Creative Marketing – Take Your Clients on a Bus Tour

Sometimes a small difference in property marketing can have a big conversion factor for you or your brokerage.  This ‘bus tour’ concept is one of them; be prepared to think outside the square when it comes to commercial property marketing and check what you could do with this.

So what is it?  It is the concept of taking your top VIP clients and prospects (10 or so of them) on a quarterly ‘bus tour’ of your sales territory to look at recent investment listings and property market changes.  Following the ‘bus tour’ they can be taken to a short ‘market update’ by industry specialists from your brokerage.  In 90 minutes the tour can be completed and all done.

This strategy was used by a commercial brokerage client of mine.  This is what was found and achieved from the process:

• The quality and type of client that you invite is very important.  The process works well with property investors looking to expand or change their investments in your location.  Find a group of investors that are already well entrenched in the local property market; they would already have displayed a good involvement locally with property.
• When you put a group of quality investment clients together, you don’t need to pitch and sell anything.  Information from the market is all that is needed to get them talking.  The interaction between the clients tends to create the circumstances for future deals or future inspections.
• Show the VIP’s the local market results and factors that are evident today.  Show them some recent listings that have been sold and leased by your office.  Perhaps even show them some ‘stale competitors stock’ that is not moving and give reasons why.  Show them where the next property opportunities will be evolving in the city or suburbs and give them examples of why that is likely to be so.
• Show them the changes to property use and zoning that will have an impact on property demand, sales, and leasing.
• Show them how local area roads and freeways impact property investment and occupation.

For the small cost of hiring a bus and spending the time with your best clients, you are likely to be doing something that is very different and useful for your good VIP prospects and clients.  Marketing in commercial real estate is all about being different and relevant.  The ‘bus tour’ process is exactly that.