When sale volumes drop there are two types of real estate agents:
- Those who panic: “Help! The market’s slowing, I need to save money and reduce my marketing costs,” and;
- Experienced agents who have lived through a few cycles and know that the solution is to step up their marketing efforts, standout from their competitor and get a bigger share of the pie.
The former struggle to survive; looking for listings is more like banging their head against a brick wall.
The latter thrive. Why?
Success is in the Numbers
No matter what the market is doing, there are always people who need to sell.
Statistics show that in 2018, an average of 1 in 23 New Zealand houses was sold.* This is a big change from five years ago where one in every 16 houses sold.
If you’ve read my e-book, Are you making the #1 Real Estate Marketing Mistake, you’ll know that to make 24 sales a year you now need to target 1900 households. Five years ago you would only have needed 1300 to achieve the same result.
*The 2018 New Zealand average of 1 in every 23 houses sold is calculated from the following sources. 1) Monthly Property Reports, Jan-Dec 2018, Real Estate Institute of New Zealand: 77,518 residential sales in the 12 months ending 31 December 2018. 2) Dwelling & Household Estimates December 2018 Quarter, StatsNZ: 1,884,200 dwellings. 3) Housing Quarterly Report December 2018, Ministry of Housing & Urban Development: 68,025 public houses managed as at 31 Dec 2018. Note: Statistics on how many public houses are leased from private owners are unavailable so public houses have been excluded from the privately owned dwellings count.
How to Thrive
To thrive in a slow market you need a proven marketing system to frequently and consistently promote your services to the same target audience again and again and again.
Interestingly, you’d use the same system in a buoyant market; the only difference is that you need to increase the size of your target audience in a slow market to achieve the same number of sales. So instead of dropping 1300 flyers you’re dropping 1900, instead of 20 phone calls you’re making 30.
In a slow market your marketing dollar will therefore have a slightly lower return on investment. This increases your need to work smarter using a proven, well documented personal promotion system to make sure you know exactly what you’re going to say, to whom and when so that you make the most efficient use of your marketing spend.
In a nutshell, your system should include:
- Static marketing to give you credibility (company and personal website, social media pages, industry websites).
- Fortnightly flyer drops to a mapped geographic farm area (DLE card, appraisal letter, market update or newsletter).
- Door knock your area 1-2 times per year or phone call if you’ve purchased a homeowner database.
- A monthly newsletter emailed or posted to your database of past buyers, sellers, appraisals and everyone you know.
- Phone calls to your database 3-4 times per year.
- Social media as it happens.
Want to Know More?
If you’re serious, right now, about creating a consistent flow of new listings, dominating your market and standing out from your competitors, even in a slow market, book your free 15 minute marketing review to find out if the Personal Promotion Powerhouse is a good fit for your business.
