Going The Extra Mile
At O’Keefe 3 Percent Realty we are always looking for ways to go the extra mile for our clients. This often involves “out of the box” thinking and responding to the changing market conditions and challenges being thrown at us in a unique covid marketplace. Sellers find themselves in the driver’s seat in a market where inventory is very low. Agents must adjust to low inventory levels and be creative in their efforts to assist buyer’s in finding a home when not many homes are listed on the mls and there is competition for the homes that are already for sale. Door knocking hasn’t been feasible during many stages of this current pandemic but mail is still possible. Our direct mail campaign is an option for buyers that would like to move to certain areas of the beautiful Okanagan to let potential sellers know they are looking but have yet to find a home that suits their needs. You may have received mail from us in your mail box. The client letters are from real people looking for a home in specific areas of town.
Please note these letters are classified by Canada post as mass unaddressed geographic bulk mail (or as some people call it “Junk Mail”).This bulk mail is the same type of mail we all get in our mail boxes, like grocery flyers, glossy sales brochures, and pizza offers. And with that Canada post’s service is very binary, meaning you can either have bulk mail drop in a region/area or not. There is no specific address targeting. It is done geographically. This mail is an offer announcing to home owner’s that we have specific clients looking for a home. It doesn’t mean that your home is the one. What is does provide is the opportunity for you to find out if you home is the right fit for the buyer’s we have currently searching in your home area. And if you are not considering selling, it is the same concept, as not in the mood (market) for pizza!
What we do know is that this method of marketing appears to be very effective as these are our real clients (they are not paid actors or fictitious clients) with real world worries and specifically they are very concerned with finding a home to buy in this tight market where inventory is very low. We want to serve them in the best and most efficient way possible.
Unfortunately in our industry the stereotypical viewpoint is that the default for some agents is to put a buyer on an automated MLS real estate search and hope the buyers contact them with a match of a home for them show. There is a lot of animosity towards agents who appear to be nothing more than “glorified gate keepers” opening doors and collecting big commission cheques.
We try to offer second level (go that extra mile) service by ensuring we not only put our clients on a standard search like the rest of our agent community but also ensure no lead/opportunity is left unchecked. We have to pay extra for services like a Canada Post drop. We pay to assist them in getting exposure to sellers who are selling privately (but are not advertising), sellers who are “thinking” of selling (pre MLS), exclusive sellers and any potential seller whose criteria matches our buyers. We want to ensure our buyers receive maximum exposure and no rock (opportunity) is left unturned in our efforts to find them a home. Ask any buyer out in the market place now…it is not an easy place to be.
We have found many of these types of sellers are testing/considering the market for various reasons. However because of specific concerns they do not want a massive number of showings/exposure/stress and are looking for specific buyers with that specific criteria. In cases where we are able to put both parties together the outcome is win-win plus we provide a further commission reduction as there is not the typical overhead for listing and marketing a home. This provides a terrific benefit to not only the seller but the buyer also. In the case, where you are not considering selling our expectation would be you would recycle the mailer with the rest of the advertising that does not apply to you or offer a service that you would like to take advantage of …Again, just like the pizza, dream home lottery flyer or glossy brochures printed by other real estate offices…simply toss in the recycling bin if it is not for you. Our clients won’t mind. They only want us to hear from home owners that are considering selling.
With these creative marketing efforts, hard work and extra care to always do more for our clients we have been blessed for the past 3 years in a row with an office that does more transactions per agent than any other brokerage making us the #1 Top Producing Brokerage in the North Okanagan. And for me personally, I have been the #1 Agent/Broker in Vernon and North Okanagan for 7 years helping more families than my peers (most transactions 7 years combined 2014-2020).
We are super grateful for this success and support from the community and we will continue to serve our clients at the highest levels and are proud of the services and support that we can offer with our next mile, out of the box thinking.
We do apologize to anyone that this mailer causes distress or concern. We hope that this explanation alleviates some of that worry.
If it continues to be a concern we recommend you contact Canada Post to see about blocking the Junk Mail service they provide.
Alternatively, please feel free to contact me directly if you would like to discuss further.
