SELLING: Sales Shorts

Selling scents ∙ URLs ∙ Staging kit

Scent of a sale
Everyone knows first impressions play a significant role in forming buyers’ overall opinions about listings. But not everyone thinks beyond the visual aspects of curb appeal. Mary Harker, ABR®, CRS®, a selling broker with Keller Williams Realty in Dallas, says it’s important to address prospects’ other senses, too—particularly smell.

She places fresh flowers near a home’s front door or sprays vanilla extract around the frame, for instance. “Vanilla has a very nice fragrance—sort of a sugar cookie smell. It reminds people of their grandmother’s baking,” says Harker. In the fall, she might make popcorn to offer visitors, but only if there’s someplace outside, like a kitchen patio, to pop it so that the smell doesn’t overwhelm. She doesn’t recommend using candles or potpourri because she finds their aromas tend to be overpowering.

URLs by the numbers
To help consumers remember his Web site address, Jim VanErmen, ABR®, CRS®, associate broker with Montgomery Metro Realty Inc. in Montgomery, Ala., uses a handy memory aid: His URLs are named for his cell phone number, which he includes in all his promotional materials. “When people call after seeing a sign or brochure, they already have the cell phone number. So if I want to send them to the site for more information, I just tell them to put a dot-com after the number,” says VanErmen. “They appreciate the easy access to the site, and I don’t have to provide any additional information that they have to remember or copy.”

His two portals—http://303-1111.com and http://3031111.com—cost about $7 per month each, in addition to the $19 monthly fee VanErmen pays to host his main site, www.RealtyVan.com. He says the use of cell phone numbers as URLs became feasible after a Federal Communications Commission ruling that requires wireless carriers to ­support local number portability.

Staging in a box
Sometimes sellers don’t leave a salesperson a lot to work with when it comes to staging a home—either because they’ve moved and taken everything with them or because they didn’t have many possessions in the first place. Ed Huck, ABR®, CRS®, an associate broker with Realty One Real Living in Westlake, Ohio, has five containers of “stuff”—items ranging from drapes, shower curtains, and towels to books, pictures, and candles—that he uses to spruce up his listings. Huck, who’s dipped into his staging boxes eight to 10 times during the past year, says he focuses mostly on kitchens and bathrooms. “I can’t afford to do the whole house,” he says. If you use your own materials for staging, he says, make sure the sales contract stipulates that the items you bring in aren’t included with the house.

Do you have an innovative, business-boosting selling or marketing tip that you’d like to share? Please e-mail us at greatideas@realtors.org