Century 21

Evaluate century 21 Westside’s approach to identifying their market. Is this approach appropriate for the real estate sector?

Introduction

Century 21 Westside is a real estate agency that is located in Brisbane, in the western suburb of Kenmore. It virtually relies on the understanding of the local demographics as well as the client’s mindsets by the sales team. In essence, the sales team must balance between two groups of clients who lay on different sides of the business. These are house sellers and house buyers. Apparently, the real estate agency concentrates most of its business efforts to the house sellers as well as catering for their needs. This is because the property sellers are the group that provides the “wares” to be sold to the property buyers. However, not only are they concerned with sourcing their product but also having a comprehensive understanding of their customers as well as their homes in order to make the appropriate march for the targeted profile.

In identifying the prospective market, the real estate agency starts by identifying a particular geographic area according to the postcodes. By dividing the areas into particular postcodes, they determine the incomes of the people in that particular area according to their professions. In this case, real estate agency acknowledges that people sell and buy property for a number or reasons two o f which are profit and lifestyle. The company always considers the kind of people that it is working with. In this case, most of the clients are well-educated professionals. The company also compares the postcodes’ employment profiles against the statistics of Australia in general. In addition, they consider the medium individual income of the people in the identify regions and compare them with the national average.

As stated, most of its efforts are concentrated to meeting the needs of the supply side or the property sellers. Once they have established a complete profile of the of the postcode regions, it drills down its research to the time. In this case, the potential sellers are divided into three categories. The real estate agency understands that most of the people selling houses would be doing it in an effort to change their lifestyle rather than to make any profit. In addition, they agency understand that the longer an individual has stayed in a particular place, the more likely they are to be making the shift to other areas. In essence, they concentrate on people who have stayed in the area for more than six and a half years.

As pertaining to age, they acknowledge that there differences between the savings made by the different age groups. The second wave of baby boomers are said to have accumulated quite a large number of dollars worth of assets but do not have sufficient finances to do what they want to do . In this case they are more likely to sell their property in an effort to cater for these needs. The generation behind the second wave of baby boomers however has not saved enough as it has been trying to keep the same lifestyle as the joneses. In this case, as much as they may be making profits, they are not effectively putting aside some for the future. In this case, they would have a clear knowledge as to the group to target with their advertisements and in what channels.

Segmentation of a particular geographical area in terms of their age-groups and their incomes has always been very effective as a way of identifying the target market. In essence, choosing a niche and even positioning oneself as a specialist would have a bearing on the success of a particular business. By choosing a particular niche, the real estate agency is in a position to focus its resources on the individuals who stand the highest chances of doing business with it. This ensures that the available resources are channeled to the most profitable ventures thereby safeguarding their profitability (Gabbott 2004). Having in mind that the real estate agency is a small organization, chances are that it has not had many clients. In this case, choosing its target market through narrowing down its focus from the overcrowded market of sellers and buyers would allow it to have smaller and more manageable groups. It is such small groups that would allow it to perfect its marketing skills and determine which strategies work and which ones do not.

The essence of any business is to make profit and further itself in the field. In essence, an agency can achieve this goal through increasing its sales or by reducing its costs. As you may acknowledge, target marketing would achieve both goals (Gabbott 2004). It would decrease the costs of marketing since money would not be channeled to marketing in non-productive or targeting individuals who are unlikely to bring the business any profits. In addition, by segmenting individuals in a particular geographical region into particular groups, the marketing would be targeting the individuals who are most likely to earn the business some money and therefore increase its sales and profits in the long run.

Narrowing down to a particular group of people also allows the company to learn more about its prospective clients. With this knowledge, the company is in a position to determine its goals, needs, likes and preferences thereby coming up with effective strategies on how to satisfy them. This therefore means that the business would be in a better position to attract clients and serve them satisfactorily (Gabbott 2004).

Dividing or segmenting the market into particular groups would also allow the company to learn all the details pertaining to the niche. In such instances, the company stands better chances of developing expertise in the field due to its possession of all-inclusive and updated information pertaining to the niche (Gabbott 2004). This has the effect of attracting more prospects, higher conversion rates, enhanced capacity of servicing clients and consequently generating even more referrals. In essence, experts in real estate acknowledge the importance of deriving as much information about the clients as a necessary condition for delivering the best services.

Conclusion

Proper identification of the e market has a bearing on the success of a particular company. For real estate companies and agencies, it is important that a particular group of people be segmented to smaller groups to allow for better management, efficient use of resources, proper delivery of services and even learning more about the particular group of people. With proper knowledge of the market, it would be possible to provide services in such a way that the needs of the customers are fully satisfied and therefore enhancing the stability of the business. In addition, it would be easier to determine the strategies that would work with the particular group of people as well as the advertisement and marketing methods to be used.

What actions could this company undertake to address the issue of a customer perception of untrustworthiness in real estate agents?

Introduction

The importance of building trust between any businesspeople and their customers (both prospective and existing ones) cannot be gainsaid as far as keeping the business afloat or even propelling it to higher heights. This is even more pronounced in the case of real estate agents having in mind the amount of investment that any customer would be making which consequently translates to the amount they stand to lose in case the deal goes sour. Unfortunately, recent times have seen quite a number of people lose their money to untrustworthy real estate agents. This definitely explains why Mr. Broom would insinuate that real estate agents are not trusted by many people in Australia. He goes on to note that many agents concentrate on telling people how trustworthy they are. However, this only ends up making them look untrustworthy and therefore be distrusted.

According to Robert C. Solomon & Fernando Flores, 2003, trust cannot be said to exist right from the start or even a static quantity. It actually should not be assumed or taken for granted, rather it refers to an emotional skill, a dynamic and active component of our lives which is built and sustained by our promises, commitments, emotions as well as integrity. In quite a large number of instances, customers will take too long to close a deal simply because they do not trust the agent or they don’t think that they are getting the maximum utility of their money or rather, a fair deal.

One thing that you will acknowledge is that there is no uniformity as to what one could do to earn the trust of his or her customers. However, by looking at the pillars of trust, scholars have come up with remedies or courses of action that would build trust between the real estate agents and their clients.

According to Tway and Duane C, 1993, trust is made up of the existence and interaction of three components which include the capacity to trust, the perception of intentions and the perception of competence. A real estate agent does not have any influence on the clients’ capacity for trusting since it is influenced by their life experiences which shapes their willingness to carry out the risk of trusting others. However, they should at all times strive to create or enhance the perception of competence. This is through their capacity as well as the capacity of the individuals that they work with to competently perform in any particular situation that they are in. In addition, they have a role to play in shaping the customer’s perception of intention as to how they are working on a particular case. In essence, their actions, directions, words, decisions and missions should not be motivated by self-serving interests but rather by mutually-serving ones.

Having in mind that the strength of a real estate agency is built on the sales department, looking into the marketing techniques that are used would be of importance. In essence, making the customer believe that a particular vendor can be trusted will be pegged on his or her experience with this particular department. In this case therefore, there are some courses of action that should be incorporated. To begin with, be sure to describe the whole deal in a language that the customer understands leaving out any technical or confusing terms. Be sure not to take this time to advertise your agency in explicit terms as this would only end up drawing mistrust. On the same note, it would be important that the real estate agents make their pricing and the structuring of the deal as sensible as possible not to mention transparent and easy to understand. In fact, enhancing the clarity of the deal and transparency happens to be some of the most effective tools for building trust between clients and the agents. It is also imperative that one gives rampant discounting and improper sales behavior a wide berth. In essence, it would be important that discounts be monitored to ensure that transactions and accounts of similar sizes have similar discounts. By executing these actions over time would lay the foundation for trust which gives the sales agents or representatives an important lead in establishing relationships based on trust with the customers, which enhances the chances of closing the sales quickly.

According to Kumar, N 1996, sales representatives can enhance trust between themselves and their clients by demonstrating a deep understanding of the prospective customer’s needs and channeling every effort to meeting them. On the same note, it is important that the representative avoid surprises in the sales process as this would erode the little trust that the client had on them. In essence, it is always important that all details be disclosed fully. In building trust, ensure that the deal has been configured in such a way that it is in line with the needs of the customers. In addition, ensure that the value propositions consider the concerns of every party that is involved in the deal. In this case, it would be important that you do not use materials that do not resonate with the client as this would erode the trust.

When dealing with existing or past clients, it is likely that some nasty occurrences will be brought to the fore. Anticipating and dealing with the skeletons would actually have a bearing on how much the client trusts you. In this case, it is always important that you carefully review the account history in order to enhance your preparedness in dealing with the past events that may dent the sale as well as future relationships.

When closing the deal or modifying the contracts, it is important that you balance your needs and those of your customer. Contracts that seem to overwhelmingly favor you would be likely to undermine fairness and trust thereby slowing down the sale as you engage in protracted negotiations. As Kumar, N 1996, states, judgments relating to trusting one another are often influenced by the perception of equity in a particular relationship. In cases where a particular party holds the perception that the relationship is equitable, they would be willing to invest their trust on it. In contrast, if the relationship lacks trust, the prudent party would be likely to judge any efforts made to build trust with skepticism on the basis of history or the perceptions of inequity in that relationship. Given that the relationship between an agent and a customer is not of true equals, it is important that the client as the weaker and vulnerable partner be treated fairly.

Conclusion

While there may be quite a number of real estate agents who are spoiling the market by their untrustworthy behavior, it is possible to create a perception of trust in the minds of the clients and build a name for oneself. In essence, being transparent, fair, and considering the interests of the client would build trust. It is important to acknowledge however that this will take quite a bit of time and therefore going at a rate that the client is comfortable with would be imperative. Trying to hurry them up would make them defensive and therefore drill a wedge between you.

How else could a real estate agent use e-media to promote the use of their services to potential sellers and buyers of residential properties?

Introduction

The internet and other forms of electronic media have become quite popular in the recent times. Many businesses acknowledge their importance as far as promoting their businesses to the next level. Given the fact that many people go to the search engines when they are looking for any item, it therefore makes sense that businesses would look into ways in which they can use the electronic media to enhance their market share and therefore promote their businesses. For real estate businesses, the use of electronic media seems a bit complicated as far as enhancing one’s market share is concerned. Unlike other businesses, the purchases and sales cannot be made online. Nevertheless, this does not in any way imply that the electronic media is not of any use to the real estate industry. In essence, there are quite a large number of ways in which a real estate agent can use electronic media to promote the use of their services to potential sellers and buyers. Electronic media refers to the storage or broadcast media that uses electronic technology. It may include items such as internet, fax, radio, television, DVD, CD-ROMs and other mediums the uses electricity or encodes information digitally. There are varied ways in which the electronic media can be used in promoting the services of the business.

Advertising the real estate agency comes as one of the most obvious way in which the company would promote its services through the electronic media (Jeremy 2000). In essence, you will acknowledge that the real estate industry is shrouded in mystery. While a particular agency may not be in a position to build the trust of the clients by advertising itself, advertising in the electronic media alerts the target market as to its existence and the services it offers (Jeremy 2000). You can be sure that most of the prospective clients (both home buyers and home sellers) are still in the dark as to where to look for particular services or even what services they should be looking for from the real estate agents. Advertising creates the perfect opportunity to clear the air and make known their services.

While marketing is essentially the most fundamental way of using e-media to promote a real estate agency, the company could also use it to inform, train as well as educate the masses on varied issues pertaining to the real estate industry. Issues such as the calculation of the price of a property, choosing a real estate agency etc, may be taught here (Jeremy,2000). In essence, it will be a way of advertising the company more so when there is a call to action at the end of the material.

Conclusion

The electronic media has become an integral component of the present day businesses as far as propelling them to higher heights of success is concerned. In essence, marketing tops the list as the way in which electronic media can be used. However, it may also be used in educating the public, informing as well as training them on the varied aspects of the industry. Demystifying the industry is definitely important in enhancing the relationship between the clients and the real estate agents.

References

Robert C. Solomon, Fernando Flores : Building Trust: In Business, Politics, Relationships, and Life, Oxford University Press, May 1, 2003,

Kumar, N. 1996. The power of trust in Manufacturer-retailer relationships. Harvard business review (November-December): 96-106

Gabbott, M., (2004), “Understanding value through segmentation and targeting”, in M Gabbott, (ed) Introduction to Marketing: a value approach, Pearson Education Australia, French Forrest, New South Wales.

Tway, Duane C., A Construct of Trust, Dissertation, 1993

Bednall, D, (2004), “Buyer Behaviour”, in M Gabbott, (ed) Introduction to Marketing: a value approach, Pearson Education Australia, French Forrest, New South Wales.

Jeremy Swinfen Green, 2000. E-media: how to use electronic media for effective marketing communications, Admap Publications