Real Estate Sales and Marketing

Assessment 2:

Real Estate Sales and Marketing

Use this template for Parts 2 and 3

Task 3 Methods of sale

Task 5 Marketing plan

Task 6 Advertising

Task 7 Qualifying customers

Task 8 Presenting properties

Task 5: Marketing Plan

1. Complete your 4-week promotion menu on the template below as per your task instructions (all values provided include GST).

1. Write your explanations of the marketing choices selected in your promotion menu here, as per your task instructions.

1. Complete the marketing calendar as per your task instructions.
   
   

Task 6: Advertising

Write your advertisement for 22 Long Drive, Waterford, here as per the task instructions.

Task 7: Qualifying customers

Use this template to identify the three most appropriate questions or statements, as per the task instructions.

Task 8: Presenting properties

Write your notes for Steve here, as per task instructions.

Marketingplan

Aria and Wiremu would like to get their property sold as quickly as possible. They want to spend$3,500onmarketingandhaveaskedyoutorecommenda4-weekmarketingcampaign that fits this budget.

Instructions

CompletethistaskusingTemplateB(downloadthetemplatefromtheassessmentarea).

1. Use the promotion menu in Template B to list the promotional activities you would recommend for Aria and Wiremus Long DriveShow the quantity and dollar value for each item you have selected and the total cost (all values provided include GST). Your activities for this promotion must include open homes and be within their budget of $3,500.
2. Write an explanation for your choices from the promotion menu, showing how this marketing campaign will benefit Aria and Wiremu.
3. Using the marketing calendar in Template B, create a 4-weekmarketingplanbasedon the promotional activities you selected in 5a. Your marketing plan mayincludean introductoryweekfororganisingphotos,,butitmustshow4fullweeks ofadvertising andactivities.Youmustincludethefollowingwithinyourmarketingcalendarandshow when the activities will occur:

• sign installation
• advertisementsmixofprintmediaandinternet
• delivery dates for flyers (if used)
• open homes
• open home callbacks to customers
• scheduled telephone reports to clients
• scheduled written reports to clients
• scheduled meetings with

Promotional items

7m

As we explore the next aspect of marketing within the real estate industry, it's important to focus on three interrelated elements that significantly influence the effectiveness of any promotional item or event:

• • time
  • cost
  • quality

Understanding the interplay between these factors is essential for creating impactful marketing strategies that resonate with your target audience while remaining within your budget and timeframe.

Changing one element will affect the other two. For example, if you want to produce a simple photocopied flyer, you can probably do it quite quickly and cheaply. If you want to produce a glossy, full-colour flyer, you probably need to use a commercial printer. This adds to the cost and time involved.

Generic or specific?

Some promotional items are suitable for distribution to every household within your marketing area. These include flyers and notices about new property listings, open homes, and so on. However, people are less likely to take notice of generic marketing pieces than those that apply specifically to them.

Personally addressed mail gets a higher response rate than simple flyers, but it obviously costs significantly more. Although the people receiving the mail might not be buying or selling right now, youll have increased their awareness of your brand and services.

Collaboration

You could also expand your resources by collaborating. The first and most obvious choice of a partner is someone in your office, especially if they are servicing the same market area as yourself. You do not necessarily have to engage in a formal partnership with your colleague, but you may find it useful and cost-effective to share some personal promotion activities.

You may also develop a business relationship with a lending provider, lawyer or someone similar, and invite their participation in a marketing initiative. This method is particularly useful if you want to promote educational seminars; for example, Getting the Most from YourMortgage or Transferring Your Home into a Family Trust. However, be aware that seminars take a lot of time to prepare, require a suitable venue and need to be well promoted so that you get a large enough audience to make them worthwhile.

In the upcoming sections, we will turn our attention to implementing the plan.

Developing and using personal promotional material

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Now that you have a plan and a budget, its time to put the plan into action. This includes developing and using promotional materials.

Developing and using personal promotional material

The time and effort you invest in developing the best possible personal promotional material will reward you with future business. This applies just as much to your door-knocking presentations as to written or printed documents, electronic communications, and so on.

Next, we outline some ideas to help you develop skills to write and produce effective promotional material. If youre already experienced in using advertising techniques, youll find these ideas familiar.

Techniques for writing promotional material

Because your promotional material may be the first impression an individual has of you, it must be well-written for clients and customers to have confidence in you and your services.

• Keep your promotional material short and to the point. Your message needs to be direct, clear, and relevant to your target audience otherwise they will not engage with your promotional material.
• Proofread carefully. Your promotional material needs to be free from spelling, grammar or punctuation mistakes. People will notice mistakes and might wonder how professional and competent you are at your job.
• If you use personally addressed letters or emails, be careful to get the details correct.
• Be careful not to repeat yourself. You want to stand out, so try to use different descriptive words to describe yourself so youre not repeating yourself.
• Remain professional in your promotional material and try to refrain from using casual language such as pop around to have a chat.
• Use fonts and text colours that are easy to read. Good fonts to use are Times New Roman, Arial and Calibri.
• Most importantly, dont forget to comply with Section 121 of the Real Estate Agents (REA) Act. You covered this in BSRV4601, and we will discuss it again in the next topic. For now, take note of how Keri has complied with Section 121 in her flyer below.

Keri used our techniques to help write and design her flyer. Take a look at Keri's flyer to get ideas for your own.

Now that we've discussed creating compelling promotional materials, let's explore the various platforms that can enhance your promotional efforts. The next section Platforms to promote yourself will explore the avenues available for boosting your visibility and effectively reaching your target audience.

Platforms to promote yourself

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In our digital age, mastering communication through email, messaging, and text is important for prompt and effective client engagement. This section will guide you on how to leverage these tools for distributing materials, providing feedback, and updating clients about new listings. We'll also explore the extensive potential of the Internet, including your company website and other online platforms, for creative and impactful self-promotion.

Email, messaging and text

Many salespeople use email and text to communicate quickly and effectively with clients and customers. This is an effective way to distribute flyers, give clients feedback after property viewings, and notify customers of new listings that are likely to appeal to them.

Its a good idea to ask the client or customer how they prefer to be contacted as some prefer a phone call to a text or email.

Internet

The Internet presents a significant opportunity for creativity. Its easy to use text and colour to great advantage, and material can be changed very quickly.

Your company website should be a valuable resource, especially for promoting current listings. Make sure that your contact details are correct and that you respond to enquiries quickly. If you want to set up your own website, ask your branch manager what is permitted, and what essential information it must include. It will have to include details of the agency youre working for and should have the same branding.

Your company website is not the only way to advertise yourself on the internet. Websites such as Trade Me and realestate.co.nz are also excellent resources for advertising yourself as well as advertising properties you have listed for sale.

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Social media

There are many social media platforms available, including YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, LinkedIn, X (previously known as Twitter) and blogs. Each of these has benefits and drawbacks.

By posting and advertising on social media, you can increase your reputation and recognition, and market your personal brand. You can also inform people about your current listings and recent sales, but make sure you dont breach any of the legislation youve learnt about.

Face-to-face communication

Here are some suggestions:

• If youve recently listed a property in the street or neighbourhood, its a courtesy to let the neighbours know. It is also polite to inform the client that you will be informing their neighbours about the listing of their home as part of your marketing campaign.
• If youve recently sold a property in the street or neighbourhood, you might still be working with customers who are looking to buy in the area. Ask householders in the neighbourhood if they know of anyone who might be thinking of selling. (This approach is better than asking people if they are thinking of selling, which is more likely to generate a No response.)

You might be working with customers who want a particular feature, for example, a weatherboard bungalow with a double garage. You could door-knock at properties that meet these initial requirements.

If youre calling to introduce yourself, keep the visit very brief so that you arent seen as intrusive.

Always be sure to thank the person before you leave. If theyre happy to give you their name, record it immediately, and always check you have the spelling correct. If the name is unfamiliar to you, you might also want to record the phonetic pronunciation (the way the name sounds) so that you can address the person correctly next time you meet.

Telephone

Most people consider telemarketers intrusive. If correctly managed, however, a telemarketing campaign can help you launch your career and stay connected with prospects and clients.

The challenge is knowing the best time to call people. During the day is probably preferable but many people will be working or engaged in other activities. Between 4 and 6 pm is often a good time to catch people.

Tips for leaving messages

• If you need to leave a message, make it brief and friendly.
• Introduce yourself, say youre sorry you missed them and give a quick explanation for the call.
• Invite the person to call you at a time that is convenient for them or tell them a time that you will call back, so they know when to expect your call.
• Remember to leave your contact phone numbers. Its worth saying the number twice.
• Its a good idea to repeat your name clearly at the end of the message.
• If someone does pick up, be friendly and positive but keep the conversation brief as you would door-knocking.

Remember, any person who is not a current real estate licensee may not give the impression that they are. This means they cant discuss properties that are currently on the market, or sales that have taken place. Discussions of this type must be passed over to the salesperson concerned.

Company image and branding

Consult with your manager or agent before you start a promotional campaign. Discuss your plans and expectations.

Your agency has invested a lot in you and their brand. Clients and customers (existing and new) are likely to become confused if the materials they receive lack consistency. Its important that your manager or agent checks that what you propose is consistent with your organisations objectives and policies, and the current legislation. If necessary, theyll also be able to offer suggestions to improve your planned activities.

Having covered the essentials of effective communication and the platforms to showcase your promotional material, it's time to transition into action. The upcoming section Put your plan into action will focus on executing your well-crafted strategy. This is where your preparation meets opportunity, setting the stage for successful client engagement and business growth.

Once youve created your plan, calculated your budget, liaised with your manager and prepared your materials or scripts, its time to put the whole thing into action. If youve prepared well, this will be an exciting time. All your hard work is about to be put to good use and should generate a positive response.

As you begin implementing your plan and start networking and contacting people, dont allow yourself to be put off by any early negative responses. These are normal and to be expected. The person is most likely rejecting a service that they dont need right now rather than you personally.

In the process of implementing your plan, it's essential to maintain a growth mindset. Each interaction, whether positive or negative, is an opportunity for learning and refinement. Embrace the feedback you receive as it will be helpful in shaping your approach and improving your communication skills. Remember, persistence coupled with adaptability is key in sales and marketing. As you network and reach out, focus on building relationships, understanding client needs, and demonstrating how your services can be valuable to them. This mindset shifts from selling to helping and can significantly impact your interactions and the perception of your brand.

With your plan in motion and a proactive approach to handling responses, the next step is to measure the effectiveness of your efforts. The following section will guide you through tracking and evaluating your campaign results. This process is important for understanding the impact of your strategies, making informed decisions, and ensuring that your efforts align with your business objectives.

Analyse the results

10m

Many people go to great lengths to create and distribute marketing materials but then fail to identify what generates positive results. If you dont know whether a promotional activity has succeeded or not, you risk wasting valuable time and resources.

Prospective clients can access a wide range of resources, such as the newspaper, the Internet, and your personal marketing, so you cant always point to the individual promotional message that caused them to engage your services. Some of the Waterford Real Estate team are discussing this.

The work doesnt finish when the campaign ends!

Keri has been talking to others about marketing.

Lani explained that analysing the results is very important to her. I might sell a property or two, but I wont really know if Ive been successful unless I evaluate my marketing campaign very carefully, Lani says to John. Just being busy isnt good enough.

True, muses John. I find its really valuable asking people how they came to contact you. If someone comes to an open home, ask if they came in because of the flag. That might suggest a spur-of-the-moment decision. However, if theyd read an ad and then made a special point of coming, they might be more serious buyers. Its important to know that.

Yes, good point, Lani replies. And that way, Ill find out what really attracts people so I can help clients get the best value from their marketing campaigns.

Absolutely right. Thats part of how youll make yourself more successful in the long term. Your clients will feel more confident to contribute their money to a marketing plan that you may have recommended to them if you can present them with results and statistics from other successful campaigns.

T?n? rawa atu koe. Thank you very much, Lani and John, Keri says as she gets up to leave.

When you receive an enquiry, always ask what led that person to contact you. Try not to prompt them with closed questions such as Did you receive my flyer? because they may answer Yes, even if they hadnt received or noticed it. Instead, ask a general, open question, such as Can I ask what led you to ring me?

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Track the responses

As we've seen from our team's discussion, the actual response-tracking process is important and can be quite straightforward. Heres an example to illustrate this point:

June door-knocking campaign

The clients at 27 Hain Avenue were probably aware that their neighbours at number 43 were on the market with the same salesperson and that might have influenced their decision. Because this salesperson was also marketing other homes in the area, many residents may have felt a sense of familiarity without having met the salesperson.

With these insights, we can see how effective it is to track specific marketing efforts. In the next section, we'll explore the importance of monitoring all marketing initiatives to ensure the best possible outcomes for our properties and clients.

Tracking other activities

5m

As we have seen, understanding the impact of specific marketing efforts is important for your success in real estate. But what about the broader spectrum of your marketing activities? It's not just about individual campaigns; it's about the cumulative effect of all your marketing strategies. It is important to have a comprehensive view of your marketing efforts. To illustrate this, lets look at an example of how tracking different activities for two properties can provide valuable insights for refining your marketing approach.

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Having a chart like this will help you record the progress of each of your marketing initiatives. You can easily see that the number of hits on the website for Seddon Road was almost four times as many as for Hain Street. You might want to review the two web pages to try to identify how you could improve your marketing of Hain Street. It would also be useful to ask people who inspected the Hain Street property what features appealed to them most and ensure that those features are brought to peoples attention in your promotion.

Beyond tracking marketing initiatives, another key element in real estate success is networking. Networking is critical for developing and enhancing your reputation and improving your business performance.