In a sea of real estate marketing material, it takes something a bit different, quirky or clever to stand out. Two real estate agents have hit on the prospecting tools that lead to positive results with immediate effect and are sharing their methods with you here.
Steve Grimbas from Place Estate Agents Nundah sat on his marketing idea for a few years, allowing it to develop before launching it as a prospecting tool.
His DL brochure features an ant on the front with the words, “It’s commonly known that the ant can lift 10 times its own body weight…” and then turn over to read, “It’s less commonly known these agents sell up to 10 times more than your industry average.” Photos and contact details for Steve and his fellow Nundah agents are also included on the back of the brochure.
“The ant idea came from a marketing flyer I had four or five years ago and I just sat down and thought about how agents, like ants, are much stronger than we actually think they are,” Steve explained. When speaking with Hot Topics in early November this ant prospecting brochure was on its way out to 10,000 properties in the agency’s core three Brisbane suburbs, and Steve said he was expecting ongoing results from the campaign.
“It’s about being in front of people all the time and having something a bit different,” he said. “It’s not something that will have results straight away. What we do today might have results in 12 months, but you just have to be out there,” Steve added, explaining marketing was a long-term investment. “We are trying to do marketing that isn’t always the same and we want to show we are capable of getting the results.”
Heading across the country to WA, Julie Ormston’s One Agency team in Perth has had great results with a buyer booklet less than a month after it was rolled out.
Using Danny Grant’s buyer booklet as a model for hers, Julie has found producing the booklet to use when showing prospective buyers through properties means they connect better with the vendors, while also providing buyers with better information. “We find we interview the sellers differently because we are discussing what they have enjoyed about the house and their motivations for moving at a far more emotive level,” Julie explained.
“We research the area a little more because what we are including in the buyer booklet is information about that suburb for the buyers. From that perspective I think it gives a much better perspective on the property that we’re selling.” The booklet is an A3 sheet folded twice to produce an A5 booklet. It includes photos, copy about the property including what the vendors loved about it, a floor plan, a section for the buyer’s notes and information about Ormston Realty and its success rates.
“Perth is a very fluctuating market and some suburbs are hotter than others, so there can be some complacency in buyers thinking they’ve got time to hang around because it’s not going to go, but we talk about our success rate so they can see if they are interested in the property then they will have to let us know,” Julie said.
“I had a call from a lady who has flown over from the eastern states to buy a property for her daughter to say thank you for the buyer booklet because it was far and away the best information of all the properties she had seen and it made it easier to shortlist ours. We are getting such positive comments from buyers; they are loving it,” she said. The copy includes the elusive question “why are we moving?” with honest answers from the vendor, plus a list of points they love about the property. These points aren’t always the things a prospective buyer would look for straight away, but makes them think about the property differently.
“By putting yourself in the buyer’s shoes and looking at it from their perspective it does make you assess your business differently,” Julie concluded.