Posts Tagged ‘real estate marketing’

The sales management paradox in a recession is that projects can simply no longer afford the high costs of on-site sales management by a senior sales leader, and yet now is precisely the time they cannot afford to do without it.

Sales teams are perpetually in either a virtuous circle or a vicious spiral. Success breeds more success, but lack of momentum is also self-reinforcing.   Sales teams today are working harder to make fewer sales and in some cases sales momentum is at a snails pace.  Add to that shrinking team sizes requiring longer hours to provide 24/7 coverage, drastically reduced earnings and little prospect of a quick bounce-back… and even seasoned real estate sales professionals are questioning their life choices right now. Read the rest of this entry »

Good thing inbound marketing and social media have no selling season.

As the holiday season approaches, the prime selling season for real estate and many other industries is winding down. Now that your Fall marketing push is coming to a close, it seems natural to take it easy in December and January with your traditional outbound marketing efforts. But what about your inbound marketing efforts?  Fewer prospects may be showing up at your sales office during the winter months, but it doesn’t mean they are not doing their homework online. If a prospect visits your Website, you’d better look alive if you want to be on their short list for consideration.

Here are some things you can do to “Winterize” your website and maximize your opportunities online to be in good shape when the selling season rolls back around next Spring. Read the rest of this entry »

Interesting question. Our standard answer is “it depends.” Simply because there’s no such thing as a standard Web site. For example, building a Web site is a lot like building a house (of course we had to use a real estate metaphor).  Are you talking basic necessities, four walls and roof?  Or a McMansion to be showcased on the next episode of cribs?  Two-bedroom, one-bath starter?  Or mud rooms and master suites?

Web sites are a complex blend of strategy, content, aesthetic and technology.  And everyone’s needs and desires differ. So to assist in the process we have developed a few basic scenarios, or floorplans, as we like to call them. All of which come with an open source Content Management System, or CMS, that is yours rather than ours.  Nothing proprietary here.
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I have seen a trend in our discussions in the past few months with many people in many industries, especially resort real estate.  It usually starts with a conversation about marketing on a shoestring budget or how to market to be ahead of the curve as things begin to turn.  I think regardless of industry, you need to pay close attention to the relationships that you have at hand and stay in front of them as much as possible.  It is far more economical to turn prospects into customers than it is to create new prospects, so your existing database should be a primary focus during these slower times.  And while you’re at it, why not take the time to review your processes and make sure that your data has the utmost integrity and can be fully leveraged as things begin to turn.  After all, we create the worst habits during the best of times so now may be time to hunker down and really get your processes refined and your data cleaned up.

Regardless of the strength of your CRM system, it is critical to understand that the people involved in the process will be the key factor in the integrity and accuracy of the data the system provides.  We ask our clients to make sure that all parties involved hold the integrity of the data to the highest priority.  Without accurate data, the accuracy of our system is flawed.

So here are six easy buckets of information that you need to be collecting. Read the rest of this entry »

The only guarantee we have about marketing in today’s resort real estate climate is change. The market has changed. The buyer has changed. Will it ever change back and if so will we market the same way?  I am not sure and do not intend to make any grand projections other than the pendulum swings in both directions and God is not making any more dirt. So my assumption is like most cycles, these tough times will change. And marketing has and will continue to change with it. Read the rest of this entry »

Sure times are tough. But not marketing will only prolong the pain. Start planning now for your success in 2009 with a focus on your online and database marketing programs.

There is little doubt that those who manage to maintain a visible marketing presence during the down market will be among the first to reap the rewards of a recovery.

There are still buyers out there. And marketers have a number of relatively low-cost tools to reach Read the rest of this entry »