Here’s a marketing experiment that worked.
In 1997 we picked a neighborhood of about 2,000 homes where Julie had sold exactly zero houses in the previous 12 months.
No presence. No momentum. No market share.
But we knew something was about to happen.
Real estate has a rhythm to it. There’s usually a big wave of activity in the spring, a dip in the summer, and then another smaller wave in the fall.
So instead of waiting for the fall listings to appear and competing for them…
We decided to get in front of the wave.
Starting at the end of August, we mailed one tiny yellow postcard every week for eight weeks.
Each one entered a different conversation that might already be going on in the mind of someone thinking about moving.
“Here’s what to do now if you’re going to sell your house in the next six months.”
“Here’s what it really costs to buy a bigger home.”
“I started looking for the buyer for your house 180 days ago.”
“What to do now if you’re going to buy a bigger house in the next six months.”
Every postcard offered useful information and gave people an easy way to raise their hand.
Nothing fancy.
Just the right message, to the right people, at the right time.
And here’s what happened…
From the time we started mailing through the end of the year, there were 25 listings taken in that neighborhood.
Julie got five of them.
From zero market share to 20% market share.
In a neighborhood where she had no footprint at all eight weeks earlier.
That’s the part worth thinking about.
Most people wait until someone is ready to buy before they start trying to get their attention.
But what if you could identify when your prospects are likely to act…
Then work backward and start showing up while they’re still thinking about it?
Sometimes the easiest way to capture a wave…
is to get in front of it.