Every Real Estate Sales & Marketing professionals must read this article

SALES, MARKETING, CRM, SERVICES

There are different ways of marketing to target the segmented market. To get the optimum output of marketing, we required the integration & synchronization of all the tools of marketing & target customers that is maybe called as strategy that is also called holistic marketing, which enables marketers to get the optimum results.

Marketer must know their target customers to make or formulate their marketing strategy. It means you deliver your message to your target customers. To making strategy, marketer must know how to segment the market according to the product.

• Today’s scenario is to engage the maximum crowd with any of the activities, where activities give more confidence to customers to rely on the company.
• Activities can be anything thru which we can generate more crowds at the site. Eg. Social gathering, Events related to Kids, Festival events, etc. These activities will give us better word of mouth publicity that results to referral customers.
• Arrange such events where exiting clients can bring potential buyers at site, let the existing client work for us and this can only happen when trust level is at utmost.
• Transparency with the customers - maintain transparency with reference to processes from enquiry to handing over the flats.
• Make your client so comfort so that client can ask any kind of questions related to flats, constructions, quality, delivery time, company, etc. This will create client trust & confidence into builder or company, so the better experience in the mind of customers.
• Experiences can anything which client cannot measure or compare with the rate/pricing. Great customer service is exceeding the client's expectations in all areas of contact. This will always reward the builders.
• Always ask personally for water, tea/coffee, etc. if sitting or interacting with the customers, this will cost nothing but will generate good business.
• The greatest customer service is simply making the entire process user-friendly. In other words, make the process pleasant for the client.
• I always prefer to use the word client instead of customer because client conveys the meaning of a relationship rather than a simple transaction.
• Share the trends & knowledge of the market, industry, etc.
• Customers do not buys home at 1^st meeting, but they buy knowledge you share with the customers, experiences you/staffs give to the customers.
• The client wants the builder to aggressively manage the constructions, assurance of good quality, deliver a 100% clean and complete home.
• Educate the client about how the home will perform, how to conduct maintenance duties, what all are the brands of specifications, what is the warranty or guarantees normally these brands provide. Builders who acknowledge that they are the experts and take this responsibility seriously where customers show the confidence and that drive the transactions.
• Always update the clients for construction status, demand, agreement, and other processes in advance so customers do not get panic, irrespective of the situations.
• Recently, I reduced the average discounting of Rs.1,50,000/- to Rs.80,000/- in the span of 3 months only and this has been done with the help of very small tricks and tactics.

There are various media through which company target the market, especially the real estate companies but these medium has been mentioned here is irrespective of the industries.

Following are the tools or media: Below mentioned media or tools can be used partially or fully with reference to type of industries. But it must have synchronizations.

1. Collateral: 

• Visiting Cards
• Brochures
• Floor Plans
• Rate Card
• CD/DVD

2. Digital/ Internet Media: Digital marketing has a tremendous impact in real estate industry marketing. Digital marketing offers higher visibility to clients. Online marketing allows builder to measure performance in real time and make rapid changes to campaigns or content that is not performing well. You can request and receive responses from potential customers and build a relationship before the customer even calls to speak to a sales representative. More than Prospects 70% prospective clients do research online before reaching thru phone calls or sending an email to request information or visit the site office. Today’s marketer are using the social media to spread the word and reaching the clients faster ever before to communicate what the marketer wants and even the demand from potential or prospective clients for easy to find and share information will continue to drive the increased use of digital marketing in the real estate industry. Social media and a couple of digital portals which is inexpensive lead generation portals thru which we can discover better results. In real estate industry we need to be more focused on the local market. Its also very important to have the right combination of marketing methods.

Below are the digital media thru which we can reach to the prospective and potential clients:

• Website: It must have all the required details e.g. customers testimonials, floor plans, master plans, Specs & Amenities details which attracts the clients.
• Social Networking Websites:
• Facebook
• Google +
• Twitter
• Linkedin etc.
• Property Portals
• 99 Acres
• Magicbricks
• housing.com
• makaan.com, etc.
• Blog: It may be used for educate the people.
• Mobile Apps for projects
• Google Ad words
• Ad-Sense: This is one of most useful tools for real estate companies to target right kind of clients.
• Mailers, SMS etc.: This can be used to hammer the client’s mind for different reasons.
• Client portals: Clients can log in for project details and status updates, making your work flow smoother. Portals usually have a feedback mechanism so clients can directly reach to builder.

3. Events: Participating in any event is the part of more of branding & less of sales or lead generation. In the events normally companies do showcase their product to show the presence & to get the benefits in the long run.

• Sponsorships of events
• Events or activities for prospecting clients & existing clients
• Corporate activities & presentation
• PSU companies
• Property Expo

4. Outdoor Media: To keep the company presence in the market & to get the better result of the digital marketing, synchronization is very important with the outdoor media. This will keep reminding prospective clients for presence.

• Hoarding
• Site Display
• Pole Kiosk
• Gantry
• Nearby areas branding
• Transit Ads- Trains, Buses, Rickshaws, etc.

5. Electronic & Print Media: These media is used to cater the mass market & not the specific.

• T.V.
• Radio, etc.
• News Papers- Daily, Weekly, Journals
• News Letters
• Magazines

6. References: This is one of the most useful media which helps in branding as well as direct sales. Reference per lead cost is very negligible compare to leads thru other media. Builder should explore at the maximum level. Generally, builders do try to cater this but hardly any builder has the right approach to cater this segment. So, it’s very crucial for builders now these days.

• Existing client’s Referral
• Channel Partners
• Stake Holders:
• Employee
• Vendors
• Media Agencies
• Bankers, etc.

These tools may help/assist marketer for decision making for their marketing activities. Real estate companies must apply these media as per their requirements or time.

Best Wishes,

Praveen Kumar (Author)