Introduction
According to Mr. Broom, Century 21 Westside is a small company that is still at the development stage in the real estate industry. Mr. Broom goes on to add that although his company is small, it is conscious of technology and innovations.
Body
The case study implies that the company has successfully used e-media to promote its products through advertisements and sales promotions. The use of e-media in sales promotion implies that the company is aware of the potentials of e-media in business and therefore it hopes to benefit from the innovation. Through e-media, the company can promote its products to potential customers by creating the necessary awareness. This section discusses the possible application of e-media that can promote the use of the company services among potential buyers of the company.
Sales promotion through advertisement is a positive effort towards promoting the services of the company to potential customers. The measure is however not sufficient and the company needs to consider other possible uses of e-media in sales promotion. This section proposes the possible areas that the company can apply e-media to promote its services to potential sellers and buyers in the real estate industry.
Sales are very important in the life of a business and therefore the company should apply all possible measures to meet its sales target. The e-media is a potential area that the business should exploit to meet or surpass its sales target. Although the company has an active sales promotion plan on e-media, the measure does not sufficiently meet the company’s sales needs. Although creating awareness of a product is important, the customers need to be guided on how to purchase the product of their choice.
With the advancement in technology, the e-media is not only a useful advertisement tool but also has become an important marketing tool since it is now possible to make sales through the internet. The company should therefore establish a system through which customers of the company can make online purchases and payments.
Obtaining feedback from the market is of great importance to a business and its customers. Century 21 Westside should ensure that it has a continuous flow of information from the field. The company can obtain business information through customers’ feedback, complaints, and recommendations. Although most companies are aware that market information is essential for their business, they lack an effective system through which they can obtain it.
Lack of an effective system also makes the customers withhold critical information needed by the business due to their concerns (Smither & Reilly 2005). Century 21 Westside is a small enterprise that is in its development stages and therefore it may have a customer information system. Although the traditional feedback systems are effective, they lack customer-friendly features and this is the main reason that makes them inappropriate for business use.
As a developing company, Century 21 Westside can apply the e-media innovatively to obtain the needed market information through a feedback system. With such a system, the business will encourage its customers to volunteer important information to the business. Such information will be in the form of complaints, feedback information, or recommendations from the customers. The system will also ensure that the business responds to the customers’ needs and complaints immediately. The feedback system will also ensure that the company addresses particular and specific complaints from the customers and this will enhance customers’ confidence towards the company (Smither & Reilly 2005). Customer confidence will also address the issue of lack of trust by customers in real-estate agents.
According to the case study, buying and selling of a house are a complicated venture especially to first-time traders and therefore advisory services are important in the industry. Although the company might be offering advisory services through its personal sales services, the effects might not be adequate and therefore it should consider additional supportive measures. E-media is a possible tool that the company can use to offer advisory services to potential and existing customers. Using the e-media, the company can create an interactive forum or a website through which customers can obtain advice on buying and selling houses.
The company can also use the e-media to offer personalized advisory services to potential customers after the identification process. The company can achieve this through the establishment of direct contacts with potential customers using online mails and chat.
Conclusion
Technology has become an essential part of the running of business particularly the e-media. Although the company uses e-media to advertise its products it has not exploited the service fully in promoting its services to potential and existing customers. The company needs to consider other possible ways to promote the use of its services through real-estate agents.
Sales promotion is an important business process but making the actual sales is more important to the business. The company needs to consider having a payment system that operates using the e-media to cater to the needs of the increasing number of customers. Secondly, the customers’ responses towards the services of the company are vital and the company should consider having a feedback system that facilitates the flow of information from the customers to the business.
The e-media will provide an effective channel through which the customers can make their responses concerning the company’s products. Finally, the company needs to consider online guidance and advisory service to cater to the customers’ needs. The company should use e-media to create an interactive forum through which customers can pass relevant information to the company.
References
Elliott, G, Rundle-Thiele, S & Waller, D 2010, Marketing, John Wiley & Sons, Milton.
Greiner, E 1972, Evolution and revolution as organizations grow, Harvard Business Review, pp. 37-47.
Kerr, S 2004, Introduction: Preparing people to lead, Academy of Management Executive. Vol. 18 no. 2, pp. 118-120.
Smither, J & Reilly, R 2005, does performance improve following multisource feedback Personnel? Psychology, vol. 58, pp. 33-66.