Sell Your Home Like Vladimir Putin

Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin

Russian President

KGB Spymaster

World Leader 

All round tough guy

When you think of political leaders at leisure you probably visualise Barak Obama playing golf or John Key relaxing at a barbecue in a gaudy Hawaiian shirt. The president of Russia, Vladimir Putin, meanwhile is riding horses (with his shirt off), fishing back country rivers (with his shirt still off), swimming in ice cold rivers (yep, no shirt), flying planes, diving in submarines, darting polar bears (thankfully with his shirt on), generally being an outdoors, strong man and tough guy. To many it is faintly ridiculous and staged.

But Putin knows his audience - he knows his market. His advertising and promotion is directed toward the Russian population which wants a strong leader, someone in control and not afraid to stand up to the rest of the world. Putin is not worried what the rest of the world thinks of him - they don’t keep him in power.

The secret to advertising your home is to target the most likely buyer. You’ve seen the advertising that pretty much says nothing and normally achieves exactly that.  If your property is suited to inner city professionals advertise that - make the photos, the description and the headline drive that message. If it is first home buyer families then specifically target that audience. It does not matter about others. If you get no traction, target a different audience. Don’t get lost, or be meaningless, by trying to target everyone all at once.

Putin the Negotiator

Russia had a problem.  Their only all year round port for warships was in a country moving more and more West. Putin’s solution - simply annex Crimea.  Russia had an overwhelming military advantage and the Ukraine could only mount symbolic opposition. But, that’s not what was important - Putin knew his international opposition and understood they would not oppose him with military might. He surmised the Europeans and Americans would certainly object and make noises, but not do anything physically. He was obviously proven right.

Putin knew his opposition.

The secret to successful negotiation is preparation. Taking the time and effort to understand the person you are negotiating with will always pay dividends.  How often is it when negotiating the sale of your home you just focus on the offer price? Take a step back and make sure you understand the market place, the competition your property has, and the potential buyer.  Ask questions to understand.  Who is the buyer? Why are they buying? What is the state of their finance?  What is most important to them and so on.

The better you understand your buyer the more power and opportunity you have to take steps to your advantage.  You don’t need to be making massively bold geopolitical moves for it to be important. 

Photos courtesy of kremlin.ru