Property agents are in trouble

Disclaimer: I’m not an expert in real estate. Do correct me if some of what I said is wrong. 

Property agents are in huge trouble.

  • They can’t meet prospects physically.
  • Selling online isn’t the same as face-to-face selling.
  • Do people want to buy properties – right now?

How do property agents market themselves in the ‘new norm’?

I’m not an expert in real estate, so I invited Nowrid of IQI Global to do a webinar on digital marketing for property agents with me.

You can join the webinar here: www.thelead.io/webinar/digital-marketing-property

They can’t meet physically.

Nothing beats the intimacy you get from meeting a prospect in person – especially for property agents.

How many times have you perceived someone is like over the phone or social media, only to find him/her a completely different person when you meet in real life?

Property agents are used to meeting their prospects physically. Sure, they might be generating leads online, but ultimately I still find most property agents going on ground to meet people.

Here’s my suggestion:

People buy from people they like and find similarities in. Yeah, yeah it’s corny, but it’s true.

So property agents should show more of their personality online. Start vlogging (The Makeover Guys do this a lot), start creating video content and speak to your audience – ultimately, show your personality & connect with your audience.

You won’t be able to achieve that level of intimacy, meeting someone in person but at least you share some emotions across that way.

Selling online isn’t the same as face-to-face selling

The best way to sell is to often to ask questions and prescribe.

Imagine a doctor, prescribing a patient.

Doctor: “Okay, tell me about what you’re experiencing”.
Prospect: “I feel a little sore in my knee”.
Doctor: When did it start to hurt?
Prospect: Umm, over a month ago. I was hoping it’ll recover but didn’t.
Doctor: Have you been playing active sports like football, badminton…?
Prospect: Yes I still play badminton twice a week.
Doctor: Okay, you need medicine A, B & C, and stop playing badminton for 3 weeks.
Prospect: OK

Totally made up, but you can see where the conversation goes. The art of selling is to listen and prescribe.

But when you bring that online, that becomes tougher. We are distracted, we forget to reply to emails, we ignore messages, etc.

There’s a lot of emotions involved in a large purchase like a property, so having the human sensory available during face-to-face selling helps.

Here’s my suggestion:

If selling online isn’t something that will work for you right now, don’t sell, yet.

Instead, build a prospective customer list and keep them educated during this time. Once the MCO is over, you’ll be better off having a list of prospective customers versus having nothing. People are still going to be buying properties as the market recovers.

Do people want to buy properties – right now?

Most people are contracting their budgets and saving up right now – right?

Well, wait – Bank Negara just announced the lowest interest rate since the last financial crisis. 😲

A lockdown won’t stop people from buying and selling.

In fact, there should be more sellers ‘motivated’ to giving a good deal during this time. A probable negative impact for property agents right now is that things such as S&P agreements can only be signed after the MCO (just a few days away, hopefully, at this time of writing.)

The right question to ask is: Who are these customers and where are they?

Here’s my suggestion

Figure out where your prospects hang out. What sites do they read? What Facebook groups do they hang out at?

Reach out to them and see if you can help them with faster, safer transactions.

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