"NICHE" MARKETING:....WHAT ARE THE DANGERS?

NICHE MARKETING...WHAT ARE THE DANGERS? I am writing this post to open up an in-depth discussion of the responsibility of selling and listing in a Niche Market---your Niche Market to be exact!

I had a very interesting question asked on one of my older posts and I want to address this issue since some people feel it COULD possibly present a problem for any agent if they are too focused on selling in a certain "niche" area.

The concerns:

1. If you are selling properties in one area such as in a Niche market, are you "steering" buyers to buy in that area?
2. If your buyer asks to see houses in another area outside your Niche market, are you miss-representing your skills and knowledge of the area?
3. How do you handle a seller who contacts you and wants you to list their home as an exclusive when is outside your Niche market?
4. Do you make sure to let the buyer or the seller know that you are not an expert of a given area outside of your Niche Market?
5. Are you using the referral system when it comes to trying to list or sell in any given market that is outside your area of expertise?

These are questions that come to mind regarding our professional exposure as we take on an area and adopt it as our area of expertise.

WHY NICHE MARKETING?

I find that I am personally committed to Niche Marketing because I believe there is a need to fully inform clients and customers who may want to use my services of the areas attributes. I have chosen an area of expertise, the Village of Southampton, in order to fulfill my desire to be the source of correct history and information about a place that I love. I have adopted Southampton Village, New York as my Niche Market and am in the process of adopting 2 more areas: Tuckahoe and North Sea are both North of the Village but have special historical and ecological significance.

 

HAVE YOU EVER WATCHED as a buyer walked away from a property because you did not know enough about an area? Have seen a seller hire someone else to handle their listing because you were not convincing enough about your knowledge of an area? .....Then you know what I mean. Niche marketing is becoming more and more important to the buying and selling public.

I would love to hear from all of you here on AR to try to ferret out any possible conflicts there may be when we become the "expert" of an area and represent ourselves that way in our marketing.  

DO YOU SEE ANY PROBLEMS WITH NICHE MARKETING???

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                                     **ALL INFORMATION AND CONTENT IN THIS BLOG IS ORIGINAL TO PAULA I. HATHAWAY

Paula I. Hathaway, LBA, Prudential Douglas Elliman

Southamtpon Village Real Estate Specialist since 1995;  Also Specializes in North Sea, Noyac, Water Mill and Bridgehampton, New York

Diamond , Gold and Chairman's Circle Awards; Top Producer since 2005

 

Click here to see my Hampton's website to see all my listings; please email me or call me for all your real estate needs in Southampton, Bridgehampton and Watermill:

http://www.prudentialelliman.com/paulahathaway