How You Should Market Your New Product to Existing Customers

Mar 22, 2018
2 min read

Transitioning from one product to another can be difficult. In real estate, this could mean moving from selling condos to selling townhouses. The price point is different, the product type is different, and so on. How do you market this new product to your existing client list? The short answer is you don’t. Let me explain.

Keeping with the condo example, you’ve been selling condos for 10 years. Your customer database is full of people interested in condos. That’s because all your marketing and lead building efforts were focused on finding people interested in purchasing condos. Digging deeper, you also find that this client list also has a certain level of price sensitivity.

Let’s assume the condos you’ve been selling never went beyond $500,000. So, anything below that figure was something your client list would be interested in. In addition, you were probably used to a lot of haggling and counter offers as they may have been bargain hunters and not necessarily home buyers.

Now let’s look at your new product. Townhouses typically costs north of $500,000. In addition, they offer a completely different kind of living experience for homeowners compared to condos. Townhouse buyers may also not be bargain hunters and will probably only put in one counter offer. They will also not be interested in the rental potential of the property and instead maybe in the future resale value of the property. Putting each side by side, you see that this entirely new product may not be a good fit for your existing customer base.

It is possible that maybe 10% of your existing customer base will transition with you to the new product but the rest may not. While most real estate agents will spend time and energy marketing this new product to their existing customer base, don’t. It’s okay to send them a notification, to let them know you are switching gears, but don’t invest too much time and effort trying to sell them your new product.

What should you do? Start from scratch. Yes, it’s tough and it’s daunting but that’s the best course of action. But what about my existing list, you ask? Don’t throw it out. Just create a new list and have two separate marketing campaigns for each. For the condo buyers, just periodic messages will do, so they know you are still in business.

But the rest of your focus should go to reaching your new audience. You will also realize that the marketing messages you send will also change. While condo buyers may respond to low prices and bargains, townhouse buyers may be more interested in the luxury and comfort of your properties and not necessarily the price.

This will change your marketing messages completely. The medium you reach them through may also change. You may find that the condo buyers were easy to reach via social media or email. Townhouse buyers may respond better to physical brochures and marketing letters. When you decide to switch gears and sell a new product, consider it as starting a brand-new business. Everything will change.