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John Burns was on Fox Business News yesterday discussing a host of real estate market topics:

Investors: They won’t sell while home prices are going up.

Entry-level buyers: 30% of buyers are entry-level which is a typical number, but you would think the percentage would be higher given the recovery and the number of homeowners with no equity.

Gen-Y Homeownership: We ballpark that they will achieve 5% lower due to high-debt. More research is needed here.

Normal Seasonal pickup: Let’s not make a headline out of seasonally adjusted annual existing home sales being down 0.6% month over month.

California Inventory: Two (2) of our team members have received unsolicited offers on the California homes they live in

California Growth: California’s housing market is hot, despite increasing reports from our clients in Texas and Nevada that they are seeing a surge of affluent Californians moving in to avoid the new 13.3% top tax rate.

Southeast Lag: The Southeast is late to the recovery partially because investors believe that price appreciation will be less likely (note-our Consulting SVP in Atlanta, David Kalosis, reports that the markets in Atlanta and the Carolinas have improved dramatically this Spring).

Fed Stimulus: How long will the Fed keep buying $45 billion per month in mortgage securities to keep rates down?

Get in Now: At the risk of sounding like a broken record, monthly housing payments are near all-time lows and are trending up.

Pent-up Demand: Consumers can now look in the rear view mirror and see that they should have bought 6 months ago. This should increase demand.

Watch video…

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As the economy continues to recover, one thing is certain: The “old normal” will not return, because consumer preferences are changing.

In the Urban Land Institute’s “Residential Futures” report, industry professionals discussed trends in the home building marketplace, touching on up-and-coming design concepts as well as trends that are no longer in vogue. Here’s a sampling:

WHAT’S IN

Walkability

Access to mass transit

Energy efficiency

Proximity to health care

A sense of community

30-minute-or-less commutes

Multigenerational housing

Lower operating costs

Suburban infill developments

Well-designed smaller floor plans

Spaces that can be transformed for different kinds of use throughout the day

Manufactured housing

Affordable, sustainable touches

Amenities that provide value, save time, or make life easier

WHAT’S OUT

Long commutes

Outer-ring suburbs

Golf-course communities

Vague “greenwash fluff” marketing language

Wasteful floor plans and square footage

Home designs from the early 2000s

High maintenance costs

Read further how consumer-housing preferences have changed dramatically since the recession.

For ULI’s full report on “Residential Futures: Thought-Provoking Ideas on What’s Next for Master-Planned Communities”

http://www.McAuliffeMcCormick.com

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No matter who you’re pulling for in tomorrow’s Super Bowl game, it’s going to be fun keeping score of your favorite commercials.

We’re pulling for Century 21 to be Smarter, Bolder and Fast enough to finish near the top…

 

www.McAuliffeMcCormick.com

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I want to thank Tom Fishburne for reminding me of this great video…

In 2001, a 12-minute video illustrating the importance of a well thought Creative Brief was released called, “Truth in Advertising.”

This hilarious video is PG-13 because all of the characters involved say exactly what is on their mind.

McAuliffe & McCormick, Inc.

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The recession challenged many long-held rules about how to boost sales. Instead of slashing prices and cutting customer service, try these counterintuitive tactics:

• Don’t always hire the hotshots. You want salespeople who can thrive in a team environment. Skip over the superstar who always hits top results. Chances are that person doesn’t cooperate with others and is too set in their ways.
• Invest in customer support. Because the next level of new revenue often comes from referals, redouble your focus on after-sale service and customer support. This will keep customers happy and ensure they not only come back for more, but pass along their positive experience to their friends.
• Hold the line on prices. Don’t give your product away. You should compete with service, quality, and uniqueness, value added, not the depth of your discounts.

Inspired by Harvard Business Review’s article, Four Secrets to Selling More 

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Check out this video by the Florida Association of Realtors on the impact Real Estate has on the economy.

FAR says, Realtors should be proud of the jobs created and the boost they give their community every time they sell a home.

Each home purchased pumps $60,000 into the economy through tremendous job creation… providing 2.5 million private sector jobs per year and even more once the home is sold.

Housing touches dozens of occupations. contributing over 15% to GDP.

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Celebrating 25 years, one of my all time favorite movies, “The Princess Bride”, teaches that in business, the best way to stay ahead of your competitors is to win the battle before it begins.

 

The strategy from the Art of War that is exemplified is ”Winning the Battle Before It Is Fought.“ Westley creatively illustrates this by having beforehand made himself invulnerable to the iocane poison through constant exposure. He then sets the terms of the contest to include it. Therefore it matters not which cup he drinks from, as either way he will win the battle.

In the business world, one sees companies that have applied this principle to win battles in their competitive space and capture market share. It relies on looking at the contest and re-setting its terms.

For example, Cirque du Soleil won its battle by avoiding competing with traditional circuses in the same old way. Instead, they changed the terms of the contest by eliminating animals, moving from a three ring circus down to one to focus the audience, replacing slapstick with artistry, and building the entire performance around a theme (much like the theater). In the process they created an entirely new experience that no one has replicated–and enjoy healthy growth and profits as a result.

Google won its battle to become the search engine of choice by moving away from the over-busy portal approach competitors provided to offer a simple and elegant design that focused on search. Since then it has expanded its empire by buying companies in the same space such as YouTube and DoubleClick. As a result, in June 2012 it reached its highest share ever (67%) in the search market and its market cap may soon pass that of Microsoft.

The best at setting the terms of the contest, and thus winning the battle before it is fought, has to be Apple. A string of victories (iTunes and the iPod, the iPhone and the iPad) have resulted because Apple’s business model offered beautifully designed products that provided content, capabilities, and ease-of-use never before experienced. Apple’s market cap is now greater than that of Internet competitors Microsoft, Google, Facebook, and Amazon combined, or, looked at another way, all the listed companies in Spain, Portugal, Ireland, and Greece.

To be successful at this approach requires seeing possibilities in the market no one else does. To do so means you must understand what customers desire (sometimes even before they do), competitors’ strengths and weaknesses, and the capabilities you will need to win. Of course, this takes time, strategy and a lot of effort…much like developing resistance to iocane powder. But the results, as we’ve seen, can pay off handsomely.

Mark McNeilly is an adjunct professor of marketing at UNC’s Kenan-Flagler Business School and the author of Sun Tzu and the Art of Business: Six Strategic Principles for Managers.

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A recent blog by Gerhard Gschwandtner reminded me why I love being in advertising so much.  He discussed the Art of Sales… or is it the Science of Sales?  Which do you think it is?  And is it different in a B2B situation than a B2C?

Gerhard mentioned that as more and more companies implement new sales technology solutions into their sales organization, there is more science in selling than ever before. As we move forward with new technology, we need to evaluate our progress in the fine art of selling.

Check out this episode of Mad Men where Don Draper pitches the name, Kodak Carousel.  Was this more art or science?  You will be hard pressed to find a better presentation…

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The Early Stage Buyer

Today’s early stage buyers don’t require a sales rep to guide them through their journey. In years past, buyers didn’t have all the info they needed at their fingertips to make a decision. They would engage with a sales person and tell them their pain. At the beginning, sales would walk them through how to solve the problem, thereby influencing their thinking. Today, your prospects are doing this on their own. There is a whole list of buyers who are researching you now and who will engage with you 12 months from now with a head full of knowledge. Investing people and dollars to ensure you properly nurture the early stage buyer is critical. If your sales organization is not aligned to the new way buyers buy, you are still doing things the old way. You are wasting valuable sales compensation dollars on activities your buyer doesn’t value.

Focus on the Front End

Imagine downloading a form from a web site you just visited for the first time and your phone rings 30 seconds later. “Hi, this is Joe Salesrep from XYZ.com. I see you downloaded a form. Can we schedule a meeting to talk about your needs?” Do this and you will chase away your buyer. If your pipeline is full of early stage deals that haven’t progressed in weeks or months, it’s likely you’ve rushed them to opportunity management rather than nurturing them through their buyer’s journey.

This may seem counterintuitive at first, but consider the position of your buyer. They move through their buying journey at their own pace, not according to the rules you have in your CRM system. They want you to educate them along the way, not “sell” them your product. This is where lead nurturing and value-add is critical. Ignore the value of nurturing your early-stage buyers and they will go somewhere else. Moving dollars up the funnel from your sales compensation budget will allow you to properly align yourself to the informed buyer’s needs early in their journey.

Don’t Neglect Your Customers

A similar experience is taking place with your customers. Many companies sell new logos and lob them over the fence to the customer support team. Traditional customer support reps do just that: support the customer. When it comes to a land-and-expand strategy, they are clueless. If you don’t have account managers who can effectively nurture a relationship to generate renewals, cross sells and up sells, you are leaving money on the table. Your customers are investing money with you. They want to maximize their investment over the length of the relationship. The inability to provide them with strategic resources that allow them to derive increased value from your solution will drive them elsewhere.

If you are lacking individuals who can engage with the buyer in an educational way throughout their journey, strongly consider reallocating some of your sales compensation budget to address this in 2013.

Key Takeaway

Are you listening to your buyers? There is a tectonic shift happening in the B2B sales world. In 2013, get ahead of your competition and blow out your number by using your sales compensation dollars to align with the informed buyer’s journey.

Reprinted  from Sales Benchmark Index‘s @RyanTognazzini

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Had to share this terrific post from NewHome Source’s website.

Today’s new homes offer more benefits than ever before. Here’s a quick list of the Top 10 Reasons why so many home buyers prefer new homes to used houses:

1) Design Your Dream Home Your Way: Why settle for someone else’s choices? Select your favorite cabinets, countertops, appliances, carpets and floor coverings, bath and kitchen fixtures. Your new home will reflect your taste, not someone else’s.

2) Choose a Floorplan and Room Layout that Meets Your Needs: Want a Master Bedroom on the first floor? With massive his and her’s walk-in closets? Done! With high ceilings and a luxurious, resort-style Master Bath? Would you like a sitting room with fireplace in your Owner’s Suite? French Doors opening to a private patio or the pool? Build your Master Suite, your way.

3) All New, Under Warranty: A used home has tired products that may soon need replacing. Your new home — and the products that comprise it — are brand-new and under warranty. What’s the cost to replace a roof, appliances and countertop or water heater on a used home? Those same components of your new home feature the latest designs and building materials — and they offer years of comfort and enjoyment before needing replacement.

4) Energy and Cost savings: Today’s new homes are far more energy efficient than homes built just five years ago, and no comparison to homes that are 10, 20 or even more years old. New homes offer much higher levels of performance in heating, cooling, and insulation. Why settle for drafty, energy-wasting single-pane windows in a used home? Many new homes offer double or even triple-pane windows with special coatings and inert gases between layers of glass that save energy in both heating and cooling season.

5) Comfort and Indoor Air Quality: Today’s new homes meet stringent energy standards and codes not in place in the past. They combine high-performance energy efficiency with state of the art ventilation and air filtration. The result is year-round, consistent and draft-free comfort with higher indoor air quality.

6) Low Maintenance: New cars today are computer-designed and computer-equipped and they perform far more reliably than a 10 or 20 year old car. Homes are the same. Today’s new homes not only have open floorplans and high ceilings to reflect the way we live today, they’re also made of state-of-the-art building products that require less care and maintenance.

7) Community Amenities: Many new homes are built in lavish, Master-Planned Communities with state of the art Community Centers, Pools and Clubhouses. Many new home communities feature hiking trails, protected open lands, and some of the best new schools and shopping nearby or even within your new home community.

8) Advanced Technology and Design: It’s possible to replace all of the single-pane windows in a resale home with state of the art high performance windows. It’s also possible to add insulation to a used home. However, it is very expensive to replace out of date appliances, cabinets and counter-tops in that used home. And it’s simply not realistic to dream of high ceilings on the first floor of a 10 year old two-story home. All the more reason to build it your way for the way you live today.

9) Safety: State of the art circuit breakers. Electric garage door openers with infrared beams that stop if a tricycle or child is too near. High-efficiency furnaces and air conditioners that use the latest environmentally-friendly coolants. Cabinets, carpets and paints that use fewer Volatile Organic Compounds so you and your family can breathe easier.

10) That New Home Feel: A used home was someone else’s dream, reflecting someone else’s choices, and someone else’s family memories. You may love avocado-green appliances and you may be willing to scrub stained countertops or grease-encrusted ovens and cooktops but more and more people prefer that never lived-in feel.

When was the last time you went to a department store and selected used clothes? Or visited a car dealer and paid more for a used car than a new car?

New homes offer the latest designs, style, comfort and quality and provide a care-free lifestyle so that you can enjoy your home, not work on it. Start shopping now on NewHomeSource.com, the world’s largest and most complete new home website. You’ll be glad you did.

Reprinted from NewHome Source post on their website.

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