The KCM Blog - Properly Communicating with Millennial Home Buyers

Properly Communicating with Millennial Home Buyers

Posted: 23 Jul 2013 04:00 AM PDT

Today we have the great honor of having Justin DeCesare, CEO of Middleton & Associates Real Estate in La Jolla, CA as our guest blogger. Justin has written a manual for new agents that is a must read for the new technology centered Real Estate market which is available online in both print and Kindle editions. Connect with Justin on Facebook and Twitter. - The KCM Crew

With all of the industry media coverage revolving around the importance Millennials will have on the housing resurgence, the key question agents must ask themselves is:

“Am I prepared to find and capture this new demographic as my clients?”

It is not necessarily an easy question to answer. We all know how to use e-mail and text messaging for communication and workflow purposes. However, we don’t fully appreciate the effect that it will have on younger generations in regard to lead generation.

With Millennials, their mobile spaces are where we will find and build trust.

E-mail lists are hard to come by and finding cell phone numbers isn’t as easy as going to the phone book.

Like traditional farming to find listing leads, the key to starting a farm for Millennial buyers will be to obtain their contact information and move clients into a system that allows for follow-up until they are ready to buy.

This means finding where they have been renting throughout their adulthood and marketing for their business on THEIR terms.

What are their terms?

Millennials want communication that is unobtrusive and allows them to feel as though they can reach out when they are ready.

Like any marketing technique, the goal is to stay in the forefront of the consumers’ mind so, when they are ready to reach out, it will be to you. In the case of Millennials, that means offering to send information electronically until they are ready to move.

Sounds like a simple farming idea, right?

It is! However, most agents are fearful of putting effort into new marketing ideas that have not been widely used by other agents. Sometimes, we are sheep. We are willing to do what every other agent is willing to do because we see them on social media posting links to certain news articles, local events, etc.

Following other agents doesn’t suffice in an economy that changes as quickly as new technology. It is time to take charge, to be the first, to build YOUR market share with the changing industry.

The goal is to get mobile contact information. Don’t think this type of farming is any faster than regular farming. Give it a minimum of 6 months to a year to show results. Get started NOW, before every other agent in your neighborhood is using the exact same system and flooding the consumer pool.

TIPS FOR YOUR MILLENNIAL MARKETING CAMPAIGNS

1. Pick an area where young professionals earn enough to buy a home but have been renting and waiting out the depressed market. If you know your metro area at all, you should know where this is and use a data service to obtain mailing addresses.

2. Build material. Local print shops might have graphic design abilities if you don’t understand Photoshop or other similar programs.

3. Use your MLS to make a short market analysis and put it on the flier showing normal, active, pending and sold homes. Follow your local REALTOR® association marketing guidelines.

4. Put the following Messages on your flier:

§ SAVE A TREE – If you would like to receive this update monthly in your inbox, just email me at Jusitn@MiddletonAndAssociates.com and I will be happy to send you an electronic copy.

§ TXT MSG MKT UPDATE – Text Update and Your Zip Code to 555-555-5555 and I will send you the following update on the 1^st of every month. NO SPAM – JUST ONE INFOMRATIVE TXT PER MONTH

June 2013 – 92124: 20 Homes Sold. 15 Single Family 5 Condos. Average Price $600,000, 29 Days on Market. 2% Price Increase Year-Year.

5. Along with the normal phone number and email, don’t be afraid to put social media in your contact information block, such as:

Connect with me on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/jdecesare

Any social media site could work here. While finding new clients on Facebook and Twitter is unlikely (regardless of what anyone tells you,) if you are building relationships with future Millennial homebuyers in your area, it gives you the opportunity to stay in front of your potential clients so they remember to call YOU when the time comes for them to buy.

6. Finally, just mail it out and KEEP MAILING until you begin getting responses. Make all market materials your own and give it your own personality. Sincerity is still important…even in the internet age.

I can’t mention this enough times…communicate based on the needs of your clients. If your leads text you, text them back before you call them. If they email, follow the same rules. Work on their terms and you are more likely to build trust with your first time home buyers.

There is no difference between home buyers from my generation and those twenty years ago. However, the way in which we communicate should be much different.

You still need face-to-face meeting time to best help your clients, but understand how trust is built. Learn to adjust what you are comfortable with for the sake of your clients and you could become a very successful agent in this new demographic before many other agents catch on.

Remember, your goal is to farm to renters who are making their first purchases. Play it right and you can build a client base that will buy and sell many times over the course of your career.

That being said, it is your job to EARN your business, not just assume you deserve it because you have been an agent longer than your clients have been home buyers.