Andi Grant's Blog - Everyday Real Estate with a Twist

Hired or Fired?  Celebrity Apprentice and How It Can Apply to Real Estate or any Sales  

There isn't a lot of reality TV that I watch, but I have to say not only is Celebrity Apprentice providing great entertainment on a weekly basis for me, but with over 7 seasons under Celebrity Apprentice's belt, there are over 60 episodes of failed and successful tasks when it comes the marketing of self, a company's product, service or name brand in which I can study.  Below are just two examples of how Celebrity Apprentice 2011 tasks can be applied to sales of any kind and especially the selling and marketing of real estate in even the most minute of details.

  

CELEBRITY APPRENTICE TASK EXAMPLE 1

MARKET CAMPING WORLD'S RV's AND CAMPING EQUIPMENT (Week 3) - Key criteria as mentioned by Camping World's CEO Marcus Lemonis, is to stage a camping experience, in which the contestants would be judged on brand messaging, the originality of the camping experience created, and overall presentation to all from affordable to luxury. Both teams were provided with empty RVs on a concrete lot.

• Winning Team:  The executives felt they "won hands down."  The presentation transported consumers from the concrete jungle of a New York city lot to a "fertile" campsite rich in "foilage green" Astorturf for ground cover, surrounded by living trees and a relaxed atmosphere of lounging, ball tossing, singing camp songs, promoting comfort without sacrificing luxury, while at the same time successfully intergrating the company into the forefront with brand messaging.   
• Losing Team:  Focused on non-essentials like accessories inside the RV where the client would be spending the least amount of time . They had balloons instead of foilage (is this a camping and travel RV or a party bus?) FAIL.  The team didn't draw from each person's strengths to help consumers envision themselves purchasing that particular company's product to bring about a desired experience for that target market.  

How this can apply to Real Estate:

When buyers (consumers) walk into a home during a showing, in this case interior being optimal, it helps if they go from simply viewing a seller's home, to walking in and being transported to their future home.  I always walk behind my buyers to gage reactions.  When they see family photos of Timmy and Rebecca all over the place, the sellers' doll collection and stuffed big mouth bass on the wall, all of a sudden you will notice subtle changes in their demeanor.  From lowering their voices as they talk, to crossed arms as they become mere visitors to the seller's home. This by the way is nearly the same reaction to a filthy house.   The buyer's comfort level can so easily be reduced to nil when the team of seller and agent fail to create an appealing home experience for the buyer.

CELEBRITY APPRENTICE TASK EXAMPLE 2 

CREATE A FOUR-PAGE CONCEPTUAL AD CAMPAIGN FOR THE TRUMP HOTEL COLLECTION (Week 8) includes photos and print - Key criteria to make the line of luxury hotels stand out over other chain luxury hotels and not to market them with the same typical marketing that denotes what the masses deem as luxury.  

Winning Team (by default) - the executives didn't like either promotion as one didn't stand out more than the other and was tunnel visioned on focusing on general aspects. However the executive appreciated how the winning team's verbal pitch keyed in on the emotional side as one of the team member's was directly affected by staying at a Trump hotel when the hotel concierge provided services that greatly affected his family for the positive during their stay.  In addition to that, while both teams were later defending themselves to Donald Trump, the same team expressed how the other team failed to mention in their marketing text what truly set Trump Hotels apart from their competition thinking photos would be enough.  

How this can apply to Real Estate: As a listing agent are you simply parroting the same home and neighborhood information as others  when it comes to nearby homes of similar style and square footage?  Do you ask your seller's during listing presentations what made them choose that particular home or area?  Even as a veteran listing agent in the area, there may be a golden nugget that you may not have been aware of that other agents are failing to mention in targeted ads or public remarks as a draw.  

ALL TASK WINNERS SHARE A COMMON DENOMINATOR

On Celebrity Apprentice, no matter how grand the task is in scale or idea, the winner ALWAYS had a winning formula that came down to the same three things week after week, season after season:

1. Which team or individual listened most to their clients needs? 
2. Which team or individual targeted the consumers who would most likely seek such product or service? 
3. Which team or individual best utilized their strengths to draw or convey to the client why their product of service was best over competition?

The above list is applicable to any type of sales and most certainly real estate when it comes to winning tasks of getting the listing, marketing homes to targeted consumers and negotiating to get your buyer in spite of what your competitors are offering.

Photos courtesy of Creative Commons

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