Cash rates are down again this week to their lowest ever point in this country, and I received no less than a dozen PR’s about it – that basically all said the same thing. “Great for home buyers, blah blah blah”. The word ‘surprised’ and ‘effect’ was used a lot both to the positive and the negative. That is some were “surprised”, some were not “surprised”, some thought it would have little effect, some thought it would have great effect. And it’s not that I don’t think the event itself is news worthy. Although, I wouldn’t cover it like the daily telegraph did today with Elvis on the front page. Just saying.
Anyway, I think the best one of all of them yesterday was the one from Doug Driscoll of Starr Partners (and no, no-one paid me to say that!) which was a little different to the others. He said, “A drop in rates isn’t necessarily what sellers are waiting for. Although it will certainly help stimulate the market, it is my belief that agents should be rallying for matters that are of immediate financial concern to the consumer….” And bring it back to what it means for you: “The best agents tend to just get on with things as they realise that you can’t adjust the wind, but you can adjust the sails.”
Obviously there is a message there to take advantage of the now, but also plan for the future (wise advice). And there is also a good message there about agents rallying for the greater good of the market.
But there is also another message which is more of a marketing message I guess. I’m sure you see a lot of email marketing yourself which possibly bores you silly. I won’t say how many emails I get per day, but it’s “up there”, so maybe I’m a tough audience. But if you can grab my attention with a press release that says something different you’re doing OK.
What does that mean for you as an agent: When buyers and sellers have the same old stuff day in and day out popping into their letterboxes or their email inboxes from agents, how do you get noticed? I think the moral to the story is that you just need to be a bit different. While it might be counter-intuitive, it will get you noticed. And being noticed means being remembered. I’ll leave you to ponder on that.
