Jeff Belonger's blog Top Trend Setters to Watch and Mariana Wagner's blog Secret Life of Generation X Consumer were both great and stimulated interesting comments and thoughts about marketing and positioning to these generational demographics.

I thought about some of my buyers. What are their characteristics and which group are they in? How did I treat them and service their needs. Did each group have unique needs? Did they approach the buying process differently? I thought about their occupations.

 There is an expression in New York: "You Are What You Do"

You -Are-What-You-Do-For-A-Living. 

A Buyers Behavior Is Usually In Sync With His Or Her Occupation And Generation.

Wall Street/ Banker/ Financial Workers

Financial professionals have real estate bubble phobia. They always think they are buying at the top, and they want to buy at the bottom. They often say I don't want to buy now the bubble is about to burst. They come back a year later and pay much more. This year is different they might not have to pay much more for an apartment yet they are being  paid more.

Quantification is what finance workers want. When you show them an apartment, they say "We've got to go home and put it on a spreadsheet." They look at the yield basis, how much they're going to rent the property for if they were to move out, and what type of return they're going to get if they're going to own long term. The want all the financials, the buildings reserve fund, price per square foot they are so busy with the numbers they often ignore the beautiful kitchen renovation and the great view. They are thinking about resale.

Lawyers

Lawyers like to negotiate everything. Lawyers are trained to think about every contingency, it's hard for them to turn that off when they're dealing on their own behalf. My experience with lawyers is that you have to get every detail nailed down.

Lawyers excel at providing the sort of minutiae required for coop and condo board packages. It consists of 100's of pages of documents, financial statements, tax returns, pay stubs, reference letters, loan commitment, purchase application and needs to be typed and collated usually 10 copies and an original. I try to make it look pretty. My first lawyer client was from Atlanta, his secretary typed the purchase application.

Doctors

Doctors tend to be amenable. Location near their practice or hospital is one of their biggest concerns. They are very good about seeing all the apartments and they remember all the details. They usually will tell you why they pass on the apartment rather than the other way around. It's sort of like a diagnosis. But once they find something they like, they stick to it and move forward because they've analyzed all the facts.

Once the diagnosis is made and a contract is signed, doctors don't want to deal with the details. They've thought about it for a long time but once they go into contract. They just want to get back to their patients, they really don't want to be involved with details. They just want it done.

Creative Types

Creatives are often more open to where they will go. They might say "Can you find me a penthouse in Hells Kitchen or any place unusual. We don't care about location; we care about being at the top of the building and having light". They would be willing to buy the penthouse to which the elevator doesn't go or the top floor in a brownstone walk up They're willing to make sacrifices.

Media Industry

Buyers from the media industry often try to "scoop" their broker with unpublicized information about recent sale or a new building.  I guess because that's part of what they do every day so even in their personal life they do the same thing. They feel validated by knowing something you don't know already. They like to be pro-active. The good thing about them is if you get one media person you will get more of them because they talk a lot with their friends. A couple I sold an apartment to last year calls me when an apartment in their building gets listed. They want to know why I didn't get the listing and what can they do to help me. I told them to tell their neighbors about me before they list.

Business Owners/ Real Estate Developers

These buyers are very experienced. They know what they want and they often get it. They will pay FULL ASK if they have to, but they won't go over ASK or get in a bidding war. They rather walk. They rarely try to nickel and dime. They are very helpful with details and they can get reference letters and financial documents almost immediately.

Teachers

Teachers can be frustrating because they study everything. They want to see many apartments, they take so long looking at a neighborhood that they even remember the different lines in a building and names and numbers of the buildings. Once they find something they can live with, they will not be nickel and dime the price.

Marketing - Positioning

These generalizations might be considered as stereotypes. But one person's stereotype is another's marketing tool. Properties can be positioned according to buyer's occupation.

As brokers we have to market to our customers needs. If I know they come from a strategic, financial or analytical background, I start talking about what the building's financials are, the requirements financially they'll need to get into the building. If it's someone who is a touchy-feely kind, who works in entertainment or creative arts or something, then I will go into sunlight and the spaciousness of the space and how oversized the windows are.

When I position myself that way, people end up thinking that I'm very much connecting to them and listening to them. I have left out some occupations and every market has their own unique job pool. Feel free to add your own.