One of the industry’s fastest-rising stars has become a local celebrity by putting his face on everything from shopper dockets to beer coasters.
Crawford Realty sales consultant Alex Waters, who works in the Western Australian mining town of Karratha, told Real Estate Business he has established a 37 per cent market share since becoming an agent in May 2013.
He attributed that to his saturation marketing strategy, which he said costs from $30,000 to $40,000 per year.
Mr Waters said his marketing has allowed him to increase his fees from between 2.7 and 3.2 per cent to between 3.85 and 5.0 per cent, while other agents charge as low as 2.2 per cent.
“I don’t get that many objections around fees, because when I show up they’ve already seen my marketing,” he said.
“That puts you way ahead of everyone else because people always want to deal with people who they know and they can trust.”
Mr Waters was named Rising Star at the 2014 Real Estate Business Awards and has been nominated for the 2015 Regional Sales Agent of the Year gong. He also spoke at the recent AREC conference.
Mr Waters said he realised the value of marketing at the start of his career when he generated two sales from full-page newspaper ads.
He has since boosted his presence through Facebook ads, a weekly radio slot and monthly letterbox drops to Karratha’s 6,500 households.
Mr Waters said he’s also used calendar magnets to make his name and face a permanent presence on many people’s fridges.
Another way in which he’s built his brand is through shopper dockets, which has made him visible to anyone who shops at Coles, Woolworths, Kmart and Target.
Mr Waters also decided to advertise on beer coasters, because the pub in question is based in a part of Karratha where he is trying to win more business.
“I was a bit apprehensive, but I thought, ‘Well, it’s only $350, if one person recognises my face and thinks about me in six months just from that coaster then it’s done its job’,” he said. “When you think about it that way, it’s an easy investment to make.”
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