Go digital, grow your audience

The rise of digital media has forever changed the way most industries do business. For some this change is frightening, for Realmark it is the way forward.

From our perspective, the most positive thing about the digital space is the potential to reach a far greater audience than we can manually. Today real estate agents cannot rely solely on contact with potential buyers in their local suburb, they need to have networks and communication tools that reach much wider. Digital media delivers numerous ways to tap into new audiences but more importantly, it gives you the power to target your communications so you know you are talking to the right people, not just any people.

This is why we recently introduced an e-version of Realmark’s IN magazine to the PerthNow website. PerthNow is the news choice for many West Australians and they will now have the opportunity to sign up to receive an email version of the magazine. This is good news for sellers who market their property in the magazine because IN will now be reaching an entirely new audience which has the potential to reach into the thousands.

Like anything, the key to digital success is strategy, there needs to be a solid strategy behind every move you make. And as I have said before it is all about finding the right mix, digital media needs to play a part in any business strategy, but it cannot override the fact that there is still a need to provide a high level of service that can only come from old fashioned face to face meetings. It is only one piece of the puzzle.

Sign up for the new IN magazine via the PerthNow daily news alerts by clicking on this link.

Find your technology mix - and stay human

There are growing numbers of people who prefer technology to communicate rather than speaking to you. It’s unfortunate because it can be such an incomplete and inefficient communication method.

Have you noticed it’s a lot easier to be aggressive in an email, especially compared to talking face-to-face?

Sure, technology allows you to communicate news which isn’t popular and shields you somewhat from backlash. It can also be a coward’s way out. Breaking up with someone via text or resigning a job is discourteous and surely spits in the face of the relationship you have built up. Someone emailing you with a catch line of “call me” doesn’t engender you wanting to call them at all, does it?

This may sound like I am advocating moving back to life BE – before email. Far from it. We need to embrace all forms of social and business communication but must learn to use them in a way which gives us the most clout and still remembers the conventions of being human.

I want you to stay human. Don’t let technology take that away from you in your dealings with others, even if it is over the bandwidth.

If someone makes the first overture to you electronically, take their cue. If a client chooses to communicate this way, they have made a choice to be separate from you. They are looking for a little safety, if only initially. Push them too hard and they might disappear altogether.

In our business, we have the opportunity to leverage a mix of ways to interact with our clients. Using them properly – and targeting the audience who respond best to each medium – gets us the best results.

I encourage our sales people to email a client report on the Monday after their home opens on the weekend. No one has to wait for a posted document or a mutually convenient time to physically hand it over. The client can digest it and a follow-up call on Tuesday further cements the relationship and offers forum for discussion.

There’s a level of decorum which must apply to communication for it to be effective. Hide behind it to your own detriment, because when you are building relationships it can stop a lot of good communication simply because people aren’t necessarily deft enough with the written language.

We reveal so much more with things like body language and our tone of voice so at some point, there’s nothing like meeting belly-to-belly. People want to experience empathy, trust and understanding and you can’t do that in the same way via an electronic medium.

Looking someone in the eye, a firm shake of a hand or a round table discussion to ascertain a position can work perfectly in tandem with initial discussions done via email.

An expressive personality will want to do coffee right away but the analytical person will prefer an email to digest things before talking it through. Recognise the kind of person you are working with and use the communication tool which gets the best outcome. Not everyone is the same.

Ultimately, whether it’s Twitter, email or Facebook, they all have their strengths. There is a place for all of it but to engage effectively you have to understand them and find the right combination for you and your clients.

Like it or hate it, these days, it’s an essential part of your business equation.

The Set-Date-Sale

In challenging economic times like these, it pays to think outside the square.

Penetrating an exhausted real estate market can be difficult which is why it is important to stay one step ahead of the game.

I believe understanding the current market situation and knowing what people are looking for in terms of buying and selling homes, is vital to business and vital to client needs.

In my experience fresh and innovative ideas in difficult times keep business alive, healthy and prosperous.

This is why we’ve developed a new concept in the world of real estate which, if early results are any sort of indication, is a winning formula.

Set-Date-Sale (SDS) has the characteristics of an auction (but without all the stale conditions associated with it such as deposits and cash payments) and the reliability of the trusty traditional sale.

And when we married the two concepts together we came up with a practical selling method to suit current market conditions.

The way SDS works is simple. After launching a marketing campaign to attract buyer interest, the property is then advertised with a buyer’s price guide or alternatively no specific price at all.

Now this may seem unusual, but in a market where it is difficult to price properties, potential buyers are able to present offers they deem fair and of market value, and sellers find out what the market is willing to offer.

The beauty of SDS is that control is entirely in the hands of the buyers and sellers. They determine the outcome of the sale.

Buyers are required to submit their offers to the agent by a certain date and unlike the traditional sale, the agent is required to present ALL offers to the seller who is then in a better position to negotiate and ultimately decide which offer best suits them.

The buyer has the confidence that their offer will be submitted for consideration and the seller has the freedom to choose which offer they like.

And because of the set date, the property doesn’t linger on the market for months on end. It is a quick and fair process where everybody wins.

This method of selling is exclusive to Realmark. We developed it because the current market demanded new, effective solutions for sellers.

SDS helps to attract and maintain buyer interest. It provides a higher degree of fairness to buyers and great transparency for sellers in comparison to the usual basic sale approach.

The injection of SDS into our business operations has given our clients another option when it comes to selling their homes and a boost I believe the market needed during these times.

The bright side of life

Human beings are natural optimists and they react to people who don’t fear and offer solutions.

Recession doesn’t mean retract.

In fact this is the time to harness all that negative spin and energy and actually stand up and articulate yourself very clearly in a positive manner. That will help you stand out and hopefully be at the front of the next wave of rising fortunes.

We know what a recession does and feels like. Acknowledge that and let’s move on in positivity because that can also be its own self-fulfilling prophecy.

When people come out of their caves you want to be there. You want to be the one they see and you want to have some workable answers.

Have you noticed how fast marketing and advertising initiatives have been to respond to the new language of the downturn?

They’ve certainly figured out which consumer hot buttons to push. An increasing number of ads on TV, radio and in print are articulating a link to bad times and in turn suggesting that they and their products are your solution.

At the same time this amplifies and manifests a herd mentality and might well make people actually retreat into their homes and businesses, away from public spending and profile. Instead we must continue to nurture individuality and big ideas out of the box.

The world is moving so fast, that we seem to continually move in extremes. TV shows are almost turning into reality TV because they are being produced close enough to their airing times, we’re seeing all manner of up-to-the-minute references nightly.

All this is saturating our world and that makes it too easy to focus on the negative. “Everyone’s doing it,” you cry, “so I’ll be there with them.”

Think about it – why is the well-worn Aussie question “how are ya?” usually answered as “not too bad”. Why is 8% unemployment the figure always bandied about when that means there’s 92% employment?

Perhaps our psyche needs an overhaul as a way to see the bright side of life.

A balancing act

How do we achieve balance in the property market? "The market needs balance", published on Sold Magazine's website on Thursday July 9, 2009 - http://bit.ly/i2oQl

We all need heroes

It has crept up on us, but for a while we’ve been living in a society which doesn’t value quality as highly as it does quick solutions and immediate satisfaction.

Our parents and grandparents came from generations where you knew you had to do the hard yards to advance up your chosen ladder, personally or professionally. Reality TV introduced us to the cult of celebrity, teaching people they can be catapulted virtually overnight to the final rung just because they showed up.

The death of Michael Jackson and other great figures has shown us we all advance because of the greatness of things individuals do and by not by rewarding mediocrity and instant solutions.

Jacko’s amazing commercial and artistic success went hand-in-hand with a highly-criticised, turbulent and controversial personal life. Society often punishes that oddness – for good or bad – even when it may well be what fuels creativity in the first place. Ironically, it’s these people who can contribute so much to our everyday lives.

Despite his personal issues, would Americans have ever been able to dream of how great a nation they could have without someone like JFK? Popularity aside, John Howard always had a vision for our country and people responded by taking ownership of Australia and dreaming about what we’re capable of.

Human nature naturally has us looking towards someone or something to believe in; something that’s bigger than we are and by association carries us forward to be part of something good – and if we’re lucky, something great and life-changing.

That’s why we still need heroes in all aspects of our lives and why they need to be those who through quality hard work have shown their best. They help us be better people and strive for our dreams. They are inspirational; they empower us and offer the leverage to kick up to the next rung.

We need to remember to recognise quality. The cult of celebrity is like fast food – it tastes great now but the high doesn’t last long. Alternatively a lovingly home-cooked meal fuels dreams for the long run.

Nothing great comes without sacrifice. We’ve been lulled into thinking that as long as we buy a ticket and get on the train it will deliver us to the top of the mountain without effort. Sorry! You’ll have to expend some creativity and effort over time to get there.

You might not be able to do it alone either. Michael Jackson did some of his best work with other talents like Quincy Jones, I do it with my team when we are both looking in the same direction and successful companies thrive on collective creative effort with heroes to guide them.

We’d love to know who your heroes are. Are they famous or is it someone in your local community whose simple everyday actions are inspirational?