21 Jun

What hour of the day can you be the greenest?

By Jesse Velez In Email Ads, Other tips, Real Estate /  

Two weeks ago I was at the ICREWNJ luncheon at the Woodbridge Hilton. ICREW is a great organization that brings together companies that service the commercial real estate industry. From brokers to IT professionals to furniture consultants they are all there. The group is organized by women who have a common goal to:

  • to advance the professional development of women in commercial real estate through educational meetings and seminars and
  • to promote opportunity for business growth through networking on a local, state and national level

They always have a speaker that can give some insight into the real estate industry. This month it was Adam Zellner who is the President of Greener by Design. I had seen him at another event wherein he discussed the need to build with energy in mind. The ability to obtain credits for the creation of energy via solar panels, windmills, etc. could definitely help property owners in this day and age.

What got me this time in his speech was the 3PM to 4PM syndrome. He told us that most of the energy bill for a day comes from the time between 3-4PM. That is the time when the kids get home, everyone is at their desks, PlayStations and whatever else turn on an make a drain on the “net” as he called it. He said if we were able to conserve during those periods by:

  1. shutting down some lights
  2. turning off some non-essential systems
  3. unplugging the cell phone chargers that are just stuck to the wall
  4. or turning off the computers we just have to leave on

the bill would dramatically decrease. To me that was interesting to know that in one hour a day I’m getting billed the highest electric rate of the day and that if I could just make a change for an hour it would make a difference. Wow! That seems too simple. For more information feel free to check him out at www.gbdtoday.com.

The question is what could you and I do differently to keep our green (money) from 3-4PM. What can building owners do? Comments are welcome.

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21 Jun

How can you involve your potential customers?

By Jesse Velez In Email Ads, Marketing Tips, Real Estate /  
Gold Key

Gold Key

Our team just came back from the Kean University Design Conference: Thinking Creatively. Last year I went to the How Conference and I have to say that although the Kean University Design Conference was on a smaller scale it definitely was worth the time. I would go back next year in a minute.

One of the sessions discussed how you can involve your prospects in your brand. What does that mean? From the instructor’s point of view you have to start by asking What, Why and How? What am I trying to let my prospects know? Why is it important to them? How can I let them know about this opportunity? After you answer those questions you make it personal; you create an experience they will remember; you become a storyteller and everyone loves a good story.

For real estate an example may be the following:

What: I have 25,000 sq. ft. of office space located in Paramus
on an often crowded Route 17. We are in an Excelsior owned building, known for its owner’s quality standards. Our prospects include accountants and law companies with leases expiring in 6 months.

Why: Tenants will need quality space to impress their own potential customers and maintain a level of standards in their staff.

How: The space will be promoted via events prospects will attend in addition to direct mail mailings.

Make it personal: Call the space the Gold Key space. Mail potential companies a gold key symbolizing the quality of the building. Show pictures in the brochure that highlight the quality entrance, doorman, lounge, etc.

Create an experience: At a trade show that your target market attends have people give out gold keys that open different elaborate doors at your booth. After a short presentation, introduce a few beautiful doors. Behind each door there will be something special about the building and behind one door is a free “fill in the blank” prize showing quality.

Be a storyteller: The gold keys also lead to a website. Here they view a video of a tenants experience of being in the building. That experience could highlight an instance in which they received excellent service (repair, catering, etc.).

What would be your “fill in the blank” prize? Comment on this eblast.

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