Market conditions that were present during fractional real estate’s first major boom in 2004 and 2005 are long gone.  Not to say that those conditions won’t come back, in fact many believe they will with fractional ownership sales leading the way.

But what are you, the developer, land owner or sales manager doing in the mean time?  Lots of consultants and advertising companies continue to gloat over past sales successes in the “Order Taking Era” of 2004 and 2005 and kudos to them for those accomplishments.  But how are they helping you today?  Your focus today should be on answering these questions:

1.  Have you adjusted your price matrix?

Typically it’s not a good idea to drop your price and I’m not recommending everybody go out and do that tomorrow, but we can all agree that today’s economic environment is atypical so discussions about atypical price adjustments shouldn’t be ignored either.

2.  Does your sales team have the fire power to sell “The Lifestyle”?

Put another way; what are your hiring criteria for the sales team?

Many licensed real estate agents can sell features and benefits, but are they equipped and trained to sell an experience?  Can they learn about their prospect and position the product based on their needs?  Can they move the prospect along efficiently through the sales process?  Fractional selling is solution selling and order taking is a thing of the past.

3.   What are you doing to shorten the sales cycle?

If sales are more difficult today then it seems logical that facilitating an easier process for those who do have interest would make sense.  What steps are you taking to simplify your message?  What technology is available to facilitate quicker delivery of information?  Are you still hanging on to the old school method of creating interest and following up with several different marketing pieces?

4.  What sales reports do you use?

The information assembled from your sales staff is priceless.  Why are buyers not buying?  “The economy” is an easy answer and is often times true but the right product at the right price can win a percentage of those deals.  Here is a good one that came from a qualified prospect:  ”We don’t want to rub our success in our friend’s faces” was the gist of their objection.  People are choosing to wait just because it might look bad if they make a $250,000 purchase right now - in their eyes, it’s not a very ‘responsible’ use of their money… even if it actually is.  Get my drift?  You can’t help someone over the goal line if you don’t know what their real objections are.  It’s too easy these days for a prospect to throw out this classic line:  “we’re just going to wait a while and see what the market does”.  Not knowing for sure what the true objections are will sink your ship.

5.  Have you thought about creating more products?

I’m not referring to adding a timeshare component or re-designing your floor plans.  But maybe there is some merit in today’s market with different levels of membership to help broaden your target market.  Maybe a corporate option isn’t a bad idea?  A more flexible option designed for corporate use that individuals can choose to upgrade to.

6.  Are you embracing new marketing techniques?

Social media is the big deal today and should be included into your marketing mix.  Notice how I say “should be included”; this does not mean pour all of your money into Facebook, Twitter and your blog, but they definitely need to be a slice of your pie.  These outlets are quite inexpensive as well and can help you get exposure for very little money if done right.  In other words, go easy on the $20 per piece marketing brochures for a while and get more information out there faster and cheaper.

7.  What suite of incentives are you offering?

Buyers are looking for a little something extra because they know they can get it.  What do you have planned for them?  Of course there is the popular ‘Charter Membership’ opportunity, but what else?  Have you looked at various referral incentives that can be used for the owners you have already closed?  What does your owner communication program consist of?

8.  What urgency tools are you going to use?

The sales process in this market can move at glacier speed.  There are methods to move your interested customers along.  For example, if you are in pre-construction, there are clever ways (outside of price increases) to provide more incentive to put down a deposit sooner.

The bottom line:  you have options and there are several clever ideas that you can implement today to boost your sales pace. We at Pierce Group spend most of our time answering the questions above and gathering valuable new ideas.

Learn more about our services here or contact us for a free phone consultation.

Eric Pierce

President - Pierce Group, LLC

Foresight Costs Less Than Hindsight^SM