Round Table Southern Africa
Internet & Social Media Support
The Homecare team must implement unique media strategies to ensure that our “Ambassador” estate agents and financial advisors do financially well.
This section is part of the content we publish for estate agents. It will give Round table members a better idea on what effort we put in to help agents.
It is a "Matter of Association"
“Word of mouth” marketing is without doubt the best method of marketing…. It is furthermore important to be recommended. People in general will first act on recommendations before they will take the step to interact with people they do not know…
If there is for example 10 agents in a marketing area, and 1 of these 10 agents is recommended to residents the recommended agent will 99% of the time be contacted for support.
The reason for this is the way human beings interact with each other. We will first ask people around us for advice before we will open a website or open a property magazine and phone a person who we don’t know. This is pertaining to people who want to sell/let properties….
People who want to buy/rent properties will more likely visit websites to view available properties. They will not necessarily ask relatives or friends for recommendations. Buyers/tenants look at pictures of properties and want to shop with their eyes for possible properties that might suit their needs.
There is no loyalty towards agents. If a buyer / tenant sees a property on the internet, and they think they might be interested, they will phone the agent linked to that property.
So, when it comes to finding a suitable agent to help sell / let, people will more likely work on recommendations. When it comes to buy / rent, there is no loyalty and people will often use internet media.
The challenge therefore is to ensure that you are the “recommended” person to help sell / let the property. You want homeowners to contact you… and although it might seem to be a challenge, the Homecare team can focus on securing the support from the homeowners.
“Actions” speak louder than “words”
It is true that when you tell a person that you are "trustworthy", or that you do so many things for others, that the recipient of your message will not take you at heart. They might think that you are arrogant. People do not want to hear how good you are from your mouth…
When an organization (especially one that focus on helping people in need) convey a message that you are indeed a “trust worthy” person, without telling the person with specific words, then the message will be absorbed and people will react accordingly.
The Homecare team has been working for years to prepare for the support strategy towards people in need…. We plan everything to its finest detail.
Our strategy is to partner with 975 estate agents to become part of our “Ambassador” structure…
Well planned media
The Homecare team will communicate up to 8 times per month with residents in your marketing area. The Wage Payment Software platform that is geared up to assist the Low-Income people will in our opinion be utilized by thousands… The current economy with high fuel prizes, the recession and all the other outside factors will force employers to help their wage-earners.
Food prizes will increase, hence doing anything possible to help poor people get access to important essentials will be done by numerous people. We expect to work with at least 60% of residents.
The Homecare team decided that communication regarding finances should be done with the images of the “Ambassadors” in the e-mails. It will have an important effect on the public’s subconscious minds. Remember that we help the person to help his/her staff. People that are important to them. If we link finances to the action of presenting you… it automatically imprints a message that you are trusted with finances.
The reality is that you actually will do nothing about finances. The employers will use the website to order vouchers for staff. We are in process to open bank accounts with all the different banks, so that the funds transferred for vouchers can be immediately confirmed via the website. The website will provide a reference code when people order vouchers.
We decided that we will program delays into the e-mail structure that will be used to confirm with employers that the Homecare Fund received payments… It could be a delay of up to 4 hours. We want to create the impression that the “Ambassador” is aware about the fact that funds were received… It will be as if you are actually involved. (We will on a daily basis mail you a report on the number of people who received your communication and how much they paid in… it is just a mail that you can read if you are interested. It is not your responsibility to encourage people to buy vouchers)
The effect of such well-planned media will be that when the person wants to buy/rent/sell/let a property, that in their minds you will be the person to contact. Most people prefer to work with people they can trust… Buying/renting or letting/selling a property involves huge financial commitments.
These people will also recommend you to others when they hear about property needs. They will do this, purely because they will believe that you are a person selling/letting properties, not for personal gain alone, but for a cause.
There are numerus places where we will expose you on the website as well. You should note that we emphasis your picture… People need to know you as individual. The principal will do his/her best to your company’s brand name…. We however know that human beings are programmed to remember faces… Branding is a new concept in our brains. People will remember your face and will recognize you when they see you in town.
Opposition agents will find it difficult an expensive to advertise themselves. Can you imagine what it will cost to distribute flyers of themselves on a weekly basis to homeowners in your marketing area? Not only the costs… what will the content be of their flyers? When people are not in the market to buy/rent or sell/let, they do not want media about properties.
It is one message, an “Association message” that will change the destiny of estate agents… It is a message that we will convey to people who will in future need your services.
Social media
We will when we are ready to launch the Wage Payment software platform engage with numerous Social Media platforms. We will also enable our “Ambassadors” to send messages to all their contacts (family, friends and clients). You will be able to invite employers (domestic employers as well) to help their staff.
We predict to be ready by January 2019 to support on a national scale.