The last few months (or years!) have been anything but business-as-usual.

Though we’ve tried, in our agencies, our homes, our lives to keep some semblance of normalcy, the fact is, for many of us, our day-to-day changed quite dramatically.

Suddenly, as we approach 70% and 80% double vaxxed, there is finally the possibility that we will get our lives back – at least to some degree.

For agents, this may mean the return of open houses and auctions. It may also mean lower vendor uncertainty and reluctance to list.

Now is the time to get prepped for our newest version of business-as-usual, and we want to help you get started, from a marketing perspective, with this handy checklist of marketing and communication ideas.

1.    Communicating business-as-usual

Communicating business-as-usual might seem unnecessary – everyone is hanging for the end of lockdown and will be acutely aware of when it happens – but with the constant confusion of the last few months, making your messages and position really clear is very important.

• Let all your contacts know: Start with an email campaign to all the contacts on your database, wishing them well after these challenges and letting them know your post-lockdown working conditions. What will it look like to sell or buy or rent now?Don’t forget to throw in some local market knowledge and projections to make those teetering on the edge of selling, dive over that line!
• Personally let prospects know: Not everyone on your contact list will be ready to buy and sell now, some of them perhaps never again. There will be some though, who have been waiting for just these circumstances.For these contacts, reach out with a personal phone call, explaining more about market conditions and projections and help them feel comfortable about a decision to make a move.
• Let the community know: It never hurts to go wider than your existing contact list. Start by updating your website to reflect your new business-as-usual terms, share the page on your socials, then have a chat to the local paper (especially if regional), to do a short piece about how the market has changed and will change, and mention you are back doing business-as-usual.

2.    Focusing on safety

Despite our politicians saying it’s now safer to open back up, they are also predicting rising case numbers once we do.

The thought of this, even for the double vaxxed, can leave some people feeling a bit wary about being back out in the world again. The thought of visiting small offices or busy open homes can be intimidating.

• Creating your safety plan: With your team, create and agree to your post lockdown safety plan. This might be just what the government requires of you, or it might be above and beyond.Either way, while you know what is expected and required by legislation, most non-agents do not. You can make them feel better by having transparency around your carefully created safety plan.
• Mass communicating your commitment to safety: Once you know how you will keep your staff and the public safe while you practice real estate, it’s time to share!Create a dedicated page on your website that clearly communicates your plan, then share it on your own socials, via email, on posters in your office and make it available at open homes. People will feel safer simply knowing you’ve thought of some of things they haven’t.

3.    Winning listings

With business practices and safety taken care of, it’s time to get listings back in shopfronts, and people back at opens and inspections. This starts with building brands and personal profiles, the right way.

• Share knowledge: The Covid environment has been one of uncertainty and trepidation in some areas. For some people this has put them off buying and selling temporarily.Help people understand the market by researching and writing regular local market reports, including your expert commentary. Send weekly, fortnightly or monthly reports to all contacts, put them on socials and send them as a release to local newspaper and radio stations.This activity not only educates people and helps them better understand when is the right time to take action, it also cements your place as an authority and expert in property.
• Know where to prospect: If you’re looking to prospect, don’t waste your time with hundreds of cold calls, use property data platforms to identify hotspots in your suburb or town, and prioritise reaching out to homeowners in that area with personal letters or market updates, followed by calls.
• Concentrate on brand awareness and reputation: As real estate agents, so often the bulk of our ‘marketing time’ is spent marketing listings, after all, selling those properties is our bread and butter.After a few unique months, get back out there and work to raise your own profile and the brand awareness and reputation of your agency.Collect testimonials from clients for whom you have gone above and beyond in recent times.Attend and volunteer in local events.

  Get back into local sport.

  Look at cross-promoting with other storefronts or businesses in the area.

  Create Facebook advertisements or boosts that feature your approachable agents or happy clients.

Before lockdown ends, rather than after, is the perfect time to reconsider your communication and marketing plan at an agency and individual agent profile level.

This change in circumstances gives us a really good reason and opportunity to reach out to our communities and contacts, share our expertise and remind them we are the ones they want managing their sales.