How to get customers during a recession
This week we videotaped and photographed a beautiful house in San Martin, CA, which is part of an exclusive golf club and winery. You can see it
here. What was unusual about this particular tour is that we were not hired by the realtor, but by the home owner instead!
This is a rare occurrence that happens maybe twice a year, and I have to wonder
why it happens. Why wouldn’t the realtor themselves pony up for a virtual tour to promote themselves or gain more sales by offering a tour as part of their listing package? After all, when the realtor is going to make approximately 2% of a $2.5 million dollar home ($50,000), $500 for a tour promoting their name, their reputation, the home, and decreasing it’s time on the market, can only lead to future business for that realtor with bigger and better homes, and is not that much of a burden on the overall profit.
I personally have witnessed realtors who were doing 4 home listings a year start using our services to where they now have 4 listings per
month! To say that our service alone made those changes happen would be vain, but we have been told stories by these realtors that they were picked simply on the notion that the home sellers liked the fact that the realtor was offering a unique marketing service, compared to the same old drab photos and 360-degree tour that normally are furnished for a home sale.
I spoke with the home seller at length about the situation between her and her realtor out of curiosity of his marketing plan. Turns out this realtor is a friend of the family, which is another topic all together. He told her (after signing her to a contract) that he was only planning to market the home in the traditional sense because that is what worked for him,
AND he was having cash flow problems.
Cash flow problems?!?! Maybe the reason he is having cash flow problems is because he hardly sells any houses (if any). As an investor, as well as president of a company, I always remember the old adage: if your stock goes down because of the economy, don’t sell, invest more! This is the difference between people who only are looking for the quick buck, and people who are looking for long-term wealth. This applies to my company as well, when business slows down, re-create yourself.
There is nothing so constant as change!
This idea of change has been around forever, and is recognized by the most successful businesses out there. I once taped a meeting room of a whole 200 person sales force chanting this slogan for a company wide video, that’s how badly the company wanted to ingrain this idea into the minds of their employees! Although not a new idea, this concept is also known as
The Madonna Effect, for her ever changing music and appearance stylings (and I won’t talk about her current Alex Rodriguez change, since it’s still conjuncture).
As for this person’s realtor, I can’t say how long he’ll be the listing agent, but I did not get a good vibe from the homeowner when she asked me about what (our) typical realtors offer to their clients, that’s never a good sign for the current agent! Home sellers always want more, family friend or not! This guy better get his act together and start pleasing the homeowner right away or he is not only going to lose a friend, but a client!
So… are you feeling ill-effects from this economic downturn we are experiencing? Do something about it! Change the way you do things and invest in yourself and your business!
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Nice writing style. Looking forward to reading more from you.
Chris Moran
Comment by Chris Moran on July 7, 2008
Hi. I read a few of your other posts and wanted to know if you would be interested in exchanging blogroll links?
Comment by Susan Kishner on July 7, 2008