September is Marketing and Branding Month at Inman. That means we’re talking to the chief marketing officers at major brokerages about how the pandemic is changing their jobs and what it means for agents. We’re publishing a suite of tactical Inman Handbooks for marketing on digital portals. And we’re looking at what pages of the traditional marketing playbook still work. Join us all month long.
Agents have many choices when it comes time to choose a brokerage to hang their licenses. While, of course, financial consideration is a priority, so too should be the company’s philosophy as it relates to teamwork, technology tools and marketing that will ultimately propel your business to the next level.
Taso Tsakos, The Agency’s managing partner of the East Bay, and I recently listed and sold a record-breaking home in Contra Costa, California, within 45 days of its listing. The home had been on the market for 3.5 years and saw little traction. We closed at the end of August 2020 for $19 million.
Using this sale as a case study, here, you will see how the elements of teamwork, technology and marketing all played important roles in selling the home and why you should consider them when finding a brokerage.
Teamwork
We created The Agency with a philosophy that all pulling together as a team to get a house sold or to find buyers their dream home is a much more conducive way of operating than hundreds of agents operating in silos.
For this listing, Tsakos and I teamed up to bring the property to market to utilize two broad sets of client databases and the strength of Tsakos’s local knowledge. We also had a full team of experts in our marketing department working diligently at their tasks at hand to make the campaign a success.
Like all of our listings, we shared with our local and global network and spoke to our Agency and industry colleagues about this property. A full team of experts all working cohesively was what it took to get the job done.
Technology tools
The Agency has a proprietary wealth-mapping system that can help us connect with potential buyers who meet certain criteria. All of our agents have access to this tool, and when working on listings at a high price point, it becomes an integral part of the sales strategy.
However, you have to pair this tech prowess with the knowledge you gain by being a local real estate agent.
Noting the trend that people are starting to move to the East Bay from the peninsula and the city areas to have more space and to take advantage of the great schools and equestrian amenities, we had determined that the buyer would likely be someone who lived close by in Atherton, Palo Alto or Woodside.
Taking this local knowledge and marrying it with our tech intel and client database, we then got to work on a marketing strategy with our team.
Marketing
For the marketing of this property, we called an all-hands-on-deck meeting with the team and put our heads together to create a successful strategy. Narrowing down potential buyers using technology and local knowledge, we were able to effectively craft a curated campaign that would reach the right audience.
We did a lot of personalized, hyperlocal digital marketing via e-blasts, newsletters and emails. And our social media and public relations teams worked diligently to gain exposure. Having a tailored strategy devised by experts in their fields and executed with precision helped us showcase the home to the right audience while saving us and our clients time and money.
The result
We sold this home to a buyer from Atherton who had first learned about the property through a personalized e-blast.
When determining what brokerage you wish to align with, look for one that prides itself on having a great culture and agents who want to work together. Also, ensure that the firm has a great infrastructure and places the utmost importance on technology and utilizing cutting-edge tools.
Seek a firm that has a dedicated marketing team that can be there every step of the way and that can work with you to customize campaigns and strategies to make sure you are not wasting time and money on an ineffective approach. As you can see, these elements are paramount in helping clients achieve their goals and ultimately advancing your career.
Mauricio Umansky is the founder and CEO of The Agency in Los Angeles. Connect with him on Instagram.
