By Paige Tepping
RISMEDIA, Jan. 21, 2008-“Every home deserves a VisualTour” is a slogan that Janice Miller, broker/owner of Indiana-based ERA First Advantage Realty, Inc. truly believes in. Six months ago, Miller and her agents joined the movement to provide home buyers with access to feature-rich home tours for all of their listings.
“For two years I listened to a fellow broker from ERA King Real Estate tell me that his listing volume had doubled and his business had exploded. He credited all of his business success to the VisualTour Marketing System,” says Miller of first hearing about the marketing solution. “One day I woke up and realized that we needed something that differentiated us from the other real estate companies in our area,” she adds. VisualTour seemed like the perfect solution, and Miller reports that it has strongly enhanced the relationship between consumers and agents at ERA First Advantage Realty.
“Buyers want more now. They want it all,” says Miller about her decision to kick off a brand new campaign while at the same time introducing VisualTour to give consumers what they want. “We put together a complete marketing campaign to advertise ‘Every Home Deserves a VisualTour,'” says Miller. “The campaign was pitched to the public through radio, TV, billboard, print and the Web,” she continues. Miller is amazed by the way that consumers have come to acknowledge and praise her company’s use of VisualTour.
The marketing system allows an agent to create a tour that will be available for anyone on the Web to view immediately. Miller says that “the VisualTour software is very easy to use and allows our agents to deliver excellent quality marketing for sellers. One of our agents is our go-to person, and they train every agent,” she continues. That way, if an agent wishes not to be involved in the creation of a virtual tour, the company’s go-to person will create a tour for them.
Important rooms or features of the home and neighborhood can be highlighted if the agent wants specific areas to stand out. Unlike ordinary virtual tours, VisualTour gives agents the option to have their scenes fade in and out and they can set their tour to music. A complete description of the room that is being shown is provided as well as the option to include a voice narration. The VisualTour system also gives agents the opportunity to be as creative as they want and put together a high quality tour that they are proud to showcase for their sellers and to attract buyers.
“We offer a copy of the VisualTour to the buyer after they have bought the home. If they are moving from a different state, it is important to them that they be able to send the VisualTour to friends and family when they close,” says Miller.
Miller and her team are working to broaden the ways in which VisualTour can work for them, beyond just marketing listings. “We are beginning to use the VisualTour concept to highlight schools within the area,” says Miller. “Our goal is to have a VisualTour for every school in our market so that new customers can get a feel for the education system before they move to the area,” she adds.
“The secret to connecting with today’s consumers is to create a good visual tour and market it everywhere,” says Miller. VisualTour has given Miller and her agents the confidence they need to confidently state that “every home deserves a VisualTour.”
For more information, visit www.visualtour.com.
