In the last 90 days, I spoke to about five hundred real estate agents, brokers and developers. Many of them varied across different levels of experience and backgrounds.

As I stepped back to think and understand their point of view on what makes a real estate agent successful or not, I found some pretty interesting insights.

Here at Prosperna, we believe that real estate sales is a “premeditated” sport. To be good at any sport, it takes strategy, practice, planning and constant improvement. In order to improve, you gotta be able to identify why people fail and what you can change in order to improve.

Needless to say, I learned ALOT that I thought I would share (this is the FUN part of my job).

Here’s my take on 8 REASONS WHY YOUR PHILIPPINE REAL ESTATE MARKETING CAMPAIGNS ARE FAILING:

1. Not Enough Leads
   There’s only a few ways or channels to actually get leads. They are:
   A. Outbound Cold Calling
   B. Inbound Content Marketing
   C. Networking
   D. Online Advertising
   E. Referrals
   F. Social Media
   G. Partnerships
   H. Flyering (this is THE WORST choice)

   
   

   Some of these are more effective than others. And, many sales people, either don’t consistently commit to any of these and are only stuck with flyering, which is the least effective because it’s primarily reactive and based on luck.

   What should you do?

   First, be laser focused on identifying your target audience and implement at least two of the above lead generation channels consistently everyday.

2. Yucky Sales Person
   Think about it, you’re a consumer. We’re all consumers. Do you like it when a pushy salesperson or friend tries to sell you something without understanding your needs? NO! Everyone hates that so don’t do that!
   

   What can you do?

   The best way to overcome the “yucky sales person” syndrome is to think about and write down the questions that go through your target audience’s mind as they go through the process to buy real estate. Take those and turn around and start educating prospects on how to answer those questions.

   For example, one question that every real estate customer wants to know is “what is the return on investment (ROI)”?

   So, why not incorporate that into an education campaign or part of your sales talk track that you proactively discuss with them and in return, your customer will start to see you as a “trusted advisor”? Like this, “Ms. Customer, many of my customers like you, want to know about the ROI from ___ properties, would it help if we discussed that for a minute?”

   People buy from people they like AND who ADD VALUE!

3. No Value
   This is worth repeating again……people buy from people they like AND who ADD VALUE! Whenever I reluctantly get cornered by a real estate sales agent at the mall, the first thing they typically say is something like, “Sir bili ka na…may available units kami”.

   Yeah right…I’m just gonna give PhP 3m to PhP 9m to someone at the mall who’s just trying to make a sale so that they don’t get fired?!?!

   I could do a complete 3 day training on this topic alone but here’s the short version. Real estate is the single largest purchase of ANY single human beings lifetime. The best way to gain someone’s trust to make such a large investment is to “sell by education”. Educate prospects on how to buy real estate, not just the amenities but also the macro-community factors that make your project a good fit for their needs and how to make a good investment, to name a few.

   Do this and you’ll earn customers for LIFE!

4. Customer Buying Cycle
   I’m gonna get straight to the point on this one. STEP 1, customers first have to be EDUCATED first. Then through education, they become AWARE that they have a need, problem, desire or dream that they need or want to resolve which could lead to evaluating your product or service.

   After that, they find themselves in PRODUCT CONSIDERATION mode. This is where they actually start to review they’re different options. These options will not just include the actual product but also who they buy from. If you were there by their side from STEP 1, you’ve increased your chances because they’ll remember you as as an educated resource that could help them.

   
   From there, it’s the rest of the normal continuous sales steps of presentation, proposal, validation, negotiation, close and delight. If you did a good job from beginning to end then you can get referrals and even start over and sell the same customer again.
   

5. Dinosaurs (low tech)

   Real estate is a business. Your career is a business. And businesses either grow or die. In addition, technology is here and is changing the world of real estate. Don’t be a dinosaur and get left behind. Don’t believe me? Here’s a few examples of everyday businesses who’ve surprisingly died just like the dinosaurs.

   Have you recently bought a map to help you with driving directions? Nope. I doubt it. Today, everyone uses Google Maps and/or Waze, right?!?!

   Remember VHS tapes or DVD’s? Wala na nag babenta ng DVD sa Greenhills, diba? There are pretty much no DVD rental stores anymore. Even if you don’t subscribe to Netflix or iFlix, everyone streams videos, music and TV online using Youtube.

   By now, everyone’s heard of Lazada, Zalora, FoodPanda, etc. Technology and mobile smart devices are changing how consumers buy and in turn are shaping how they go about buying real estate.

   

   Numerous studies have shown that an estimated 73% of real estate transactions begin with a Google Search. Even before a consumer finds OLX, Lamudi or Property24, they go to Google. And then from the Google search results, they happen to see OLX, Lamudi or Property24. This simply happens because these websites have thousands of pages of listings so Google’s search algorithm ranks them higher. Google is just one of many ways technology is changing the future of real estate.

   There are so many ways to take your real estate business to the next level from mass emailing and SMS text messaging tools, simple website/landing page builders, 360 degree cameras, etc. No matter if you’re new to real estate or if you’re a seasoned broker or developer, your chance to improve your chances and multiply success is through technology.

   
   

6. Quit Before They Have a Chance
   It’s only human to not like rejection. But, if you’re gonna sign up for a sales job like real estate, you better be ready to accept the fact that SALES IS A NUMBERS GAME.
   
   

   
   The problem is that the average salesperson quits and stops at about 2 attempts to call, email or text a prospect and that’s NOT ENOUGH.

   In one my other blog articles that I wrote about called, “When is the Best Time for Philippines Real Estate Marketing Agents to Cold Call Prospects,” I share some pretty valuable and measurable research to help real estate agents generate more leads from prospecting.

   One key fact in that research is that if you call, email or text a prospect at least 6 times, you’ll increase your chances of reaching them by 90%.

   With measurable research like this, all you need to do is commit time, craft the right message and execute on the right volume of prospecting. If you had the right technology, you could actually do it better, smarter and faster, too!

7. Reasons Why People Buy
   If you think about it, at a very very simple level, people buy real estate for one or both of these reasons:

   For personal use or for investment.

   When prospecting and building relationships, you’ve got to find out which one of these are more important and create an emotional connection to their cause. For example, not to get religious on you but we’re all on a train to Heaven (hopefully) and so everyone at some point will have to realize that at a certain stage of their life, they’ve got to consider “retirement”. I can guarantee that every prospect has a dream of some sort to live comfortably in a fun place that fits a budget that doesn’t require them to stress about having to continue to work in order to pay for life’s needs/moments.

   If you discover a prospect at this stage of thinking, start selling the DREAM!

   

8. Networking
   This is another big topic that I could spend a few days on but here’s a few nuggets. There’s a “community” aspect that is required if you want to your PHILIPPINE REAL ESTATE MARKETING campaigns to succeed.

   

   
   What am I talking about?
   Well, as you’ve heard me say before, it’s important to become a TRUSTED ADVISOR. One way to do this is be a LOCAL EXPERT of a particular community. So, by subscribing to the philosophy of “selling by education” and becoming the most knowledgeable real estate agent for a particular community, people will be compelled to buy from you because you’re the “Local Expert”.

   To take this concept further, if you extend your local knowledge and expertise by joining other community organizations events for charity, entertainment, religious or business, other well-known “trusted advisors” will get to know you and the value you deliver. This will likely lead to more referrals and the possibility of knowing someone who is connected to your next prospect who could speak to and back up your reputation as an expert.

   Unfortunately, many real estate agents look at their career as a 9-to-5 gig and a “J-O-B” and this attitude just doesn’t cut it. To achieve real estate success, you’ve got to be a visible part of your community by networking.

   Here at Prosperna, we’re passionate about helping real estate professionals in the Philippines reach their full potential. Increase your sales productivity and lead generation with our online software and mobile app. Stop guessing and start growing your sales today. Book a FREE DEMO.