Three ways to understand your customers and purchasers better
I spent Sunday morning dropping flyers into the letterboxes of a new community. I found out that one third of residents don’t have a letterbox. I also discovered that many people attend the local supermarket on a Sunday morning in their pyjamas.
These aren’t earthshattering discoveries that will help sell product, but there are strategies you can employ to help you understand your customers and purchasers better.
Once you have an indicative yield plan, and before you start visioning, spend time talking with the local community. You can reach them through social media, offering a free coffee for a quick chat at the local shopping centre, inviting them to a workshop at a local venue in exchange for payment or reaching out to interest groups. And don’t forget to speak with the local council. They have objectives they need to achieve, and you may be able to help them get there!
Have your masterplan, project name and branding, and housing design guidelines been thought up by city dwellers within your office, consultants or creative agency? If so, take them out to the people who will actually buy your product and find out if they resonate.
We often ‘festivalise’ community activity within new developments. Community activation isn’t easy and takes time. Instead of throwing thousands at a face painter and sausage sizzle, foster an organic sense of community by getting to know the people that live there. You might find out that what they want is pretty simple: to have authentic opportunities to bump into their neighbours, maybe on a walk, at a playground or in a dog park. A walking track around the perimeter may be all you need!
Read more about what the Property Republic team has been up to in this space here.