gkg003

To sell more properties, you have to understand how marketing works...and how to apply that to marketing property.

And what are those?

Well. Three simple things, and there are only a handful of estate agents across the world who has caught on to this, and they are smilingall the way to the bank. They could care less if we are in the middle of a recession, because they are
now selling more properties than ever before and living the lifestyle they want...luxury cars, regular holidays,
new house....

And you could too if you just know and apply a few marketing "tricks", and understand three key elements of marketing.

1- Know Who your potential clients are,
2- Know Where to look for them and,
3- Know How to attract them.

That's It!

Know and understand these little secrets, and you'll be selling or renting more properties than Ever Before....
irrespective of market conditions.

Know how to laser target your customers. How to get their attention,
and how and when to close the sale.

So, if you are serious about your profession, and want to be the most successful and most rewarded
agent in your company, you have to understand that....

"Selling Is Easy.
Getting People To Buy Is The Difficult Part"

But let me explain.

I'm going to put the cart before the horses, and begin with item number 3 above...

"...How to attract your potential clients."

And I'll explain by ways of an example.

Take a look at some of the largest industries in the world...golf, cosmetics, clothing, soft drinks or whatever.
What do they ALL have in common?

They keep making sales, irrespective of market conditions.
And how do they achieve this? Not because it's a much cheaper product than a 4 bedroom house in the suburbs, but....

...Because they know and understand how people, their customers, think and react.

By knowing their customers and understanding the difference between their needs and wants, they can create
marketing material that is laser targeted straight at their
potential clients, and get them interested and in whatever they are selling.

Ok, now for the example...and yes I know selling cosmetics has nothing to do with selling property....

Or does It?

I opened one of my wife's glamour magazines (Yes I do read them as well, but to study marketing techniques),
and saw an ad for a new skin product by L'OREAL...I'm sure you are familiar with that name.


You must see advertisements like these hundreds of times per day, but do you realise the huge amount money
and hours of research that goes into creating ads that sell?


Only if you understand the mechanics of marketing can you really reach and connect with your target audience.

Now, compare the ad above with the one below for a typical 4 bedroom house.
(And I just pulled this one at random from the Net...they are all so similar.)


Notice the difference between the two?
Yes I know one is for a skincare product and the other for a house, but besides that.

No?......here's a hint.

Features and Benefits!

The skincare ad is full of Benefits, while the property ad only has features.

And that is one of the most, if not THE MOST overlooked areas in property marketing nowadays....

How to distinguish between features and benefits, and how to use them to reach your target market....and not only to reach them but to
get them so excited in what you have to offer, (selling) that they won't be able to resist a viewing. And we both know that once you have them
interested, you know how to close the deal....that's why you became an estate agent after all....

You enjoy the selling process, and deserve to be rewarded for it.

But this is just one of many aspects that need to be properly understood and addressed to be able to beat the recession and the competition,
and achieve a higher property sales figure than EVER BEFORE.

In my next post I will analyse the two ads above, and show you how, by knowing how to use features and benefits, will get your clients queuing
at the door. I'll disect each sentence of both ads and explain the reasoning behind the choice of words they used.

And the beauty of it all is, the little "secrets" I'm about to show you works for any property type; residential, industrial, commercial and vacant land...
whether you are selling or renting....
in fact, the same principles apply for selling Any type of product or Service.

If you found this post helpful, please drop me a line.

Yours in property sales

George Gordon

P.S. I'm not here to sell you anything in-case you're wondering. Just thought I'd share what I've learned over the past ten
years from some of the online marketing "greats", and show you how to apply that to selling your properties.

gkg003

Hi again,
Thanks for your replies.

Here is the second part on "How To Sell More Properties".
If you have not read the first, pl go and read that first then this post will make more sense.

In my previous post I touched on the importance of writing effective
Sales Copy that actually get customers to buy. Forgive me for repeating
myself, but it is just about the most important element of any marketing
campaign.

It's true, "A picture is worth a thousand words", or "a picture tells the story",
but "words" sell, not pictures.

Think of it this way.
Imagine a advertisement with pictures and copy. (Writing)
Now, take the writing away. Could the picture convince people to buy?

Well yes, if you are a world brand like Coca Cola or Nike....otherwise NO WAY.

Now, remove the pictures and leave only the copy. Could the words convince people to buy...

For Sure!

Obviously we use both to strenghten our marketing campaign, but you need to understand
the importance of writing sales copy that "speaks" to your customer.
Sales copy that awakens her emotions and puts her in a "ready to buy" mood.

Now you might think that you're not a writer and therefore cannot write good sales copy....it could not
be further from the truth....

in fact, it's better if you are not a writer because then you can speak to
your potential client in her own "language". And that's very important for her...to feel that you are talking
to her as a "friend", and not some-one who just want to sell her a house and walk away with the money.

Over the next few days, I'm going to give you a detailed breakdown of how to write Hot sales copy, but also
how to structure your entire marketing campaign, whether online or offline.

But first, lets begin by analysing the ad from my previous post....



Most people won't notice anything special about this ad. In fact, they might say...
"just another ad about some face cream. Who even looks at them anymore?"

Well, companies like these pour Millions of Dollars into marketing every year...why do you think they even still bother to advertise?

Because they know the importance of it....

Ok, back to the ad.

The backbone of this Sales Copy is BENEFITS. It highlights the most important benefits of the product, for the user.

Don't confuse benefits with features. Let me explain.

"Micro particle technology allows this cream to be absorbed by the skin without being oily" - Feature

"Skin Looks Smoother, Rested, More Luminous" - Benefit

and

"Laboratory tested to achieve maximum moistening of the skin" - Feature

"Tried And Tested By Over 1000 Woman
Re-Awakens Skin's Youthfulness Day After Day" - Benefit

Are you getting the picture? Features don't sell...Benefits do.

People buy with their emotions - benefits...no matter what the product or cost...and they justify it with their logic - features.

But what do 99% of real estate agents do? They ignore benefits and just list a bunch of features...

remember our ad from the previous e-mail?


I only see a couple of features and NO BENEFITS....Big mistake!
Let's analyse it.

"A House to call a home...." So what? Every house is a home.

"Stylish rustic with spacious living areas opening up to a beautiful garden with views of the golf course. 4 or 5 bedrooms, 4 bathrooms...." - So What?

Gee, that just makes me want to open my chequebook and write the deposit...hardly!

Obviously the features of the house are:
- It's got a homely feel
- It's rustic
- Large or spacious living areas
- beautiful garden
- views of golf course
- 4 or 5 bedrooms (which is it)
- 4 bathroom
- Double garage
- Barbecue
- Good location

With the same features one could have written an ad that highlights the benefits of having those features, and thereby speaking to the potential client's emotions and not his logic....

remember, peopl buy with emotion and justify
with logic.

Something like this would have been better:



and so on.

Get the picture? This rewrite (although I have not seen the house), is loaded with BENEFITS and not just features.

I did not spend much time on it, and it can be vastly improved on, but it's important to get as many benefits down with the first draft, and then build on that.

But there is another trick to it...benefits alone will not guarantee sales.

In my next post I'll show you how to extract even more benefits from every feature, and even benefits of benefits,
by using a nifty trick called "SWAT", and how to apply that in your marketing campaign.

Please let me know if you found this helpful and again, just ask if you need any clarification or if you have any questions.

Kind regards
George