MH Pro Provides Insight on How to Price Your Home and Find Your Customer
Michael Callaghan of Four Leaf Properties presented at the 27th International Networking Roundtable in Indianapolis to provide information on strategies that will help you find your customer. Or, better yet, how to find your “Alice”.
Yes, Callaghan and his colleagues developed a system of customer personas based on 1970s and ’80s screen characters – Maude, Alice, Roseanne and Edith for instance.
“This is real for us,” he said of the characters. “You of my sales people will call me and say ‘I’ve got a Roseanne, and she’s looking for…’”
If you want to bring your business to its greatest potential, you have to know who your customer before you can find your customer. If you build out personas, you’re certain to better understand your market and be able to satisfy wants and needs for their next home.
Pricing Homes
When you sell homes in a community, you have to understand there are a certain percentage of homes you will end up taking back to sell again. If you’re not priced fairly from the start, you might be doing yourself a great disservice down the line.
“It’s just the way the math works,” Callaghan said. “I shouldn’t be losing my shirt bringing in a new home for you, but I shouldn’t be raking you over the coals either.
“Get your pricing in line before the home arrives,” he added.
Getting the Right Website to Find Your Customer
The company or community website is the place to start for customer engagement. If you
have a less than intriguing website, advertising and social media campaigns will fall short. With campaigns abroad, you need to have a great place to point your customer for the close.
“You have to create an experience for them, get them to feel a little something about the community on that website,” Callaghan said.
Put the pricing out front on the website; don’t make your Alice wait. Get the home details and specifications in place, and use good photos and video. Use a great resident testimonial or other evidence that will help your customer find what they need.
Advertising to Find Your Customer
Craigslist and other general market listing sites, especially the free ones, might find you customer but they’re unlikely to find you the steady flow of the customers you want.
“We were basically chasing around at the bottom of the barrel wasting our time,” he said.
When his group became more serious about mapping their success, they got more focused with campaigns on Facebook and MHVillage, and made the most of their Google business listing.
“If people Google you and can’t find you, you don’t exist,” he said.
Find Your Customer Through Targeted Campaigns
Callaghan said Four Leaf recently has expended more than $700,000 on marketing campaigns. Flowing money to marketing is much needed, even if not to that degree.
Some of the digital campaigns Four Leaf has run this year carry messages like “Apartments Suck” and “Give Me Space”.
“Campaigns are not that hard,” Callaghan told the Roundtable attendees. “Come up with an idea and do it. It will energize your team and you will be amazed how much activity you get.”
You may find your customer, and you may even find your Alice.
