Making the most of the buying cycle

When I first met the chaps at Zoopla a year and a bit ago, they told me a bit about how they started out by targeting the first steps of house-hunters. The "how much is my house worth?" question that you have to ask yourself before you start to think about where you can afford to move to.

It made a lot of sense - the rest of the portal market were focussing their online marketing efforts into more location-focused searches. Getting involved at the start of the process was cheaper and more logical, the sort of thinking that I have always respected them for.

Of course, Zoopla have come a long way since then. That element of the site is still important, but they're now developing the real brand awareness that they need to be able to compete with Rightmove, as you know from the questions owners will ask you on valuation visits!

The early thinking was based on a principle of the buying cycle - that an active buyer is not the result of an on/off switch, but of a gradual process. The earlier you get involved in that process, the more chance you have of winning the business.

And not only that, the buying cycle is also a loop where, over time, people go from dissatisfied, through to identifying potential solutions, making a decision, being satisfied for a period and then starting over. The housing ladder is an almost perfect example of this.

All of which shows why the best businesses engage their audience across the whole cycle. They don't live hand-to-mouth, but on the basis of long term relationships that offer value throughout.

How can you engage potential customers earlier - and continue to support them after their move? It could be as simple as an ongoing market newsletter by post, or an annual valuation guesstimate letter.

How many of your competitors are doing anything like that?