If you haven’t already picked a target market, now is the time to choose one that has good potential for you and focus on it. While you may like you are limiting yourself, you are actually giving yourself the opportunity to fully develop your expertise and capture market share as a result.
Sure, that sounds like a good idea. But what does this really mean? Let’s look at how you might structure a target market strategy.
Target Market: Families with small children looking to move into and/or upsize in a specific geographic area.
Strategy:
A. Network
– Volunteer in that geographic area at the school, school PTA, YMCA, or Boys & Girls Club.
– Be a coach or team parent for one of your children’s sports teams, or take pictures at one of your children’s extracurricular events and share them with other parents.
Tip: Use your business email when communicating with people in these groups.
B. Differentiate Yourself
Pre-Listing Packet/Listing Presentation:
Include a Kid’s Contract (Reward the child with a prize if they keep their room clean while the home is listed.)
Buyers Presentation
Include information on how to help children through the move process, have a prize basket in your car for the children after every touring trip. (You can get inexpensive items at http://www.orientaltrading.com/ )
By the way, Oriental Trading is a great place to get your logo and business information imprinted on gifts in small quantities.
Touring Homes
Keep a basket of juice boxes and snack bags, plus a first aid kid with children’s band aids in your car. Have information about local schools & parks readily available.
Resource List:
Include recommended pediatricians, children’s dentists, contact info for the local children’s sports clubs (baseball, football, soccer, lacrosse, gymnastics), dance lessons, music lessons, best places to have children’s birthday parties, daycares and summer camps.
Direct Mail and Gifts:
Make sure direct mail pieces and giveaways are “child friendly”. Kid calendars, babysitter’s information sheets, first aid information, applicable car seat laws, Halloween safety tips, postcard pictures that have children (yours or others) and sentimental or funny comments, children ID card information, monthly kid activity/local events cards, quarterly neighborhood reports with kid related information.
Your Advertising:
Advertise in school directories, sponsor school teams, wear clothing with your brokerage logo to all networking events/activities, wear your real estate nametag to these events, advertise in family/community newspapers, do weekday open houses close to the schools, have a kids resource section on your website.
Open Houses:
Select open houses that will be attractive to families. Bring your kid snack/prize basket, have some coloring sheets and crayons to keep the kids busy while you speak to the parents, and have information on the local schools available.
Client Appreciation Events:
Organize a family picnic or BBQ with kid’s activities, host a Santa picture event, host a family movie night at a local theater, or work with a local vendor and send out 2 for 1 coupons to a family friendly activity or restaurant.
You may feel inclined to target a completely different market. So think about ways you can tailor the strategies above to position yourself in the best way for those clients.
by Michelle Blue