As we entered 2020, the real estate market in India was well on its way to a steady recovery after a reform-ridden slump over the past couple of years. But little did we know, a global pandemic would bring that recovery to a sudden halt.
The initial impact of demonetization, followed by a dual structural reform like RERA & GST, resulted in delayed project launches and dampened sales, right up to 2019. But the market showed promise of recovery with projected market size of US$ 1 trillion by 2030 from US$ 1.72 billion in 2019.
As the sector was picking pace, it had to face whole new challenges. Negative consumer sentiments & the impact of lockdown due to COVID-19 caused a decrease in the sale of residential units by 29% (Q1 2020) as compared to sales during the same period last year.
At a time when consumers are moving online, the need of the hour for real estate builders is to reinvent themselves with a newer way of marketing, sales and customer retention.
Topics
- Urgency of Digital Transformation in Real Estate
- Consumer Lifecycle Phases
- End-to-end Real Estate Technology Solutions
- Marketing Solutions
- Pre-sales & Sales Solutions
- Channel Partner Solutions
- CRM Solutions
- Implementing Vertical-Focused Solutions
Urgency of Real Estate Digital Transformation
Most homebuyers now have turned fence-sitters and are delaying their purchase decisions hoping for further discounts. In such a scenario, setting a command over the right selling price in a buyer’s market requires:
- A trusted brand with a strong delivery record
- The perfect product with the right location, amenities & specifications
- An enhanced buying experience in both the physical & digital world
- Collaboration within internal teams & with channel partners
Given these challenging market conditions, developers need to focus on technology that can help them establish a strong brand perception, create a strong top-of-the-mind recall through omnichannel communication and leveraging data & automation for enhanced customer experience.
But before diving into the details, we first need to understand the real estate buying process and the journey homebuyers go through, from being aware of your offering to being a happy customer.
Consumer Lifecycle Phases
The consumer lifecycle begins the moment you first catch a potential customer’s attention. All the steps from here to ultimately retaining your customer form the buyer’s journey for your product. By successfully guiding customers through these stages you will end up gaining enthusiastic advocates for your brand.
Let’s take a closer look at each step and the relevant business activities along the way.
Awarness & Reach
Activities
Engagement
Activities
Consideration & Purchase
Activities
Post Sales
Activities
Awareness & Reach
Your relationship with a customer begins when they first become aware of your existence
Activities
PR, Advertising, Lead Generation, Social Media Outreach, Influencer Campaigns, Brand Building, Thought Leadership, Channel Partner Outreach, Database Marketing, Webinars, Consumer Research
Engagement
Customer starts seeking out and interacting with your marketing content
Activities
Lead Engagement, Create more touch-points, Virtual Tours, Site Visits, Lead Enrichment, Newsletters, Product Explainers, Sales collateral, Video Content Personalization at Scale, Micro-moment Marketing
Consideration & Purchase
Customer considers your offering and ends up making a purchase
Activities
Negotiations, Offer & Schemes, EOI, Payments, Inventory & Price Optimization, Customer Stories, White Papers, Reduce Cancellations, e-Commerce
Post Sales
Building a relationship with the customer by continuing to provide quality service and support
Activities
Document Verification & e-Signing, Agreements, Payments, Demands & Payment Schedules, Service Requests, Follow-up, Referrals & Loyalty, Customer App, Property Management
End-to-end Real Estate Technology Solutions
Now that we understand the buyer journey, we can now proceed with uncovering the right tools and features that should be a part of each stage. Keeping stage-wise business activities in mind, a One Technology Solution for Real Estate Sales & Marketing is needed that should cover all your internal functions and stakeholders.
Let’s look at a stage-wise plan and what technology solutions fit in those stages for each business department and function.
Marketing Solutions
Marketing function begins with an unaware lead and ends with nurturing a converted customer, thus, covering all the four stages of the consumer lifecycle phases. It includes solutions ranging from ad automation to consumer engagement portals.
| Awareness & Reach |
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| Engagement |
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| Consideration & Purchase |
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| Post Sales |
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Pre-sales & Sales Solutions
After the first stage, a lead moves onto the second phase where the role of pre-sales & sales team starts. They cover the middle two sections of the funnel and at both the stages strengthen and simplify sales functions.
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| Consideration & Purchase |
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Channel Partner Solutions
Channel partners play a crucial role in pushing an aware customer further down the funnel. Thus their role comes into play at the middle stages of the funnel. The technology features allow complete transparency and help in the successful management of channel partner operations.
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| Consideration & Purchase |
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CRM Solutions
A CRM platform performs a variety of crucial relationship management functions across departments. But generic CRMs fail to provide the features and solutions that an integrated strategy needs. Covering the last two stages, an all-in-one CRM solution would ensure that all customer-facing teams are empowered with the right data to create incredible customer experiences.
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Implementing Vertical-Focused Solutions
Once the components of the system have been laid down, the next step is the implementation of this system. Successful system implementation requires:
- All systems connected with data flowing across seamlessly
- All stakeholders with access to a common system
- Platform available online for ease of use, secure & controlled access
- Allowance for faster growth experiments
Choosing a vertical-focused solution and then tailoring those solutions to fit internal requirements is a cost-effective and efficient option for real estate builders. It offers a low cost of ownership with innovative industry solutions and faster go-to-live timeline.
Final Words
The right tools and solutions across the consumer journey cycle can help all your departments and stakeholders function at optimum potential. It is also an important part of growth marketing that allows gathering and analysis of the right data, on-the-go optimizations and seamless collaborations between internal teams. With the uncertainty of the pandemic looming large, it’s best to put your best foot forward with end-to-end technology solutions for the real estate industry.
Need help with the way forward? We are India’s pioneering growth marketing agency that has helped numerous real estate brands achieve sustainable growth over the last ten years. Feel free to get in touch to discuss post-COVID growth strategies for your business.
To get in touch,
email at vikram@amuratech.com
