Help associates soar with international connections

Florida real estate professionals use a variety of strategies to cultivate international business. Help your team maximize their potential by utilizing multilingual Web sites and teaching them traditional personal referrals methods.

Here are some more ideas:

• Orient your Web site to serve international buyers. International buyers want to know what’s in store for them if they buy in the United States, so include general content on the process of buying, financing and titling a U.S. home, as well as marketing information about the lifestyle offered by your region. Don’t forget the current time, temperature and weather conditions of your area.

You can also post testimonials from satisfied international buyers and have your site translated to one or more foreign languages, with links to those translated sites denoted by the national flag of a target country (France, Japan, Germany, etc.) for the translation.

Anita Boakes, CIPS, a sales associate with Coldwell Banker Residential Real Estate Inc. in Sarasota, has taken it one step further. She set up a Web site hosted in Sweden (www.sarasota.nu), managed by a former customer. “I send him photos and information regularly to update the site, and it’s generated a lot of referrals for me,” she says.

• Advertise on international Web portals and print publications.  After determining your geographic marketing target, research which Web portals and publications advertise Florida properties and appear to draw the most buyer traffic. Use a search engine to identify promising targets and then contact the site or publication’s advertising, marketing or circulation department for specific details. Try advertising for a limited period, and then measure the results.

For instance, Sean Ferguson, a sales professional with Classic Homes GMAC Realty in Clermont, uses “A Place in the Sun” (www.aplaceinthesunlive.com), an online and print magazine based in the U.K. that reaches buyers throughout the world. It can get expensive at more than $1,500 for a half-page ad, but Ferguson says it’s worth it. “About 10 to 20 pages are devoted to Florida each month,” he says, “and our ads get a lot of visibility

• Network with international specialists. Many brokerage companies have affiliate offices in Canada, Mexico, Europe or other international locations. This provides a natural opportunity to build international referral relationships through online or telephone conversations or in-person visits.

Sales associates and brokers in smaller firms can still cultivate those personal ties that lead to buyer referrals. “I reach out to CIPSs [Certified International Property Specialists] in Europe, Mexico and other countries and ask for their referrals,” says Madeline Matey Veissi, CIPS, broker of Veissi & Associates in Miami.

• Cultivate relationships with major hotels.  Maile Aguila, a broker with Swire Realty in Miami, says, “Many international buyers get their first taste of our Brickell Key residential market when staying at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel.” Information about Swire Realty is available at the hotel, making it easy for guests to contact her team.

It’s an approach that can be applied to other Florida markets as well. For example, a broker or sales associate may be able to leave brochures at the concierge desk, take part in an informational session for hotel employees or cultivate relationships with the management staff.

• Take part in a trade mission. Many Florida economic development organizations, chambers of commerce and local real estate associations sponsor business-generating missions to international destinations, ranging from Canada and Europe to Latin America and Asia. For example, the Daytona Beach area’s International Council recently organized a trade mission to the U.K., according to Patsy Smith, CIPS, a sales associate with Wyant Realty in Ormond Beach. “By pooling our resources, we hope to play a much bigger role in the international market,” she says.

Check the upcoming calendars of local, regional and state organizations to learn about upcoming trade missions in your area.

• Have a team member focus solely on international buyers. Since international marketing can be a time-consuming process, many Florida sales associates are forming teams where one member—who may be fluent in a second language—focuses on international business.

“Our office has a salaried European relationship manager whose job is to market listings and properties,” says Gregg A. Fous, a broker with Engel and Völkers in Naples. “That Florida-based relationship manager uses online portals in the U.K. and Germany, and cultivates those leads, before we turn them over to the firm’s agents.”

SOURCE: Richard Westlund is a Miami-based freelance writer