RECENT ASSIGNMENT

RES 410 Setting up as a real estate salesperson
Written Assessment 2
What this assessment covers
In this written assessment you will:
½ identify a real estate market segment and target clients or customers, and develop positioning strategies to establish your personal presence in the real estate market
½ design a direct marketing plan as part of a campaign to establish a presence in the real estate market, and analyse results of a direct marketing campaign.
Instructions
½ Answer all questions and provide all requested information.
½ While quotations can be used to support your work, answers must be in your own words.
½ Avoid copying sections directly from the course materials.
½ When you have completed the assessment, keep a copy for yourself.
Take note
Important! Read the whole assessment before you start, because some tasks are related.
All answers must be in your own words. You must not, for example, copy and paste portions of text directly from the course materials as an answer to a question, although you may quote sparingly from the course materials. Any quotes used must be correctly referenced.
All work must be your own. Your assessment will be submitted through an electronic plagiarism detection system before marking. Assessments with a significant match to course materials or other published sources will not be marked. The system will also pick up similarities with other students’ assessments including students from previous intakes. If collusion with another student is suspected then both assessments will be referred to the Academic Registrar for investigation and penalties may be applied.
What your marker will do
Your marker will return your work and tell you whether you have achieved the standard required.
Work is marked ‘competent’ or ‘not yet competent’. There may also be a statement that says ‘more evidence required’.
If any parts of the assessment do not meet the required standard, you will be asked to rework them and submit them for reassessment.

Establish a presence in the market place
US15500 / Version 4 / Level 4
Task 1
The first objective of this task is for you to demonstrate your ability to identify and describe market segments in the area in which you will most likely be working. The second objective is for you to show how you will distinguish yourself as an individual salesperson, so that you are personally able to provide identifiable benefits to clients within those segments.
(a) Briefly describe two different market segments in the area where you will most likely be working.
Use 50–75 words for each market segment.
(b) Describe a typical target client for each of the two market segments you have identified in (a) above.
Use 50–75 words for each type of client
(c) What personal positioning strategy/ies will you use to demonstrate your point of difference that distinguishes you from other real estate salespeople working in the same market?
(Hint: avoid using words such as ‘honest’, and ‘trustworthy’, as these are among a number of generic traits expected of all salespeople.) Use 100–150 words for your answer.
(d) Explain how the clients you will be targeting will benefit from the positioning strategy/ies you have referred to in (c) above. Use 100–150 words for your answer.

This task tests Outcome 1: Identify a real estate market segment and target clients or customers, and develop positioning strategies to establish a presence in the real estate market. Evidence requirements: 1.1, 1.2, 1.3.
Task 2
This task requires considerable planning and co-ordination, but it will help you set up a strategy to launch yourself into the real-world marketplace. It also tests your ability to prepare and present a report, which is an essential skill for success in real estate. Read the instructions carefully before you begin work on this.
Create a personal direct marketing plan to promote awareness of your services to people in one of the market segments you chose for Task 1. Your strategies must be consistent with individual, company, industry and legal requirements.
Present this in the form of a detailed formal report to your branch manager. (If you currently have a branch manager, we recommend you address it to him or her personally. If not, you may use a fictitious name for the purpose.)
Your plan must include each of the following elements:
(a) Identification of the target clients and the market segment you have chosen for this direct marketing plan. Use 25–50 words.
(b) An outline of three strategies or activities that you could use to attract new clients.
Use 100–150 words.
(c) Two strategies you will use to maintain current clients (people who have already engaged in an agency agreement with you or your agency) in accordance with individual, company, industry and legal requirements. Use 100–150 words.
(d) A completed budget for your first three months. The budget must itemise all actual or realistically estimated costs involved in the activities from (b) and (c) above, and show the GST-inclusive total. (You do not need to budget for your personal time involved in this work.)
(e) Provide an explanation of the steps you will need to take to ensure this marketing plan is implemented in accordance with each of the following (write a couple of sentences for each):
i. Fair Trading Act 1986 ii. Privacy Act 1993 iii. Unsolicited Electronic Messages Act 2007 iv. Real Estate Agents Act 2008 and Real Estate Agents Act (Professional Conduct and Client Care) Rules 2012
v. Real estate industry best practice.
(f) An explanation of how this campaign will benefit you as the salesperson, as well as the company or franchise for which you work.
This task tests Outcome 2: Design a direct marketing plan as part of a campaign to establish a presence in the real estate market and analyse results of a direct marketing campaign. Evidence requirements: 2.1, 2.2, 2.3, 2.4, 2.6.
Task 3
This is an excellent chance to demonstrate your professional capability to attract and retain real estate clients through your personal promotional activities.
Provide two promotional materials that are consistent with the strategies and activities you have outlined in Task 2(b) – one from list A and one from list B:
List A List B
Door-knocking script Flyer
Telemarketing script Newsletter
Email (to a prospective client) Newspaper advertisement
Conventional mail (to a prospective client)
Each document should be a minimum of 100 words.
All written documents you submit for this task must include your name and contact details, and comply with s 121(2)(c) of the Real Estate Agents Act 2008. Similarly, all communications, whether written or verbal, must comply with requirements of s 9 of the Fair Trading Act 1986.
Take note
If you have chosen a door-knocking or telemarketing script, you must attach a typed copy of your script. You only need to include details of what you will say; you are not expected to predict what the other person will say. In this instance, you can assume that their response to your approach will be mildly positive.
Take note
Carefully proofread your work to make sure it is free of spelling, grammar and punctuation errors. As a minimum, use the spelling and grammar check function on your computer.

This task tests Outcome 2: Design a direct marketing plan as part of a campaign to establish a presence in the real estate market and analyse results of a direct marketing campaign. Evidence requirements: 2.5, 2.6.
Task 4
In this task, you will start by reviewing a new salesperson’s work. From there, you will evaluate the success of the personal marketing campaign he has just completed. To do so, you will need to carefully assess each of the media he has used. This type of evaluation is critical to your own future success: you can only manage what you measure.
Read the following draft of a personal marketing campaign submitted by Devon Mills, the newest member of the Polyvale Realty Ltd team, to his manager. Then answer the questions that follow:
Polyvale Realty has a brad new member of the team!
Hi, I’m Devon, and I’ve just joined the very successful team at Polyvale Realty.
I’m looking forward to meeting all the people in the area where I’m going to be working so that I can better understand your needs. Everyone buys or sells at some time, so I know you’ll have a need for my services.
If you’re thinking of selling, now’s a great time to be getting into the market.
There are buyers looking for properties of all kinds, and I’d love to help you achieve the highest possible price for your home.
Please feel free to call me. I’m available Monday to Saturday, 9 am to 6 pm.
Phone 232-7113
Devon Mills
Your local real estate expert!
Polyvale Realty Ltd
(Licensed under the Real Estate Agents Act 2006)

Flyer
Over a period of four weeks, Devon distributed the above text as a flyer, on plain white photocopy paper to a total of 1000 households in an area that is about half owneroccupied properties and half rented properties. He didn’t account for the cost of the paper involved, or the use of the office photocopier, believing it was only a minimal amount.
Fourteen people responded to the flyer. Six asked him to appraise their properties, and eight complained that he’d put flyers in their mailbox, even though there was clear signage about ‘junk mail’.
Polyvale Herald advertisement

Devon used the above text as an advertisement in three Saturday editions of the Polyvale Herald, at a cost of $270 each (plus GST).
Five enquiries resulted from the advertisements. Four of these were potential customers. The other was a prospective client who’s been trying to sell his house privately for seven months, without success. He isn’t prepared to list with an agency yet, but has asked Devon to keep in contact.
Phone calls
Devon used the local telephone directory to make outbound phone calls to 400 properties, to identify people living in the suburb he was targeting. Most of the calls were made between 5.30pm and 7.30pm, because Devon thought people would most likely be at home then.
From the 400 phone calls, Devon made contact with 360 people and gained these responses:
(a) One hundred and twenty told him they were tenants, and not interested in real estate.
(b) Twenty-nine told him he’d rung in the middle of dinner, and they weren’t interested.
(c) One hundred and ninety were polite, but explained that they weren’t considering buying or selling at the moment.
(d) Ten told him they might be interested in an appraisal within the next three to six months, and Devon made a note of their contact details. He plans to call them again in about six to eight weeks from now.
(e) Four said that they were looking to buy property in the near future, and asked him to keep in touch.
(f) Four were obviously elderly people who just wanted someone to talk with.
(g) Three asked Devon to complete an appraisal for their property. Devon made immediate appointments, and conducted these appraisals (assisted by his sales manager, Doreen) during the next few days.
(h) Two said they worked for competing real estate firms.
(i) One referred him to a neighbour who was thinking of selling, giving him the name, address and phone number to contact. Devon followed up promptly and conducted the appraisal that afternoon.
Appraisals
As a result of the campaign, Devon has now completed ten appraisals – six from the flyer, and four from the phone calls. Four of the owners whose properties he appraised have since listed with other agencies, two have decided to market their properties privately, one is still finalising their decision, and one has decided to look for a property to buy before marketing their current home.
Listings
As a result of his appraisals, one person has listed with Devon under a sole agency agreement, and that property is now on the market for $379,000. Devon has calculated the commission payable to him (as lister and seller), based on a sale price of $370,000, as approximately $7,300 (plus GST).
He has also just signed a second sole agency resulting from another of the appraisals he completed. This is a large family home, with an asking price of $399,000. Devon estimates that if he also sells the property, based on a sale price of $380,000, he will receive a commission of slightly more than $7,500 (plus GST).
Customers
One of the potential customers he cold-called has now bought a property through Devon (listed by one of Devon’s colleagues, who facilitated the sale on Devon’s behalf because he is still within the first six months of his real estate career). Devon’s manager has advised that at the end of his first month’s work he’ll be receiving a commission of $2,750 (plus GST).
Potential customers
The manager commented that he was pleased to see Devon had a good number of potential customers in his database because it is very likely that at least some of them will go on to purchase properties in the near future.
Time
Devon has estimated the time taken for the campaign has been as follows:
Preparing the draft material 1 hour
Delivering flyers 16 hours
Telephone calls 4.5 hours
Appraisals (including preparation) at approximately three hours each 30 hours
Buyer appointments 8 hours
Miscellaneous (meeting with manager, photocopying, and so on). 1 hour
Devon considers his time to be worth $25 per hour. He isn’t allocating any GST content to this. However, he wants to keep track of the value of his time.
Questions
(a) Identify at least three errors that Devon has made in the content of his flyer.
(b) Including the allowance for his time, how much money has Devon spent on this campaign?
(c) Quantify Devon’s performance with respect to each of the following:
(i) Number of leads (potential clients and customers)
(ii) Number of appraisals
(iii) Number of listings
(iv) Number of actual sales to date
(d) Devon already has a confirmed commission pending. If his estimates of the commission payable to him for the sale of his two sole agency listings also eventuate, how much will this campaign generate in personal earnings?
(e) What is the ratio of leads to sales, based on Devon’s current achievements?
(f) What is the cost of each listing Devon has achieved to date, including all advertising and the value of his time?

This task tests Outcome 2: Design a direct marketing plan as part of a campaign to establish a presence in the real estate market and analyse results of a direct marketing campaign. Evidence requirement: 2.7.