PHOENIX (Jan. 20, 2012) — Words matter. The language REALTORS® use when marketing their listings can make all the difference when it comes to satisfying clients and getting a home sold. Laurie Moore-Moore, who delivered the Friday afternoon keynote session, Lifestyle Marketing, gave Sell-a-bration® attendees a lesson in using words that matter — both to buyers and sellers — when marketing a property.
Moore-Moore said agents should follow the age-old lessons demonstrated by Madison Avenue advertising agencies. Instead of referring to a “listing presentation,” for example, agents can call it a property “marketing consultation appointment.” And rather than talking about similar properties in the area as “comparables,” REALTORS® will find more success by calling them “relevant properties.” That language helps sellers realize which properties they must compete with to find a buyer.
“Something is selling in every price range,” she said. The agent’s goal should be to put their listings at the top of every buyer’s priority list. To accomplish this, she said, REATORS® must find a story to tell about each property; market the lifestyle specific to the area; focus on the qualities of the property that make that property different from others like it; and target the marketing message directly to buyers who are looking for those qualities.
Effective marketing can make the difference between listings that sell and those that sit. But building a rapport with clients and potential clients is key. “It’s really about relationship-building…isn’t that what REALTORS® do when we do [our jobs] well?,” said Orly Steinberg, CRS, a panelist in the List to Live session.
Her fellow panelist Sam Miller, CRS, said his main goal is to gain top-of-mind awareness in his area. “I want everybody in the community, when they think about REALTORS®, to think about me.” At a time when fewer homes are being bought and sold, agents must realize that they need to work harder to get a piece of a smaller pie, he said.
Leigh Brown, CRS, pulled no punches in her Educating the Client session. Based on her client research, she found that the top quality that sellers look for in an agent is someone who is aggressive — and she delivers. “I am in charge [of the transaction], and they are not. The sooner they realize that, the better our relationship will be,” she said.
But given the state of the current market, “Sellers need to know how much they’re up against,” Brown said. To help them through the process, she provides them with a detailed “State of the Market” report that includes current home sales rates, home prices and the absorption rate. Brown also said she uses humor to disarm her clients and make them laugh. That makes agents “seem less like automatons who are just out for a sale,” she said.
Jeff Turner, who opened Friday’s proceedings with a morning keynote presentation, encouraged REALTORS® to focus on building community rather than simply having conversations. “Conversation is not the goal…Deeply connecting with your community — that’s the goal,” he said. And while the trappings of a technology-enabled world tend to dominate our lives, Turner encouraged attendees to put their smartphones away when they want to engage with other people. After all, “The greatest gift you can give your community is your undistracted attention,” he said.
