Effective Property Marketing

Posted by Rickey Hayes on November 1, 2010 in Blog | No Comments

The following article was posted in ICSC’s online weekly magazine.  The article clearly defines why communities and land owners need to get away from generic demographic information and the run of the mill property descriptions and hire a professional to market their communities. Every community has a unique story, every market has its own quirks that make it desirable with today’s specialty or niche retailers and restaurants. Retail Attractions, LLC can help you to effectively market your property. We can help:

October 29th, 2010
Vol. 15 No. 43

Tell a story if you want to land that lease, conference told

In this market so favorable to tenants, a leasing agent is likely to find the job to be as much art as science. “It’s less like deal making and more like selling,” said Joe Rando, president of Trade Area Systems, at ICSC’s Pathway to the Future conference. “You need verified data with context and insight.”

John Breitinger, vice president of retail investments and development at United Properties, said he sometimes has to function as an assistant to his leasing team. One key part of the firm’s strategy is to offer potential tenants more than the basic information about the property and market under consideration. “Get away from the standard marketing package to create differentiation,” he said. “Most leasing materials include a site plan, an aerial and some bullets of information. They should include market potential, competitive environment and an explanation of why there’s an opportunity here.”

Use as much data as possible from various sources, but be sure to verify the maps and statistics yourself, said Rando. “There’s not one commercial data service that won’t embarrass you at some point or another,” he said. Breitinger said United Properties usually hires a consultant to study a property before sending the leasing team into the field to verify.

The agents grade the properties they tour and then discuss the scores, said Breitinger. “You need to do the work you can’t do from a desk,” he said. “Touch every vacancy, look at every new deal – the tour provides a clear-eyed assessment of the relative value of these properties.”

Above all, agents can seal the deal by telling a story, he said. “Emotion wins over facts, so give them a context. Get the credibility to advise and not broker. Capture the details. Our guys carry digital cameras all the time now. Words, photos, numbers – what is your value proposition and how do you explain it?”

It is necessary to give the team proper incentive, said Breitinger, especially when a center is almost fully leased and brokers tend to shift their attention to other properties. “The cash flow that comes from that final few points of vacancy is very important,” he said. “You may have to offer them more reward for the final lease-up.”