It’s no secret that everyone likes to see his or her name in black and white. Direct marketers have been personalizing printed material for years. The smart marketers are now doing the same with web sites.PURLs – Persistent Uniform Resource Locators – have been around for years, but have been steadily gaining popularity in real estate marketing. Imagine you are thumbing through your mail, and there in the stack is yet another real estate direct mail piece…only this one is asking you to visit your very own web site at YourName.RealEstateOffer.com. Even more compelling, this one has some spectacular golf imagery on it, and you as an avid golfer are even more intrigued.When you go to the site, it welcomes you by name. Again, you browse through the web pages and see some more golf imagery as you read about the great golf at the community. You click on contact to request more information, but this time, you don’t have to fill out a form. Everything is ready to be sent to you.Later, your next door your neighbor brings over a direct mailer that caught her eye. It has soothing spa images all over it and it directed her to YourNeighbor.RealEstateOffer.com. She tells you the same story about how the web site greeted her by name and it focused on health and wellness.The thing is, it was sent by the same community. Two totally different direct mailers and two totally different web sites. 1:1 marketing at it’s finest.Here’s how it worked. The community above purchased a prospect list that included lifestyle attributes (affinity to golf, spa, etc.). They gave everyone their own unique web site address, or PURL. They knew that you would respond well to golf messages, and your neighbor would respond better to spa messages. So, the PURL YourName.realestateoffer.com was then programmed to dynamically display golf messages and YourNeighbor.realestateoffer.com was programmed to display spa messages.The value of this should be obvious. What better way to market to someone than to personalize their message, giving them their own microsite with the information they want on it. It will inevitably increase the chances for prospect conversion.Here are a few quick statistics. According to the Direct Mail Association:

• nearly 33% of people respond to direct mail by going online
• campaigns that employ PURLs are reporting a 20 to 30% increase in response rates
• personalized direct mail can increase the response rate from the traditional 1% to a response rate of 5% or better.

Not only will using PURLs improve response rates, it allows you to gain key marketing insight on those who respond.What do I mean? Standard web traffic statistics are unable to track specific visitors to a site. Typically, you can only drill as deep as the ISP the visitor used to get to your site. However, when someone types in a PURL, we know exactly who they are, because we can match it back to the original list.So, we know each person who responded to our message. We know precisely what pages they viewed. We know how long they spent on the site. Imagine having this information at your fingertips to help build the relationship.So, to summarize, PURL campaigns will help you with the following:

• Increase response and ROI over conventional direct mail campaigns
• Enhance the user experience by delivering dynamic content based on preferences
• Boost opt-in behavior
• Improve conversion tracking
• Gather additional key consumer behavior in real time
• Bring 1:1 marketing within your reach

To increase your lead generation, PURLs are the way to go.

“The sign on the door of Opportunity says Push.”These are exciting times for the opportunist who knows how to spot when the time is right to buy. We’ve just about reached that point in real estate. In fact, for the astute investor, I believe this could be the best time to be looking for buying opportunities since the late 1970s.Today the old herd mentality is once again at work. The majority of the market is listening to the gloom-and-doom pronouncements of the media, and letting some great opportunities slip right on by.I was in the business in the late 1970s, when interest rates, unemployment and inflation were all running at double-digit levels. The media said things would get worse. The average investor believed the negative hype and started bailing out. Astute investors saw it as a buying opportunity and snapped up the best buys average investors left behind.Of course the market did turn around and the savvy investors realized significant returns. The average investors cursed their luck and wished they’d made better decisions.Will the people who are bailing out today come to regret their decisions? You bet they will!The sales executives who want to be successful in today’s market should encourage their clients to act more like the astute investors. Not for the potential financial gains, but for the lifestyle. You should be telling your clients that the lifestyle they’ve always wanted is now affordable. And it’s likely you won’t be able to make that promise to them next year.– Inflation Hedge –President Roosevelt said “The best investment on earth is the good earth itself.” Real estate has always been the best hedge against inflation, and it’s always stood the test of time.What hasn’t stood the test is the mediocre sales executive. When times get hard, the weak fall by the wayside. They get caught up in the negativity and start believing it themselves; they can’t give their product away, much less build value into it.The order-taking days are over, and now’s the time to actually start selling if you’re going to be successful. The sales executives who believe that this is a time of unparalleled opportunity and can convey that belief to their clients will not only succeed, but flourish.The key to success is persistence. Failure, as a wise man once said, is the path of least persistence. Persistence plus Enthusiasm will make winners of us all.Today I urge you to make a sincere commitment to ignore the negativity of the media and help your clients seize one of the best opportunities to invest in a generation. Help your clients understand that today’s buyers’ market will not last forever, that now is the best time to buy. If they leave you without owning something, we’ve done them a great disservice. They need to have a fear of loss, which is always better than the desire to gain.You see, nothing has really changed in the sales process. The old proverb tells us that “As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he.” Are you thinking positive thoughts? Do you really believe these are days of opportunity? Are you more excited about your product than ever before?If you’re not, then make a commitment today to initiate a new thought process. Envision victory. Help your clients see the value in what you’re offering. Let them know that this is their best opportunity yet to enhance their lifestyle. One day they’ll thank you for showing them the opportunity.Zig Zeigler used to say “Today is the first day of the rest of your life.” Yesterday’s a cancelled check. Tomorrow’s a promissory note. Today is cash in hand. Louis L’Amour said: “He never knew when he was whipped . . . so he never was.” We are winners, we refuse to be defeated because we know in our hearts that these are the good ole days.God Bless You All.Larry

What are the three most important features a great property must possess? Ask most people in real estate and they’ll answer with the old cliché: Location, location, location.That may be true for commercial properties, but in our business of resort/residential real estate location is only one-third of the equation. To be successful, our communities must have the Big Three: Location, Concept and Timing.Of those three values Timing is the most commonly overlooked and least understood. To represent timing as a major benefit, you must understand the concept from the customer’s perception, the positives and negatives, the good and the bad.Understanding where your community fits into the life cycle (timing) of the community development and sales process is important in representing the location and concept. Understanding how it impacts the buyer is even more important.Your ability to sell should not be affected no matter what stage of development your community has reached, whether it’s pre-development, completed or in-between. There are positive message points to present at each stage. Knowing how to do this is what really separates the experienced sales executive from the neophytes.Let’s compare some of the Pros and Cons of Pre-Development with those of the Completed Community:Pre-Development Pros:

• Greatest Selection (Best property to choose from)
• Pre-Development Pricing & Incentives
• Potential for Rising Values as Vision Is Realized
• Founder status (Prestige)

Pre-Development Cons:

• Greatest ‘Risk’
• Lifestyle Enjoyment Years Away
• Greatest Imagination Is Needed (No model homes, amenities, infrastructure)
• Unproven Costs of Construction

Completed Community Pros:

• Least Amount of ‘Risk’
• Little Imagination Required
• Immediate Lifestyle Enjoyment
• Cost of Construction Now Has Comparables

Completed Community Cons:

• Limited Selection
• Highes Prices Typically
• You are the NEW GUY in the neighborhood where relationships have already been forged
• Aging Amenities

There are always two sides to every argument. The real point here is a good sales executive always knows how to present his product in the most favorable light.

If you’re in resort and residential real estate, it comes as no surprise to you that the market has changed. What is surprising is that most sales and marketing tactics have not changed with it.The soft landing we were all anticipating is in fact a fundamental paradigm shift. Gone are the speculators. The flippers. The herds of sheep. And they’re not coming back.Who does that leave? The end users. Remember them? They’re the ones who actually build the homes and live the dream we all help to create in glossy brochures and flashy Web sites and impressive sales centers.The good news is they’re still there. And they still believe in dreams.The bad news? They’re gun shy. Every day they’re bombarded with media reports of slumping housing markets and predictions that it might not get better any time soon. In this environment, slick extravagant marketing materials just aren’t enough to get the job done.Selling is going to take an evolution in the way we market and communicate. But there are some tried-and-true methods that will work better than ever in the current market. This may sound a bit old-fashioned in an age of virtual tours, video e-mail and over-the-top collateral, but there’s never been a better time for effective relationship marketing and selling.The secret? Get that prospect – that potential end-user with a dream and an emotional attachment to the property – on-site to experience the lifestyle first-hand and press the flesh with talented and energetic sales executives.A recent direct mail campaign from Hill-Mullikin is a perfect example. We targeted our client’s affinity base promoting a preferred-rate stay at a sister resort destination in tandem with a tour of the real estate community. No pressure. No launch date. No call for a “priority reservation”. Just a simple message to “come and enjoy one of America’s greatest retreats. You just might stay forever.”From over 1,000 calls our client has booked over 130 tours in less than 60 days. Now the market is right where we want it. On-site.

Can something as mysterious and misunderstood as Coincidence be used to your advantage in the sales process? After 15 years in the business as a sales manager and marketing consultant, I’m convinced it can.Think about the conversations you have had with your property owners in the past. Have you ever heard them say?“We felt like it was meant to be.”“Everywhere we turned we saw your community.”“Everyone we know is talking about this community.”“The timing was just perfect”This is Coincidence working in your sales process. What is Coincidence? Webster’s defines it an accidental but seemingly planned occurrence of events.There’s no doubt that increasing the potential for Coincidence can dramatically increase your chances of success. Look at the following stages buyers go through and you’ll notice how you can help your sales team by promoting these random occurrences we call Coincidences:

1. Curiosity: Attraction caused by marketing and owner referrals
2. Interest: Right amenity mix, location, theme
3. Admiration: Proper use of branding and public relations
4. Coincidence: That magical catalyst that causes the buyer to move in a positive direction toward your community.
5. Research: Websites, visits, discussions with friends, etc.
6. Needs discovery: Sales agents listening and questioning
7. Solution: Prescription of specific property or path
8. Exit strategy: Analysis (resale options)
9. Action: Contract
10. Reflection: Both positive and negative feelings that can lead to either referrals or rescission.

Here are a few ways to make sure your offer is in front of the buyer at the right moment.Great CRM system: Sometimes all it takes to sway your buyer is a phone call or a letter that arrives at exactly the right moment. When well-managed, a system such as Focus 3 will create that special moment.Billboard Campaign: The right message at the right location can spell the difference between a sale or a walkaway. Many marketers don’t give credit to the program but in today’s competitive markets buyers will check out multiple communities before taking that last step to purchase.Strategic office location: Where you put your office is important. It does not always have to be right on property. In some cases where communities are away from the major arteries, it’s fine to position your office as a welcome center a few minutes away.Targeted Messages: Once you’ve identified the right targets, you can allocate your marketing dollars more efficiently where they can help increase the number of coincidences. Radio, drop mail and magazines are expensive to mount national campaigns, but when they’re focused on specific towns and regions they will create a buzz you can capitalize on with small group settings. The important issue is the ability to track lead sources and have the leads ranked consistently.As a sales manager and marketing consultant, I know you have to focus on the fundamentals. Sometimes you are not able to deploy any of these techniques, but you can still prepare your team to capitalize on these situations as buyers point them out. Buying decisions are often helped along by Coincidence. Helping create a situation where coincidences can happen never hurts.

Can you predict my response rate from a direct mail campaign? That’s the most frequently asked question among direct marketers, including the luxury resort and residential real estate industry. The truth is, there’s no definitive answer to this question.Your response rate will vary relative to product, competition, timing, economic and news events, and the overall quality and appeal of the promotion presentation. It will also vary according to the qualifying parameters of the database used; a single qualifier can cause a significant variance in the response rate.All other factors being equal, a lifestyle list will generate a higher response than a non-lifestyle list. For example, if you want to sell a $200,000 Lamborghini, a list of millionaires would get results, but a list of millionaires who own exotic automobiles would perform even better.You’ll also get better results from an in-house list – consisting of responders to a previous offer you’ve made – instead of a “cold” list – one rented from an outside source. By the same token, an active list – membership/attendee – almost always performs better than a passive list.Say, for example, you’re selling art. A custom compilation of “art expo attendees” will outperform a cold list consisting of people who own art. In a nutshell, knowing the response rate for one list category will help predict the response rate for another list category.Asking the right question is crucial in formulating a direct mail campaign. The most important question is: How many responses do I need to break even? For example, let’s say the expected response rate is 0.5%. If 250 leads represents the break-even point, then you’ll need to mail 50,000 pieces (50,000 x 0.5% = 250).Actually, you’ll probably want to mail a few thousand more just in case the actual response rate is below the estimated rate; if it’s higher, then you’re stuck with additional leads – never a bad thing.Predicting response rates is an inexact science. Each case is unique and for best results you should talk with a trained direct mail database professional before you get started.