The Language of Luxury

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Tuesday, August 16, 2011

Luxury Real Estate Marketing: How to Earn Multiple Commissions from High Net Worth Clients

In the realm of marketing luxury real estate is it important to understand that the client to whom you sell a primary residence in your local marketplace can also be a buyer of multiple homes in multiple locations as well as other types of properties. The question is: Will you benefit from this by earning multiple commissions?

Good luxury real estate marketing professionals stay in touch with their clients and cultivate referrals of buyers and sellers within their own local marketplace. Great agents also take the time to discover where else their clients might consider purchasing additional homes or even other types of real estate. Then they help them connect with trusted colleagues in other marketplaces, which generates referral fees.

We recently heard a story that a certain buyer purchased several vacation homes in a very popular luxury real estate marketplace. The agent who discovered this fact realized that the buyer was a client of a friend, another agent in another state who was oblivious to her client's buying spree. Where was the disconnect that caused this missed opportunity for referral fees?

In commercial real estate it was very clear that most of our clients had the capability of purchasing multiple properties. In fact, many of them could purchase as many qualified properties as we could find for them. The trick was finding quality properties in great locations that were reasonably priced. But, this "mutliple properties mindset", whether the client's purpose was for personal use or investment, was the norm.

It just requires a slight shift in perspective to maximize the potential of your relationships with your high net worth clients. Take the time to discover the full scope of their real estate needs and interests. They may be thinking of buying properties for their kids, too.

Find out if your clients invest in commercial property or income property. If so, team up with colleagues who specialize in this arena and see what other opportunities you can develop together.

Expand your level of professionalism in terms of the depth of service that you offer. Become a trusted advisor in their real estate dealings beyond just their residence in your local marketplace and watch your own net worth increase significantly.

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Friday, August 12, 2011

Luxury Real Estate Marketing: Customer Service that Sparks Remarks

Word-of-mouth is your best form of advertising as a luxury real estate marketing professional. However, if you want people to make positive remarks about you, your service must be remarkable.

Promoting the people and the brands you like is natural because you want to share what you value the most with the people who matter most to you. We tend to value the opinions of those people we respect. If someone you respect goes out of their way to promote something the chance is high that you will at least take the time to check it out if you also have an interest in that product or service category.

If you are in the market for a new pair of shades, you might want to check out Maui Jim. Alexandra purchased her Maui Jim sunglasses with the ultra-light titanium frames over six years ago. They are great for sports like skiing and tennis because they are feather light and they are very durable. Plus, the bronze mirrored and polarized lenses wipe out 99% of the glare and block 100% of harmful UV rays.

Recently the frame broke and the lens was starting to crack slightly. She called the company and was asked to return them for repair. Within a couple of days she received a phone call from a company rep with “aloha” spirit (even though they are based in Illinois). She was told that they would gladly replace both the lens and frame for $60, a fraction of the cost of a new pair. When they sent the glasses back (within just a few days) they were in a brand new case. Now, that was remarkable service from a company that stands behind its product.

Another remarkable retail experience occurred at Gelson’s market (18 stores in Southern California). We just love their mission statement: “To make shopping anywhere else unacceptable for consumers who value quality products, cleanliness, convenience, and personal service. Their goal is to create an extraordinary grocery shopping experience for discerning consumers”.

What was extraordinary? In our Santa Barbara store, they have a wood-burning pizza oven where they make fresh Wolfgang Puck pizzas. When we were last there one of the crew was walking up and down the aisles offering slices of pizza to customers on a silver tray, as if it was a hors d'oeuvre at a cocktail party. Costco has stations where you can stop by and sample food. Trader Joes has their version of this. But, the simple act of someone walking up to you, like a waiter, offering you a taste of something delicious and giving you a cocktail napkin, provided a “quality cue” that set them apart.

There is no mistaking extraordinary customer service because when it is out of the ordinary it is remarkable. Practice spreading the word about what you value the most to those who matter the most to you. Then, think of ways you can spark remarks and trigger word-of-most advertising for your luxury real estate marketing practice.

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Wednesday, August 10, 2011

Luxury Real Estate Marketing: Is it Time to Re-invent Yourself?

Photo Courtesy of Dimrus1917

Brand distinctiveness, the way you stand out from your competition is equally important in personal branding as it is in company or product branding. When you cannot clearly, sharply and quickly articulate how you are different, how can you expect your referral sources to do so when they are asked to recommend a luxury real estate marketing professional?

Sometimes you have to completely reinvent yourself or your company to surpass your closest competitors. That is definitely the case of the Maybach as this brand faces the biggest challenge of its 90 plus year life.

Phto Courtesty of nstinia Photography

If you are in the market for a super-luxury car, and you think of the hood ornament of a Rolls Royce, (known as the “Spirit of Ecstasy”) it is hard not to get ecstatic. For some this symbol conveys the entire experience of owning the car. Others get a rush when they think of Bentley’s hood ornament or badge.

Heritage can play an important role in endearing fans to a brand. For example, the Rolls Royce is deeply associated with the Queen of England. The towns that assemble and customize the Rolls and the Bentley have an allure unto themselves. All of these kinds of factors, apart from the design and features of the cars add up to a story that the owners can tell their friends

But, what associations are made about the Maybach, manufactured by Daimler (Mercedes Benz). It was very popular in Germany in the 1920 and 1930s, but not very well known in the rest of the world. It is now manufactured at the same facility as the Mercedes S Class, not in its original town.

What does Maybach stand for today in the minds of the ultra-rich that can afford a starting price tag of $375,000 or pay $1.3M for the top of the line? How is this brand distinct from its competitors in the super-luxury car category?

Many feel that the car is too similar to the Mercedes S Class model, even though it sports many features and amenities that are not included in the lesser priced car. This lack of distinctiveness has resulted in mediocre sales and has caused Daimler to completely rethink its brand strategy. In fact, the fate of the car, its very existence, will be determined by the end of the year.

But, what a fabulous opportunity to reinvent a brand and emerge as the market leader! You have heard of the fable of the Phoenix, the firebird that re-emerges from the ashes, right? If Daimler would take a hard look at the current vulnerabilities of the Rolls and the Bentley, and zero in on providing extraordinary value, a classic brand could be reborn that could trounce the other two.

Being at the doorway of extinction can spark remarkable inventiveness. It will be interesting to see if the Maybach makes it through the threshold. Is it time for you to re-invent your brand?

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Tuesday, August 9, 2011

Iconoclasts: A Lesson in Positive Expectations from David Foster, the "Hit Man"

An iconoclast is a person who challenges conventional wisdom and traditional beliefs, and often shatters the very foundations upon which traditional, institutions rest. Iconoclasts are some the of best examples of personal branding and are worth studying if you are interested in standing out as a luxury real estate marketing professional.

David Foster, also known as the “Hit Man”, certainly is an iconoclast and a “one-man-brand”. As a record producer, composer, songwriter, and singer, he has won countless Grammy Awards and has introduced many artists who have gone on to be superstars in their own right like Josh Groban and Michael Bublé.

His roster of clients include Whitney Houston, Barbara Streisand, Celine Dion, Andrea Bocelli, Natalie Cole, Mariah Carey , Cher , Michael Jackson, Beyonce, Madona, Prince, Shania Twain, Donna Summer, Kenny Rogers, Chaka Khan. Most recently he is guiding the career of Jackie Evancho, the eleven year old child protégé with an operatic voice who “sings like an angel”.

Foster won his first Grammy for “After the Love Is Gone” by Earth, Wind and Fire. Since then he has worked with many bands including Chicago, Destiny’s Child, and the Bee Gees. He even won a Grammy for the best Broadway musical cast album of Dreamgirls.

In an interview on PBS where his “Hitman Returns” TV concert has recently been airing to help with fundraising, he had something very interesting to say about his “secret” to such a long successful career. He said that work keeps coming to him; he does not go after work. He just lets it come to him.

This is one of the best descriptions we have heard regarding the phenomenon that occurs when a person is operating their career “in the zone”, or what we call “operating spot on one’s authentic brand signal”. Foster “expects” to continuously create mega hits. And, so do the artists who hire him. He expects to deliver and they expect results. That is his secret for success.

When you are fully operating on your authentic personal brand signal it feels exhilarating. It is like singing in perfect pitch, in your best key, expecting the best outcome. Incidentally, David Foster is actually one of the rare human beings who have perfect pitch, musically.

Tuning into your authentic brand signal is one of the most important keys to your own success in marketing luxury real estate. If you then maintain the steady, stable state of positive expectation, the expectation of attracting business, the way will continuously present itself. And, it will start to feel perfectly natural and normal when business keeps flowing your way. Reach for this state of mind and, like the Hit Man, great results will surely follow.

If you haven’t already seen his TV concert you can catch most of the numbers onFoster's You Tube Channel here. We think you will truly enjoy the experience of seeing an iconoclast at work.

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Friday, August 5, 2011

Luxury Real Estate Marketing: Turning Tables on the Market Leader - Part 2

We cannot emphasize enough now important it is for luxury real estate marketing professionals, who are incumbent market leaders, to get their web sites up to speed technologically and also to embrace the right internet marketing strategies (locally and globally). Even if you have a significant lead in mind-share and market share, a non-obvious tech-savvy challenger can come along and catch you off guard. It is our strong recommendation that you become pro-active and cover all of your bases before you have to scramble to catch up, in crisis mode.

We have heard time after time, from disgruntled tech-challenged incumbent market leaders, how tech-savvy (yet not necessarily seasoned) agents are effortlessly capturing qualified internet buyer leads and selling their listings (not to mention earning equal commissions). In a buyer’s market, sellers are more prone to shift loyalty when presented with proven buyer acquisition results. This can outweigh years of experience, long -term relationships and a sterling reputation as a listing agent. If these buyer’s agents can also demonstrate a reasonable competence in marketing listings, too, they can become formidable challengers and turn the tables on you.

In Part 1 of this blog series we discussed how, in just one year, Apple and Samsung have turned the tables on Nokia, the previous market leading manufacturer of consumer smart phones. Another potential casualty is Research in Motion (RIM) whose Blackberry phones have, for years, dominated the business sub-category of smart phone.

RIM is currently in crisis mode. Many of RIM’s top sales team have jumped ship and are now working for Apple. They did not respond proactively and fast enough to properly position themselves to ride the wave of the touch screen + apps smart phone mega trend that Apple popularized.

This fall RIM is coming out with a new line of Blackberry smart phones. But, more trouble lies ahead. They acquired a very powerful operating system that could potentially compete with Apple or Android smart phones, but it will not be ready to incorporate in their phones until next year. Meanwhile, Apple is coming out with iPhone 5 this fall and several new Android phones will be released then as well. Without, the apps (RIM has a paucity of apps) do they even have what now defines “smart” phones?

Blackberry, the industry standard, became the staple of corporate America as companies purchased these devises and gave them to their employees to use primarily for work to increase productivity. Now, more and more firms are allowing their employees to use their personal iPhones and Androids at work. Note: Androids refers to the collective set of phones manufactured by a multiplicity of companies that all use the Android operating system). The result is that the very definition of the sub-category of “business” smart phones that Blackberry has dominated is becoming blurred, meaning that the difference between consumer smart phones and business phones is no longer sharply defined.

It may even be too late for RIM to stay within reach of achieving the #1 or #2 (Apple and Samsung) position in the smart phone category of mobile phones. Their market share has slipped from 19.7% to 12.9% virtually overnight. Now in crisis mode they have cut about one half of their staff. They have fallen behind the times and are slow to catch up. The tables have turned. Instead of thinking like a market leader, they must now think like a challenger.

Let this post be a sound of alarm for all who engage in the game of marketing luxury real estate. If you are an incumbent market leader, beware! If you are a tech-savvy challenger take aim directly at one of the most common vulnerabilities of market leaders—a slow response to adapt to the new technological imperatives of today’s luxury real estate marketplace.

Check out our lastest Blog Series: So You Want to Be a Market Leader

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Tuesday, August 2, 2011

Luxury Real Estate Marketing: Turning Tables on the Market Leader

To the extent that incumbent market leaders rest on their laurels, do not stay focused or do not keep up with technology, market leadership is up for grabs for any luxury real estate marketing professional with a superior value proposition and the right brand strategy. Market leaders beware! With the right brand strategy the tables can be turned on you in one year or less, seemingly, overnight.

What a difference one year can make! Take a look at what happened to the previous market leader, Nokia, in the smart phone market category. They slipped from #1 to #3. According to market research firm Strategy Analytics:

Apple's market share rose to 18.5% in the second quarter from 13.5% a year earlier
Samsung's smartphone market share jumped to 17.5% from 5.0%
Nokia slipped to 15.2% from 38.1% a year earlier.

To surpass Apple going forward, Strategy Analytics says #2 Samsung will need a three-fold strategy to:

Boost its retail presence for smart phones in countries such as the U.S., China, Japan and the U.K
Continuously upgrade its phones based on Google Inc's Android software, as well as Microsoft Corp.'s Windows platform and its own Bada operating system
Develop advanced cloud-based services

That is going to take some doing. Apple, by far, has the best customer service experience in just about any retail category. Recently, we discovered that we could not access the internet via our home WiFi on our iPad; yet we were able to connect with our laptop (PC) computer. We took the iPad into our local Apple store and encountered superlative service. They reinstalled and updated our software on the spot, free of charge, and it was fixed within minutes.

How can Samsung beat that? The idea of having this level of LOCAL service and product education for ALL of our mobile devices and computers in one place is a value proposition that simply cannot be rivaled. Apple is in the process of rolling out 24 large new stores in China, alone.

As a busy husband and wife team, who travels extensively, saving time is essential and so is the ease of sharing digital information and media. Learning to use one brand of software/hardware is much more efficient than learning to use multiple brands. Being able to instantly sync all of our data, apps and media between all devices and computers, plus having everything readily accessible online in the cloud, 24/7 (coming this fall from Apple), is an offering that Samsung or Nokia will be very hard-pressed to match.

Other brands may have some outstanding or even better product features. But, for us, Apple’s unique selling proposition is inimitable. As the challenger to the market leader (which Apple was until it became the leader) you must be able to articulate your superior value proposition in a nano-second. Here is how this plays out with Apple in just 7 words (our words):

Local Service + Total Product Integration +Wireless Synchronization

In luxury real estate marketing, when you can distill and express your distinct, extraordinary promise of value in just a few words, and those words are remarkable, people will voluntarily spread those words for you (like we just gladly did for Apple), That is how you can quickly turn the tables on the incumbent market leader in your marketplace, catching them off-guard.

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