What’s involved in a sales campaign?
When it comes to selling a property it’s all about the strategy of the sales campaign.
Comprising a series of steps and decisions that you make with the assistance of your selling agent, the sales campaign plays a major role in the success of any sale and also impacts exactly how long your home spends on the market.
So, what exactly is involved in a sales campaign?
The sales campaign
Basically, a sales campaign encompasses all the decisions you and your agent make about how your property will be priced, marketed, and sold.
It’s a strategy that varies from property to property and suburb to suburb depending on the type of buyer you’re appealing to, and the timeframe within which you hope to sell.
Right from the outset, the sales campaign is something you should be talking to your agent about in order to determine exactly how they believe your property will be positioned in the marketplace, and it includes a series of steps.
Appraisal and pricing strategy
An appraisal of your property’s value is the first step of any sales campaign. This determines your property’s position in the market and who it is likely to appeal to.
As you seek out the right agent to sell your property, they will each appraise your property and offer an estimated price that they believe it can achieve using the sales campaign that will best showcase it to the market.
Once you know the agent’s estimated value of the property, it’s time to work out the pricing strategy, which walks a fine line between your expectation and what the buyers of your type of property are willing to pay.
It also factors in the timeframe within which you want your property to sell. For example, of you want your property to sell quickly you may price it at the lower end of the agent’s estimate.
As most buyers look at advertised price before they even consider inspecting a property, the pricing strategy is crucial.
Method of sale
Once you have a price in mind, it’s time to determine the method of sale, and there are three common ways: private treaty, auction, and expressions of interest.
You can read more about the advantages of each method here, but as a recap:
- Private treaty sees you and your agent settle on a fixed price that you hope to achieve, which you then advertise as part of your marketing.
- Auctions often involve shorter campaigns but are a great way of generating interest in a property, which is sold on a specific auction date, with the market determining the value.
- Expressions of interest are not as common as private treaty sales or auctions, but in a way bridge the gap between both. They allow for interested buyers to put forward in writing the price they are willing to pay for a property.
Marketing
Marketing plays a major role in the sales campaign. It sees your property advertised in places where your potential buyer is most likely to find it.
Different types of properties involve different marketing strategies, but basic ingredients include advertising online with the major real estate portals, either digital or hard copy brochures, signage and more.
In order to create appealing marketing your property will need to be presented well and photographed. Your agent may also suggest video tours of the property, drone footage, and floorplans as part of your marketing campaign in order to really showcase the assets that will appeal to buyers.
Open homes
Once the pricing strategy is set, the method of sale determined and the marketing is in place, it’s time to open your home to the public.
Vendors have a few options when it comes to inspection – you can have set open homes which potential buyers attend, or inspections by appointment.
Either way, the property needs to be presented well in order to appeal to buyers. The key here is to have buyers envisage themselves living in your property, so it should be free of clutter, clean, tidy and in the best repair possible.
Depending on the property, your agent may also suggest staging.
Negotiations
As potential buyers inspect your property, your agent will seek feedback from them regarding their level of interest, and what they would be willing to pay.
Ultimately, the aim is to receive offers of what people are willing to pay and your agent will negotiate with buyers on your behalf to achieve a price that you’re happy with.
All the hard work of the sales campaign comes to the fore at this point. If your property is priced correctly, presented well and marketed to best effect, you are likely to achieve a sale sooner for the price that you were hoping for.
How Eview Group can assist
If you’re considering selling, we would love to assist. You can contact our agents for an appraisal and gain their insight into a successful sales campaign here.
