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One Sydney real estate agency has been so committed to dominating video listings in their marketplace that they recruited a professional news crew to train them for the camera.
David Highland, director at Highland Property Agents in Sydney’s Sutherland Shire, told this year’s AREC event on the Gold Coast that video is the way of the future.
“Just 10 per cent of agents are using video, but we’re working toward 70-80 per cent of our listings, across every price point, listed with video,” he said.
Growing from six staff to 60 in under seven years, Highland Property Agents have used digital marketing strategies for phenomenal growth.
But Mr Highland told attendees that no video is better than a bad video.
“Agents think they’re good at everything, but we invested in getting presentation training. We had contact with Susanne Latimore and her team from Sky News and they gave us a crash course about how to talk into the camera.”
According to Mr Highland, the secret to the perfect video listing comes down to four key components.
“Preparation, practice, presentation and presence. In the old days, I’d finish up on the phone with a client and jump straight in front of the camera and 'wing it'," he continued.
“But now I spend about 20 minutes preparing beforehand.”
Perfect presentation of both the house and yourself is also vital.
“You don’t want to look like Austin Powers or Zoolander, you need to play it safe – plain suit – because you don’t want people judging you. Presence is everything," he told the AREC audience.
“If you create a product in your marketplace that your competitors don’t have, you’re creating separation between choices through video.”
But his biggest tip for agents was to have fun.
“Consumers spend two minutes looking at videos of something they’re planning to buy. You need to grab their attention fast, so think outside the square, get creative and have fun with it.”
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