from Florida Realtor Magazine, February 2008 | page 38

Back to Basics

Our expert shows a new associate where to put his marketing efforts and dollars.

Larry Genet knows all too well the pressures of following your family’s footsteps in the same line of work. He grew up in a family of real estate professionals, and all he ever wanted to do was buy and sell properties. “My [family] name is known all over Miami,” he says. “My late father, his brothers, my grandmother and grandfather, great-grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins—practically everyone I know—is still in the business and they either own property or are working in the field. I was taught as a child how the business works.” Genet’s dream came true four years ago when, at 19, he got his license and went to work as a sales associate for Diverse Realty Services in Coral Gables.

But the family legacy hasn’t brought him anywhere near the level of business he hoped it would. “Recognition I have—people know who I am, but they don’t know what I do,” says Genet. “I know every street of Miami Beach, but I lack the marketing, promotion and business know-how to get moving.” In the last 12 months he’s closed more rental leases than sales, and though he concentrates on commercial transactions, he feels residential could prove more profitable.

Bring in the Expert
Real estate marketing specialist Dan Gooder Richard agreed to assess Genet’s situation. Here’s what he had to say:

1. Study Buyers
“[Your first] to-do would be to find out who’s buying in Miami Beach and where those buyers are coming from,” says Richard. One way for Genet to do this, he says, is to create a “Where did you come from?” survey and distribute it to recent buyers in the area. “Poll them according to their previous ZIP code and you’ll learn whether they came from across town, across the country or internationally,” he says. “Get their addresses from the tax records and mail them a simple double-fold postcard. The bottom half is a reply card where they handwrite their address and ZIP code and mail it back. Then market to areas where those buyers are coming from.”

2. Build Your Brand
Genet’s company slogan is “Florida is our market and the world is our client.” Richard thinks that’s great but wants Genet to start building a personal brand. “Don’t build it around your name though, Larry; build it around your geography,” he says. “First, make it organic so that it comes naturally from your objectives. Second, focus on a larger market area such as Miami and South Florida. And third, make it consistent so that your logo and advertisements, Web site, business card, signs, stationery, and so forth, reflect your market area.”

3. Target Expireds
Next, Richard suggests that Genet check the MLS daily for expired listings and offer to help those sellers find a buyer or lease their home in the interim. “You’ll build up inventory of distressed sellers who would talk with you if you brought them a buyer,” he says. “But they’d also be happy if you brought them a renter. You can offer a bargain hunter service, and people will come to you because you have your finger on the pulse of the market. You can publish it as a PDF or a white paper that people can request from your Web site. This will generate leads.” 

4. Set Sales Objectives
A sales associate without a sales goal is like a fisherman without a net, Richard says, and he recommends that Genet set a quantifiable number of residential transactions that he’d like to close within the next 12 months. Genet would love to close at least one sale a month but feels the competition makes that impossible.

“There are so many [sales associates] and brokers who have [long-term] relationships, and I’m just emerging,” he says. “Larry, it’s true that you’re starting out at a time when there are more real estate practitioners in America than there were years ago,” Richard says. But go ahead and set 12 closed sales as an objective for the next year.”

Since rentals make up the bulk of Genet’s business Richard says they can be a good source of future buyers. “With your help, some will see that now’s a good time to buy.”

5. Get a Web Site
Richard suggests that Genet consider focusing on distressed properties. “Come up with a brand name like ‘Distressed Market Bargain Hunter’ or ‘Miami Beach Distressed Market Locator’ or ‘Miami Beach Distressed Properties’ and make that your Web site address,” he says. “I just checked and found that DistressedHomesMiamiBeach.com is available.” [See list at left for online domain registrars.]

6. Stick to a Budget
When it comes to spending marketing dollars, Richard advocates a pay-as-you-go strategy. “Until you get to the point where you can allocate money for marketing, you can invest your own sweat equity by making phone calls and personal visits,” he says. “As you close transactions, have two checkbooks—one for operations and one for marketing. Then put 10 percent of every commission check into your marketing account. Spread it out so it will be there for the long term.”

This column provides advice from industry experts concerning marketing, technology and business issues. It won the Silver Award in the 2007 Best Column category from the Florida Magazine Association.