crowdsourcing principle can be applied to accelerate the sales of new construction properties.
Apr
24
2008
In today’s soft real estate market, developers are spending more time, money and resources to woo Realtors. And rightfully so. On a national average, according to NAR, Realtors account for 51% of new construction sales. In some areas like South West Florida, realtors account for over 80% of the sales of new construction properties. Developers want Realtors to expose their clientele to their new developments in search of a sale.
Developers go through great lengths to woo Realtors with lavish parties, gifts and incentives. I’ve seen multiple developers throwing excessive parties and events. Others have given out $150k+ private golf memberships. The Realtors are wooed … now what? How do Realtors promote these developments to their clientele? Do they mail flyers about the developments to their prospects with their own contact information as the contact person? Probably not. Mailing are expensive and the Realtor may be cut out of the transaction. Do Realtors send out a mass email to their database promoting the development? Again, probably not because they can be cut out of the transaction.
Engaging the Realtor is the first step. Providing them with an action item; something that they can tangibly do to promote the development while ensuring that they will be compensated for their efforts is needed to achieve a successful level of Realtor participation. This action item needs to have two main components:
- It has to be easy, requiring minimal time and effort.
- It has to ensure (provide a level of protection) that the Realtor will be compensated for their efforts.
Without a tangible action item to help the Realtor promote and sell, the only thing that the developer is doing is throwing parties and giving away gifts.
A developer once shared with me “We just spent $40k on this wine and cheese party. At the end of the day, I don’t know which Realtors are interested in selling my development and which ones are here for the wine and cheese.”
A question for Realtors & developers. What action items, marketing tools and/or sales aids have developers provided to Realtors? Were they useful/successul?
