Blog

By Darryl Davis, CSP

We had a Power Agent® member who was interested in breaking into the luxury market in her area on one of our weekly coaching calls. Here are a few strategies we came up with to help her and all of you take your average sales price up a notch or TEN.

1. Determine if you are targeting geographic or demographic area. Geographic? Look to pull a mailing list of high-end property addresses. Demographic? You’d be targeting high-end prospects such as doctors, lawyers, dentists, business executives, etc.
2. Do some recognizance on other luxury agents in your area. What are they doing? What does their website look like? Their marketing pieces? Their social media? What events are they attending? Model yourself after them.
3. Consider using Zillow and Realtor.com. While many agents have mixed feelings about buying leads, it might make sense to advertise on these sites in luxury zip codes.
4. Be financially prepared. Remember, creating an upscale image will require a more upscale budget! You’ll want to ensure you have the funds available to create an image that you belong in the luxury market. That will include high-end property brochures, lifestyle photography and headshots, and upscale marketing pieces.
5. Hang out where luxury owners hang out. That means golf courses, high-end restaurants, community fundraisers, country clubs, yacht clubs, art exhibits, auto-shows, boat shows, equestrian events, golf tournaments, etc. It takes an investment to be at these places and events. Go where the money goes!
6. Think swag. Limo. Fine-dining. A $200,000 house commission is far from a $2 million house commission. When you’re working with buyers and sellers and multi-million-dollar property values, the expectation for service, excellence, and attention to detail is high.
7. Co-market with other high-end agents. If there is a team or agent that has already cracked the code for luxury markets in your area, consider starting there as a member of a team so that you’re learning the ropes before you start to break out on your own.
8. If joining the team isn’t your thing, consider asking if you can do their open houses. Use those opportunities for social media exposure and self-promotion.
9. Follow influencers on Twitter and Instagram.
10. Educate yourself. There are some amazing books on the topic out there, as well as NAR designations that you might consider. Our friend Michael LaFido is an expert on the topic. Learn more from his site: www.luxurylistingspecialist.com.

Moving to the next level of home prices is the perfect way to catapult your bottom line to your own personal Next Level. With each increase in price point, be prepared to execute marketing plans and budgets that reflect the standards of those consumers and that pricing range. In other words, you can’t send out Walmart advertising and expect Tiffany clients. We’ve reached out to some experts in this field and look forward to sharing more with you!