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Feature Article*
July 28, 2004
Evaluating 21st
Century Marketing Systems to Improve Your Profitability
by Sara Dadlani, Director of
Communications
MindMatrix, Inc.
Real
estate is one of the oldest and most expansive industries in the world.
According to the Department of Commerce, the real estate industry in
2003 accounted for more than 12% of the GDP. In other words, the
packaging of land and space is one of the largest businesses in the
nation, rivaled only by manufacturing and government.
In an industry this large and this competitive, the most modern,
creative and state-of-the-art marketing is needed to grab the attention
of prospective customers in order to sell the product. Gone are the
days of paper brochures and windshield tours. Today’s successful real
estate competitors use technology to integrate their sales and marketing
strategies. With the right marketing system, administrative and
opportunity costs are reduced to a minimum, and profit potentials are
maximized.
However, any marketing system in the 21st century must live
up to the needs and standards of the real estate professionals who use
it.
Above all, the system must be easy to use. Software systems must
integrate with existing applications, whether they are enterprise
systems or productivity tools. Some systems require hours of
training before they can be used — hours (perhaps even days) that could
be better spent meeting clients and closing deals.
Simply put, marketing systems must be able to market. They must
be able to create and update high-impact marketing collateral in
minutes. For real estate brokerage companies, this means creating a
unified look-and-feel, and developing a brand name that carries
throughout all types of marketing collateral — web sites, electronic and
print brochures, e-mail templates, and dynamic presentations. These
materials must be delivered in various formats to reach customers in
their desired mode of communication, whether it’s e-mail, web-site
pop-ups, wireless PDAs, smart phones, or personalized postcards. The
collateral that’s created must be communicated effectively, therefore,
the system must be able to personalize the specifications for each
contact and prospective customer and automatically format and send
information to match those specifications.
With so many different modes of communication, marketing software
systems must be smart and time efficient. Like a river feeding many
tributaries, a marketing system needs a single point of information
entry and update that automatically generates the necessary formats of
communication. Such information must not only reach clients in the form
of marketing collateral, but also third-party listing services (such as
CoStar and LoopNet) in their specified data-entry formats. In addition,
it must reach property owners, managers and developers through activity
reports and marketing dashboards, as well as internal, back-end
enterprise applications to establish a seamless, fully-integrated
office.
Moreover, marketing platforms must be intelligent digital systems with
automated functions that take the burden of creating and communicating
marketing materials from users. An intelligent digital system will
generate prospects, learn about and categorize their property interests,
automatically add the prospects to address books and groupings, and
personalize property information sent to them. This type of system will
integrate the marketing objectives and strategy by developing timelines
and goals for the business cycle with instant updates and reminders for
the user.
In the 21st century, assessment is not a wave of the future,
it is a stark reality. Marketing systems are business investments and
their success must be measured in quantifiable terms. The systems
must:
• Be quick to market
properties/Maximize exposure/Impress prospects > more phone
calls/property tours > more closures
• Provide quantifiable
results/reports to owners > satisfy owners > Gain more listings
• Qualify prospects >
reduces windshield (40% saving) tour time > more time to call
additional prospects/golf
• Put complete
information in the hands of prospects > reduces sales cycle > Quick
access to commission checks
• Have the ability to
create/update marketing materials > less administrative staff > lower
administrative costs.
Above all, investments depreciate, but in the 21st century
the idea of depreciation will change. Your intelligent digital system
must change with you. It must be flexible to suit your needs now and in
the future, updating and growing with you to integrate the emerging
aspects of your real estate business.
MindMatrix,Inc., founded in 1998, is the industry’s leading provider of
innovative sales and marketing software for commercial and residential
real estate. The company’s Vision 3.0 platform creates high-impact
marketing collateral, updates and organizes property information, and
effectively communicates and tracks marketing strategies to prospects,
which improves productivity and marketing efficiency for real estate
developers, brokers, and property managers. MindMatrix also
provides a wide range of related real estate services such as custom
software design and Newplans.com, a plan redrafting service.
For
more information visit us at
www.mindmatrix.net or contact
sales at 412-683-0222 ext.1101.
*CRE Partners is not responsible for the content, validity,
technical accuracy or other claims or information contained in this
article. Feature Articles are often authored by outside sources
and do not necessarily reflect the views or opinions of CRE Partners.
Further, publication of articles in the CRE Partners Newsletter and/or
web site is not meant to represent, promote, or endorse any company,
brand, product or solution.
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