It takes time and effort to create a floor plan with accurate measurements (if you have to sketch it manually). Between juggling property listings, sales, and all other tasks around selling a house, many real estate agents simply do not have the time to crouch through spaces and collect data.

As a result, they also miss out on its potential as a marketing tool or do not intend to spend on this service because they consider it an unnecessary expense.

But those who see the value in floor plans will keep coming back for more an opportunity to boost your photography business.

As of now, floor plan pricing can vary from state to state and coast to coast. At CubiCasa a certified photographer pays $15 if they want to include fixed furniture and, on average, they charge for floor plan from $60 $150 as an add-on service. However, since we launched free floor plans, many photographers are able provide it on almost every shoot without spending any money while increasing their revenue. This means that only 10 floor plans a month at $70 can increase your profits by $700. An opportunity you’d like to take on but don’t know where to start? Read on.

Here are 6 tips on how to add floor plans as an add-on to your photography services:

Show data about the real estate market

There is not much to say about it: a promotional speech that aims to convince your customer to buy floor plans inevitably requires supporting data.

Data, statistics, and graphs provide visual proof of your product’s functionality (here you can find how to build an effective chart). When writing about your new floor plan service, don’t forget to attach attractive graphics that catch the eye.

Here are some real estate floor plan related data:

• 93% of buyers say they are more likely to look at a property with a floor plan.
• 81% of sellers think that a floor plan will help sell their homes faster.
• -50% of the time of the listing on the market if you include a floor plan in the marketing campaign.
• 7.5 times floor plans are opened more often than maps.
• 52% increase in click-throughs on listings with floor plans.
• 50% of buyers find their homes online and the number is constantly increasing.

The real estate market is one of the most profitable ever, and it is not a market with one-off businesses. Most real estate agents sell houses over and over again as they build their reputation along the way.

The best agents are the ones who provide their prospective buyers with the information, including floor plans, even before a viewing.

Newsletter about floor plans for real estate

A carefully designed and well-planned newsletter guarantees excellent results when you want to propose the floor plan service to your customers. Through the email, you are addressing a pre-selected audience who may be interested in your offering.

However, it is necessary to respect all the email marketing rules for this tool to be truly effective.

So, how to create appealing emails?

1. Collect the email addresses of your customers and potentially interested individuals in order to make a list of recipients.
2. Pay attention to how you write: the contents must be clear, coherent, and interesting. Be short and concise so that it looks professional or else your email will end up in spam or trash sections. Here you can find dos and don’ts while writing an email.
3. Attract the customer’s attention: tell about the new product in a specific and in-depth manner and explain why your company has decided to offer it. Build a story around the product. You can utilize some of these ready-to-use marketing resources to include in your monthly newsletters when promoting your floor plan add-on service.

To make your email more appealing, attach a visual element such as images or videos to your email so that the customer can see what you are talking about.

For example: create a video tutorial that explains how to obtain a floor plan or attach an image of the final product. But more on this later. Here is an example of a standard email to promote your new floor plan service. Have a look here to explore more creative layouts.

Visualize the layout: Create a promotional video

Video marketing is one of the most powerful promotion tools in real estate marketing. Studies show that 74% of users who watched an explanatory video about a product subsequently purchased it.

When done right, it is a versatile and profitable solution that creates trust and consequently long-term relationships.

Create a promotional video that aims to educate, inform, increase brand awareness and increase sales. Your video should include:

• A presentation of the floor plans
• Methods to obtain them
• Reasons your customers need a floor plan.

Here is one of our videos as an example:

Explain the buyer’s point of view

Some real estate agents are very skeptical about floor plans. Many believe floor plans represent a higher expense and decrease the likelihood of a potential client visiting the property in person.

The truth is, prospects usually turn down viewings because the layout of the home doesn’t meet their needs. It has nothing to do with floor plans.

In fact, floor plans are much welcomed.: Approximately 93% of them say they spend more time looking for a listing with floor plans attached. Here’s why:

Floor plans are useful when considering space alterations or layout changes such as adding a room or breaking down a wall. The main purpose of this tool is to give an idea of ​​what the flow of the house is: through looking at the floor plan, the potential buyer is able to imagine his future life in that space and this translates into greater chances of a sale.

Also, if prospective buyers visit several properties on the same day, comparing the different floor plans will help them in their decision.

Real estate agents sometimes lose sight of their clients’ needs. Therefore, provide them with the point of view of an individual looking for a home.

Not to mention that emphasizing how a floor plan represents a win-win both for you and for the real estate agent’s sales but also for the potential buyer!

Use testimonials to promote your new service

Is your customer still not convinced? Use testimonials!

Testimonials from satisfied customers can be a very powerful marketing tool that you can use since they are able to assure the public that the service you are offering is good.

Make sure that those who have already tried your new floor plan service leave good reviews. Most of your audience will likely seek information and opinions about your new service before making a decision.

After completing the job, send a survey to your customers (here you can find how) to be sure that their expectations regarding the product have been met and publish the most constructive and useful reviews. Your survey should include questions such as:

• Are you satisfied with the floor plan?
• From 1 to 10, how likely would you recommend our service to a friend or a colleague?
• Were you satisfied with timeliness and professionalism?
• Were you satisfied with your overall experience?
• What is your feedback?

In general, don’t be afraid to ask for allowances from people you know are satisfied with your floor plans.

Offer a free trial of your floor plans service

Your audience is probably made up of customers who already know you, and your company and therefore they trust your professionalism.

However, sometimes this is not enough to get them to try a new product. An effective strategy to win over your customers with a new service is based on offering a strong initial discount to convince them to make their first purchase. This strategy includes the possibility of offering your product for free for a certain period of time, to accustom the customer to its use.

After that, the customer can decide whether to purchase or stop using the service. As mentioned, real estate agents are skeptical of floor plans. So offer them a free trial to change their minds: they will experience firsthand how much this tool can make a difference.

In this case, you could reach out to CubiCasa sales managers and ask for a discount in order to promote this type of marketing strategy.

Pro tip:  Watch our educational webinar on how to Earn More with Floor plans (by Sam Poole) and learn how to increase your monthly revenue by $600-1000 with a tiny amount of work.

We prepared this video to show how you can sell more floor plans and help with your business revenue growth. We also highlight key facts such as the benefits of this add-on, market insights, and success stories of our certified photographers.

Watch the Earn More with Floor Plans webinar here:

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