Q: How can I tailor my services to the Hispanic market?
A: To successfully sell in the Hispanic community, you need to fully integrate their values and concerns into your services and message.
In the past, the process for reaching the Hispanic market was often limited to one-dimensional efforts such as the literal translation of general market campaigns. “Taking English information and translating it to Spanish doesn’t cut it,” says Oscar Gonzales. “The point of reference doesn’t exist in other countries. Telling them you’re a [real estate professional] means nothing; you have to explain the role of the [professional].
Gonzales suggests brokers create and implement an integrated year-round marketing campaign that includes the Hispanic market. It should provide high-level customer service in Spanish from end to end. “Become valuable corporate citizens in the Hispanic community,” he says. “Offer culturally relevant products and services at competitive prices.”
One example of this is Prudential CA/NV/TX Realty, with offices in California, Nevada and Texas, a company that recently opened an office tailored to serve the Hispanic community.
“Following a company-sponsored internal study, we saw a tremendous opportunity to capitalize on the Hispanic market’s growing demand for homeownership,” says Jose Dos Ramos, broker/owner of the Redwood City, Calif. office. “We want to help break down the [Hispanic] community’s largely self-perceived barriers to homeownership by providing bilingual information and letting them know about avenues to homeownership that are open to them,” he says. “There’s a lot of misinformation held by the Hispanic community, particularly around loan programs.”
Meet the Expert:
Oscar Gonzalez, of the Gonzales Group, is a nationally recognized expert on the Hispanic market.
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© 2012 Florida Realtors®