Investing in Real Estate, 7th Edition

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CREATE PROMOTIONS THAT SELL

You invested wisely. You worked smart. You created value. You have gained from inflation and appreciation. You have paid down the balance on your mortgage (amortization). Now it's time to harvest the wealth that you have gained through property equity.

Just one more task: Design and execute a sales promotion that attracts buyers who will pay the price you want. How do you attract these buyers? Craft a winning value proposition—and then effectively promote it. (Also, of course, you can rely on these same techniques of promotion to attract tenants.)

DESIGN A WINNING VALUE PROPOSITION

More than 50 years ago, the marketing maven Rosser Reeves coined the phrase “unique selling proposition (USP).” In that era of mass marketing, Reeves tried to pull out from traffic. He encouraged firms to differentiate—“Make your products and services stand out in a unique way,” he advised.

Over the years, Reeves's ideas have become so well known that marketing pros around the world now recognize the USP concept. In fact, just ask a pro, “What's your firm's USP?” and he will know what you are referring to. Reeves and his concept of USP have achieved universal acclaim.

Yet Generic Prevails

Although Rosser Reeves holds an esteemed position among marketing hall-of-famers, and even though every textbook of marketing advocates USP, the majority of all businesses still fail to reach the standard that Reeves set. Generic prevails. “Me-tooism” dominates. Think of banks, for example. ...