Maximising Profits in 2017: 5 Top Tips for Developers from Investorist
- Assemble a list of motivated, product-specific selling agents
- Building networks is essential in hot buyer markets such as the UAE, China and South East Asia
- 2017 will see technology become an integral element of the UK property industry
As competition within the UK property market intensifies in the New Year, developers will need to work harder to ensure their projects stand out and attract the most desirable cashed-up buyers. Jon Ellis, Founder and CEO of the world’s largest off plan B2B property marketplace, Investorist, offers his expert advice on how to maxmise your chances of success in 2017:
- Adapt marketing content to be accessible on a global scale
“Developers must ensure that when marketing projects to potential investors in non-English-speaking nations, materials are translated into the native language. For example, Mandarin for the Chinese market, Arabic for buyers in the UAE and Spanish and Portuguese for investors from South America, you may be missing valuable opportunities to connect with non-English speaking buyers otherwise. Having someone within the team who speaks the native language will also significantly enhance overseas investors’ experience.”
- Be aware of new and existing legislation
“Developers must be constantly monitoring all legislation in place and seek approvals from the necessary regularity bodies in the nation in which they are marketing projects. This would be the Dubai Land Authority or the RERA, the regulatory arm of the Land Department in Dubai for example, which has recently implemented new rules.”
- Assemble a list of motivated, product-specific selling agents
“When putting together a list of selling agents that would best suit your residential or commercial product, developers should remember the need to engage with these agents in a similar manner as they would with direct buyers. Agents may well already have a full book of projects, so in order to engage them, developers must present their project in a way that excites and motivates the agents. Often agents have a preference for developers they have worked with previously and will have regular clients whose projects may take priority. This means new developers will need to compete for attention, build relationships and not just rely on any one agent or market.
- 4. Establish a strategy for relationship building with your networks
“Building networks and relationships is essential within many hot buyer markets, including the UAE, China and South East Asia. The agent-developer relationship is on based on immense trust and takes time to develop. The agency will likely invest a lot of money and time educating their sales teams about the product they are selling. In China for example, we undertake a number of pre-vetting activities to find agents who have a strong interest in selling each type of project before arranging the face to face meetings which are crucial in building trusted relationships”.
“Anecdotally, we know that many of the individual agents will spend upwards of £7,000 on attracting each end buyer. Due to the significant investment they make in their sales team, lead gen and education, agents are not prepared to take a risk on people or businesses they don’t know well or have not met either in person or online. Listing on Investorist is a good way to build an online profile and trust and live events like Investorist’s China Connection work well in overcoming barriers and enable potential partners to meet and discuss opportunities to do business.”
- Embrace technology
“2017 will see technology become an integral element of the UK property industry. Those who don’t embrace it could find themselves losing business to more progressive companies. Developers can use Investorist’s portal to access thousands of selling agents, build relationships, attend events and present stock in the most effective way. It is even possible though the platform to launch projects simultaneously in multiple countries and languages, effectively re-creating the hype of a live auction event to really engage competitive buyers to secure their preferred properties. ”
Investorist specialises in off plan property, providing an online, global B2B marketplace. With offices in the UK, Australia, China, Singapore and United States, $45B in listed property and more than 5,500 users, Investorist is the world’s leading property network and management tool connecting thousands of property professionals globally.
For more information, contact Investorist by visiting www.investorist.co.uk or calling the team on +44 (0)203 761 7380.