Fear and Loathing in a St. Martin Sales Office

20 Jan 2014 Leave a comment

by John Amardeil in Thoughts Tags: , , , , , , ,

The Indigo Green sales centre in St. Martin.

The Indigo Green sales office in St. Martin.

My recent vacation to St. Martin wasn’t all pleasure. I took some time to visit a local sales office as a reconnaissance mission. Upon entering the sales office, I was first surprised by the size and, let’s say, lack of quality. As a real estate marketer, I will say that I wasn’t impressed. Inside the sales office, one lone desk sat stagnant in the tiny room. The walls were practically bare and the lighting was dim. The place lacked emotion without any visual stimulation.

There is a point to all this! I was appalled by how horrible the sales experience was for $600,000 homes and visiting this sales office made me think of how well we present and package pre-construction housing here in Toronto.

The market here at home is vastly different; new developments and communities sell fast and before the shovel breaks the soil. As a marketer, this style of buying forces you to deliver your best marketing time and time again. I’m proud to say I’ve contributed to making Toronto the number one pre-construction market in the world. As a result of the technology and strategy we’ve implemented in our campaigns, we sell more homes before they’re built than anywhere else. That stat alone speaks to the caliber of marketing in the Toronto scene.

The way in which Toronto has grown to such a successful pre-construction market is because we offer something extra. We offer touchscreens, scale models, social media and much more, and these interactive marketing materials and showrooms create an experience for homebuyers. We attempt to sell the lifestyle and benefit of new home communities and to educate and excite them. This was solely lacking in my experience in St. Martin. We’ve evolved this way because people like me are always hungry and always searching, traveling and researching our competitors and other markets with the goal to always get better and outdo one another.

Toronto’s New Realty Reality

22 Nov 2013 Leave a comment

by John Amardeil in Thoughts, You Need to Know

features-headerFor every action, there is a reaction. In my 33 years in real estate marketing I’ve seen trends come and go, but none is as surprising as the rise of urban townhomes in Toronto. As the demand for box-in-the-sky condos grows, so does the demand for an alternative.

The condominium, as we know it, seems to be getting smaller and more expensive in the GTA, while a traditional detached home within the city tends to be out of most people’s price range. At the moment, the urban townhome fills the need for ground oriented living while being more economical than a detached home. Many of these townhomes are reasonably priced, and are a great option for move-up buyers moving out of condos. The only drawback I fear is the inability to meet the demands of the market, ultimately upping the price. For every townhome community BAM is involved with, and for the many projects I read and keep an eye on, these homes are sold at lightning speeds.

Take for example Villagio by Empire Communities. The BAM team put our heart and soul into this project and we are happy to say it’s a great success, with occupancy slated to begin in 2014.

The reality is, the demand is there but the need is not being fulfilled. Where land is such a sought after commodity, building up isn’t always the answer. Ground oriented homes at affordable prices are selling fast and BAM would like to fill that need by bridging the gap between buyers and builder, moving forward.

Managing Chaos, BAM-Style

08 Nov 2013 Leave a comment

by John Amardeil in Thoughts, You Need to Know

Managing Chaos, BAM-Style

When a team has this much fun, it’s far more likely to support your company’s mission.

We’ve been very busy at BAM these last few weeks.

This is nothing new. It happens because we take on whatever we feel we must do for our clients. It happens because we’re not afraid of looming deadlines.

Of course, there are downsides to being this busy. Mistakes can be made if your team isn’t as solid as can be. And when you’re running this fast, mistakes can be costly — just like taking a turn too fast can be costly when you’re racing a car.

The single best way I know to prevent mistakes is to see to it you have a team which will not backfire on you. A team so strong, it can do whatever it takes to get the work done. A team where everyone weighs in. One that feels like a family, not just like work.

There’s no easy, fast way to do that. But over time, if you play as hard as you work, if you have an open door policy, if you have random giveaways and fun bets and crazy company days involving racing and circus performances — most importantly, if every single member knows their voice matters — then they will stand up to the challenge of getting the job done, BAM-style.

That’s why we don’t paint a rosy picture when we go through the hiring process. We want new hires to come in with their eyes open. We’d rather reject a thousand applicants and temporarily make do with too small a team until we find the one person who we’re fairly certain will belong. The one who will be willing to play hard, yes, but also to work hard, and to wear our tattoo come hell or high water — just like we wear our clients’.

Are You Thankful For Your Victories?

01 Nov 2013 Leave a comment

by John Amardeil in Strategies, Thoughts

Everybody likes a victory.

Unfortunately, sometimes we forget to take a break from the everyday grind to bask in our victories and celebrate our successes.

At BAM, we work hard – as do our clients. Sometimes it feels like go-go-go, with not even enough time for a pat on the back after one success before we’re moving on to the next challenge. And so we’ve come to recognize the importance of taking a break to celebrate our hard work and accomplishments. This past week, we decided to reward our hard-working and successful client Empire Communities to help them do the same.

bam-award-for-empire

To help our client Empire Communities celebrate their tremendous successes and everything that made 2013 such a landmark year for them, we had this award made to present to them at a special lunch we hosted for their team.

Take our longstanding client Empire Communities.

In an already stellar trajectory, Empire had enough victories in 2013 alone to turn it into a landmark year. This includes launching Imagine, the most successful community in Niagara ever, as well as earning two EnerQuality Award nominations and using new technology in their outstanding Victory Showroom (a community which also won the BILD Award for Best Social Media Campaign).

bam-and-empire-celebrate

BAM and Empire Communities celebrating a landmark year.

For all the hard work we put into these victories, we feel nothing but pride for our client and we are ecstatic that they should experience this many victories in such a short period (coincidentally, this year marks the company’s 20-year anniversary).

To celebrate such an impressive array of victories, this week we hosted a special lunch for Empire. This included a surprise 30 minutes of stand-up comedy by Gavin Stephens, a delicious meal, and of course the presentation of the award pictured above.

It’s just the BAM way of saying thanks for being our client.

BAM’s Top 5 Practices for Fast-Paced Marketing

25 Oct 2013 Leave a comment

by John Amardeil in Strategies, Thoughts

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When you own a company called BAM, you have no choice but to make sure you produce dramatic results that create a positive impact in your clients’ world. In our industry that means working fast, working hard, and working smart.

So how do we do that at BAM? Here are our top 5 habits of fast-paced marketing. For over ten years now, they’ve helped us win awards, make our clients lots of money, and play a part in building fantastic communities for families across Ontario.

  1. Email is overrated. There, I said it. Most people rely on email too much. I do send and receive lots of important emails every day myself, so you won’t be prying my iPhone from my fingers anytime soon. But when the going gets tough — when you need to act fast, all while reducing the likelihood of misinterpretations, nothing beats a quick phone call, or if at all possible, a face-to-face conversation. Remember those?
  2. Go with the gut. Working hard and fast doesn’t mean you have to be married to one strategy. When something doesn’t feel right, don’t be afraid to change course. Deep down, we all know great work when we see it. If it’s not, come up with something else, call the client (see above) and get approval. It’s the least we can do.
  3. Own your successes and mistakes alike. We’re never afraid to toot our own horn. By the same token, we’ll always be the first to own up if we make a mistake. Clients will respect you if you tell them something went wrong. They won’t if they have to find out on their own.
  4. Offer solutions, not problems. “Sorry, we can’t do that.” “Sorry, there was a glitch.” Raise your hand if you’ve heard these before. I know I have. But how many times are they followed by a reassurance that something else will be done? How many times does anyone bother to explain what the possible solutions are? So if the installation guys mess up, or if a website goes down, or if an opening doesn’t go as expected, don’t just say “sorry.” And don’t ever, ever say “sorry, it’s out of our hands.”
  5. Be honest. If a client doesn’t need something anymore, we’ll be the first to suggest they kill it. On the surface, it might hurt our bottom line. But we always do the right thing for our clients, and think of the respect that kind of attitude will get you. How hard do you think that honesty is to find? Exactly.

What are your top practices for marketing?

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