News

Main article content

I mentioned in my last post that I think that real estate professionals need to develop a strategic approach to selling property advertising.  Most agents spend too much time focusing on getting the listing, without spending the required time to get a decent advertising campaign.

I don’t blame most vendors for rejecting most advertising schedules.  If an agent threw down a $10,000 advertising schedule without doing me the courtesy of explaining how this was going to get a higher price for my property, I would reject it as well.  It’s not good enough to say that “I’m sorry Mr Vendor, but unless you do a strong marketing campaign, I can’t guarantee that your price expectations will be met.”  Threats are not a great way to sell in any environment, but they are especially bad after you’ve just told the vendor about how great you are at getting a great price.

The better way to handle the standard objection over the cost of advertising (especially newspapers) is to explain how all of the components of the campaign combine to maximise exposure.  For example, we train our clients to segment potential buyers in to the following categories:

1. Unconscious Research: We use this segment for buyers who aren’t actively searching.  The only way to reach this segment is through newspapers and the letterbox.

2. Conscious Research: This is the segment for buyers who are actively researching.  The internet rules this segment.

3. Active Search: This is the segment for buyers who are visiting property.   This segment uses brochures and magazines.

4. Active Buying: This is the segment where the deal is done.  This segment is all about agent negotiation.

Using the above segments, look how easy it is to handle a vendor who wants to remove newspapers from the schedule.  “Mr and Mrs Vendor, I strongly suggest that you leave this advertising on the schedule. Newspapers are the most effective way for us to target buyers who have not actively entered the market, which we often have tremendous success with and find property that they simply must purchase.  The internet only allows us to advertise your property to buyers who are investing time actively looking, which will reduce the interest in your property.”

Not only is this completely accurate, it’s a lot more powerful and specific than a vague threat.  Let me know what you think and contact me if you’d like to discuss how our training programs help your agents sell advertising.