In the famous bollywood blockbuster 3 IDIOTS, whenever there's a crisis, the hero would prompt everyone to say "All is well". He even uses it to revive an almost dead newborn baby. Very inspirational!
Well, for the real estate industry, circumstances are not entirely different. Industry is on Ventilator. Can we simply keep saying "All is well" and wait for that miracle customer walk through the door, with money in hand to bail us out?
In my 23 years of Sales & Marketing action involving 50000+ units in real estate space, the sentence from developers I heard most is "market is bad". And I have always countered it with "market is good if marketing is good". Perhaps, the other way to put it in filmy style is All is WELL, when you SELL.
If we observe keenly, we find that 'Most Leveraged' businesses tie up with 'Worst Lender' and 'Least Leveraged' businesses tie up with 'CUSTOMER'. Unfortunately, real estate industry has engrossed itself in planning, liaisoning, approvals and construction, so much so that it has never bothered to tie up with the CUSTOMER. For most developers, advertising is marketing with 'cost per lead' centered digital campaign, lowest rent based bill boards, poorly designed leaflet distribution etc. Worst, the executing agency would have never even visited the construction site but entrusted with the responsibility to promote the product.
In one of my blog titled "Turn Around Of Real Estate. Courtesy Covid-19", I have projected the turnaround of the industry based on favourable external factors. But for the turnaround of individual developer who is experiencing recession, which is essentially absence of sales, the internal factors within his organization, need to be revamped to suit the new world that we will enter post lockdown.
So how do we approach sales & marketing of our real estate, post lockdown?
First and foremost, revamp, refurbish, renovate, reinvigorate, rejuvenate your sales and marketing team who would have hit the lowest ebb by now. A demoralized team is the biggest liability on your balance sheet. Remember, this is the team which will get you interest free money from the market.
Secondly, outsource critical activities, including but not limited to, sole selling & marketing, to experienced professionals. These professionals have not only seen but worked through multiple cycles of recessions. They have few tricks up their sleeves to kick start your sales post lockdown.
Last but not the least, sales & marketing is the most important activity and therefore, do earmark a decent budget which is recovered almost immediately. We need to change our '2% cost' approach towards sales and marketing. Legendary Jack Welch once said: "Change before you have to."
ALL IS WELL when you SELL. Happy SELLING.
Great Val.