Marketing Evolution Beyond Advertising

Using effective marketing in estate agency

Don’t deceive yourself! No matter how pleased you may be with your new logo, advertising page layout, flashy agency software or the latest digital camera, many people still think estate agents are all about the same as each other.

And it’s little wonder that they do. Because many estate agents have fallen into the trap shouting about their ability to secure the “highest possible price in the shortest possible time” for their clients. The focus is on “look how good we are at doing what we think you want us to do!”

All too often agents have pandered to their prospective clients rather than taking the distinctive stance that should be making them the obvious agent of choice. Marketing in estate agency is about being highly distinctive, and good agents should be continually evolving towards this goal.

Whilst vendors might believe (usually wrongly) that their main objective is to secure the highest price in the shortest time there are very few specific attributes of one agency over another that demonstrate this ability. A list of services, innovations and proof of previous successes might hint at the style of agency, but this is hardly compelling, particularly when it seeks to promote the agency, not the benefit to the vendor.

To compound this, our terminology is all wrong as well. We say we are “going on a valuation” and then we are disappointed when the client focuses on value and runs to the other agent with the higher valuation. So we weaken at the knees and gratuitously cut our commission in the belief that this will make everything better! Crazy!

One of the problems is that few agents have specific vehicles in place for the delivery of their key messages (or may not have even considered what these might be). Good

marketing is about creating such vehicles. And I’m not talking about marketing property - that’s childishly easy. The important thing is marketing your agency.

I heard from an agent recently who was delighted with a 20% market share. In some markets this might have been acceptable (although it still suggests that 80% of your prospects choose NOT to do business with you!) However, when I noticed that there were only five agents in his town, then 20% is only par. He should be able to achieve 20% just by existing -by being average! As anyone who has attended one of my training courses will know, average is simply not good enough. Most agents are good. Most clients are satisfied. So what? Satisfied is not good enough either. I don’t want satisfied clients....I want delighted ones! Because they count. They have more influence over my reputation than any amount of bland property advertising.

But why advertise at all? Is it to sell a particular property directly from the ad? Is it to attract buyers generally? Is it to keep the vendor happy? Is it to showcase your style? Is it to demonstrate your clout in the market? Is it to attract new instructions?

Let’s make one thing clear - the client does not employ you to advertise their property. They employ you to help them move. Advertising, like a “For Sale” board, is just one of the tools you use in order for you to do your job effectively. This is not the client’s call - it’s yours! It’s your ad-spend and it’s your marketing strategy.

An agent who guarantees to advertise a client’s property every week as part of their service is actually doing their client a disservice, as the property seriously risks over-exposure. An over-exposed property will often go stale on the market and end up selling for less than it could have achieved.

Except in the most bullish of markets, my research suggest that no more than about 4% of agency stock sells directly from its respective ad. It will however, be likely to be sold to a buyer who was attracted to the agency through an ad for another property. It therefore follows that we should shift our focus onto putting most of our advertising effort into promoting the most appealing properties. Those that are likely to attract the most buyer enquiries. Simply put - your ads need to be more attractive than those of your competitors. So just advertise the good ones! Who would respond to an average house when there is an ad for a great one on the same page?

Remember, a buyer only buys one property - the best one for them. Yet agents continually advertise dozens of average ones. Whilst many buyers will of course end up buying an average property, they are probably initially attracted by the better ones. Many of my most successful clients simply advertise between two and eight properties per page. They get a great response and sell far more stock than those advertised.

Of course, you have to manage your clients’ expectations when adopting this strategy, and not allow them to bully you into advertising unnecessarily. The easiest way to do this is to tell them how the strategy works, ie: impressive ads attract buyers to your agency, and your well-trained staff then facilitate the sale of other houses from these enquiries. Of course you will be advertising their house - but not every week. But when you do, the ad will be excellent; and each time it is advertised it will bear a different photograph to keep it fresh. “The sale of your house, Mr Seller, is not linked to the number of times it is advertised. The sale is most likely to come from one of our registered buyers.” And “Be assured Mr Seller that we will be regularly advertising properties that will attract the right buyer for your house”. Then make sure that you advertise a variety of well-priced properties that fits your current stock availability.

There is an even more positive side to this approach in addition to regulating your ad-spend. In any business it pays to make clients feel important. In agency, larger ads, even a whole half page, make a client feel very special, and this is great for attracting new instructions - “If that’s how they’ll advertise my house I want to speak to them!” What better way to manage perceptions about the quality of your service, leading of course to an immediate increase in your fee percentage?

Whilst larger ads are striking and more likely to be read, don’t fall into the trap of using the extra space to provide flowery word padding. Say less, and let white space work for you. All the buyer needs to know at this stage is what does it look like (good photo), where is it, what accommodation is there (bullet points), and how much is it? In most cases everything else (GFCH, Dbl Glz, WHB, DDSU, Fttd Cbds, etc) is completely superfluous.

So impact counts, and you look good. From a business development perspective, if the impact you make on your page is to be meaningful to the public, readers also need to be exposed to tangible reasons to do business with you rather than a competitor. A repeated list of your services becomes mundane. Rather pick off each topic, eg Floorplans, and write an informative article about why you use them and why they are so important from a vendor’s perspective. Share your thoughts and advice generously so that people warm to you so that when their time comes to sell, you are the only agent who has ever actually helped them, buy providing useful and informed comment. There are literally hundreds of topics, not only about agency, but moving issues, lifestyle features, seasonal property advice etc..

Much of my time is spent writing articles such as this for my clients and my stock of nearly 200 property-related articles is being used to good effect by over a hundred clients across the UK who have discovered that their public is now engaging in conversation with them. After all PR is exactly that - building a relationship with the public by actively managing your reputation.

But marketing in agency is far more than advertising. That’s too easy and too expensive. Marketing is the platform from which sales (instructions) happen more easily. It is the foundation upon which your whole image is built. So it needs to be managed. Many independent agents think that marketing is limited to the corporate players and is simply too grown up for them. This is simply not true and I generally only provide marketing services for independents with the specific aim of overcoming their corporate competitors - who are often slow to adopt the very innovations that can make a huge difference in your market.

For example, over a hundred of my clients are currently using our Pre-Instruction Pack System which we have tailor-made around their business - helping them identify, and play to, their own strengths whilst taking advantage of their competitors’ weaknesses. The result has been an increase in conversion ratios of, in some instances, nearly 50%. Along with this comes a corresponding increase in market share and in some instances a doubling of commission percentage - a powerful combination that is transforming agencies around the UK.

In essence a Pre-Instruction Pack is a specially branded yet impartially presented Home Moving File which the client receives within a few hours of their initial telephone enquiry. The file becomes their own record of their move with filing space for documents and, importantly a carefully worded guide to choosing the right estate agent, and lots of moving advice and support material that blows the competition out of the water before you even walk through the door. A branded, specially edited DVD promotes the agent in the most professional light, but is independently presented and offers sincere advice as to why the vendor should avoid instructing the highest valuing agent (unless it is you of course!) So not only do you get the instruction - it is also more saleable!

The key to success in progressive estate agency is in how you expand your share of the available market, and good marketing and PR is pivotal, but this requires thought, technique, innovation and a hint of style. But one thing is sure - you have to do something!