Marketing today is one of those complicated subjects, which has now become even more incomprehensible in the age of the Internet. The simple and fundamental truth of the essence of marketing has been forgotten and ignored. One of our favorite marketing authors, Peter Drucker, said it simply:
"The aim of marketing is to know and understand the customer so well, the product or service fits him and sells itself." Peter Drucker
We would add that in order to excel at marketing one must to know who they are as an individual and if they are a good fit in their chosen arena of real estate. Here is an example:
When I (A) joined Ron in his commercial real estate practice, I suggested listing large high-rise office buildings. My logic was based on the knowledge that we could service these accounts just as well as any other company.
After meeting with several of the owners or managers, we understood that these Class A high-rise buildings were owned by pension funds, or unions. These institutions specified that their buildings were listed by national commercial real estate brands. These people made their decisions by committee. The bottom line was: we were not a fit for them, nor were we committee fans. This was not the place for us to flourish and bloom.
We would not characterize this or any other marketing attempt that did not yield the intended results as a failure. We were both raised with the philosophy that what others may refer to, as “failure,” is in fact a stepping-stone to success and not an opportunity to make less of oneself.
"Follow effective action with quiet reflection. From the quiet reflection will come even more effective action." Peter Drucker
The winning marketing strategies come from honestly examining and strengthening what is working and dropping what is not working. What has always worked for us in life and in business is developing high trust relationships both personal and in business.
The formula is simple. Find out what is needed and wanted by the individual or company. Then express what you need and want. If your needs match, the relationship blooms and becomes a high trust relationship. If not, part amicably. Both of you are in the wrong soil!
There are no hard feelings, no bridges to burn. It makes life so much simpler. And one day, you just may be a match. It happened to us. When the high rises ran into difficulty in leasing their now empty opulent bank spaces on the ground floors of their buildings, they reached to us to lease them. Even their committees agreed, we were the best for the job.
The future in successful marketing will continue to be about developing high trust relationships. The person who has the most high trust relationships will be the most successful and will flourish and bloom.
It really is that simple. Marketing is about meeting someone’s needs and wants as well as meeting your own.