Best Practices For Farming An Area

Regardless of what you send, remember these important points: Prospecting a neighbourhood is a long-term commitment and consistency is key. Delivering something with value will be a lot more successful than just another card in the mail. Always look at it from a homeowner’s point of view… what are they getting out of your mailing? Aside from the consistent mailer, what else can you do to bolster your prospecting piece? The more times you’re in front of a prospect, the more likely they are to remember you, trust you and contact you. Here are a few ideas to add to your marketing plan. Get involved in the community: host or sponsor a BBQ, sponsor a soccer or hockey team, join the community league, help build a playground, take part in community initiatives, etc. Advertise in the local community newsletter, newspaper or Facebook page. Have a billboard or bus bench in the community. Distribute just listed and just sold flyers (for that community and neighbouring ones.) Door knocking - invite neighbours to an open house in the area or just stop by to say hello. In the end, it all boils down to consistency. It might take ten months, a year or maybe even eighteen months before you get recognized and rewarded for being the area expert. Other agents will likely come and go as well, but if you’re consistently providing a valuable offer to your neighbourhood, you will get results. And when you do, you’ll be glad you spent the time and effort investing in the community.

You’ve been contemplating sending out a prospecting piece to a neighbourhood for a few months now, but you don’t know where to start. You have to choose the right neighbourhood for your needs, decide what to send and how often to send it. Plus, you need to determine if that’s enough or do you need to add more to your marketing mix. Let’s start with choosing a neighbourhood. Choose an area that you're familiar with and have experience in. If you have a connection with the neighbourhood it will be easier to position yourself as the neighbourhood expert. Find an area with good turnover. Just because you live there doesn’t mean it’s going to be a good area to prospect. Find somewhere that has a wide demographic of residents that will offer you a varied client base. *see our worksheet on page 2 Now that you’re sure you’re in the right area, take a look at what you’re sending. Other than home and lifestyle articles of interest add one or more of these aspects to your marketing piece to add value for those receiving it. Neighbourhood specific statistics. Statistics are great and can be even more valuable if they’re specific to the neighbourhood. Keep statistics clear and simple. Less is more. Community events – a great way to tell people when they can get out and enjoy the community. Free market evaluation offer – lots of home owners don’t know that you can offer this service to them for free, with no obligation. Educate and remind everyone about your offers. Construction/traffic updates – know about a road that’s going to be closed for a few weeks? Let your community know too. Emphasize how you connect to the neighbourhood -- do you live there? do you work there? did you grow up there? Best Practices for Farming an Area

GIVE US A CALL IF YOU’RE READY TO FARM AN AREA.

phone 780 489 2969 toll free 1 800 309 1747 fax 780 486 1421 email consult@dmsmarketing.ca address 101-10620 178 St NW Edmonton, AB T5S 2E3 website www.dmsmarketing.ca

Here are four tools to help you determine where and how to market to a neighbourhood. BEST PRACTICES FOR FARMING AN AREA: WORKSHEET

STEP 1: Research 3 to 4 neighbourhoods you’re familiar with. You’ll want to look at the following info before choosing the one you’ll market to.

NEIGHBOURHOOD:

# PROPERTIES IN THE AREA

# LISTINGS LAST YEAR

# SALES LAST YEAR SALES TO LISTING RATIO (# sales ÷ # listings last year) x 100

TURNOVER

(# sales last year ÷ # properties)

AVERAGE DAYS ON MARKET AVERAGE SELLING PRICE

AVERAGE COMMISSION

STEP 2: Stack up the competition. If you’re planning to market to a community where a few REALTORS ® represent the majority of sales, you may want to think again. If no one has a hold on the market, there might be an opportunity for you to take over. Also review the past few years to see if one agent is gaining market share.

AGENT NAME

# TRANSACTIONS

TOTAL SALES

MARKET SHARE

YEAR 1

YEAR 2

YEAR 3

STEP 3: Look at the cost of marketing to the neighbourhood over the course of a year via print. Then use our ROI Worksheet for each neighbourhood to determine what you can expect as a return. DIY: # properties in the community X (postage + printing + delivery) = $____________ x 12 = $_____________ Outsource: # properties in the community x outsourcing cost = $_______________ x 12 = $__________________

STEP 4: Plan out what other marketing / advertising / sponsorship opportunities are available and factor those into your budget. If you need a refresher, refer to our Ways to Market Yourself Infograph.

OPPORTUNITY

COST

TIME NEEDED

FREQUENCY

phone 780 489 2969 toll free 1 800 309 1747 fax 780 486 1421 email consult@dmsmarketing.ca address 101-10620 178 St NW Edmonton, AB T5S 2E3 website www.dmsmarketing.ca