by Barbara DeLynn
As Office Manager for a small realty company in a small town in South Alabama, I have had to cope with quite a few cost cutting measures with reduced revenue and a poor outlook. Sales are down and we have had to learn how to keep up enthusiasm and gather momentum with a reduced staff and budget. The agents need to work harder to make their quotas and we have many agents working part time as they are all working other jobs to make ends meet.
There is such an extensive inventory on the MLS in our area, it’s hard to sift the chaff from the wheat. We still stage Open Houses and Parades of Homes, however we have come up with some clever ideas to accentuate the homes and our budget. We no longer use temps unless it’s really necessary and the owner and I trade receptionist duties on Saturdays.
Our building has always been a showpiece, with a natural koi pond and fountain, stone benches and lush landscaping. We cancelled our lawn service company and the son of one of the agents started coming to keeping the grass cut. He’s a sweet young man, going to school for graphic design, named Wayne McMullen. So, when we were trying to design a logo for our latest promotion, I showed it to Wayne and was delighted when he picked up a marker and made a few subtle changes that absolutely improved the whole concept.
After that, Wayne started coming into the office to help with other projects. We were sponsoring a 10K race and needed to get tee shirts made and he completely designed the logo, the booth and all the materials we distributed. He showed us how to half our promotions budget by installing a small in-house production room. We make all our closing gifts, signs and magnetic business cards, as well as nectkties and polo shirts for the agents.
The initial investment in the production lab has paid off tenfold. We can now produce unique and memorable sales tools and our meager budget stretches far when we don’t have to pay the “middleman”. Here’s how we do it:
We are using a smaller office that used to hold records. We cleared it out and installed a computer, scanner, and a printer. We have a big production table and a wipe erase board to keep track of things. We contacted a wholesale company that supplies tee shirt production companies in Mobile, Conde Systems (http://www.conde.com). They are our major supplier, it’s about an hour’s drive so we save on shipping costs, too. They set us up with a dye sumbilation heat transfer system. This is the system we use to create the transfers we stick on all our items.
Wayne designs the campaign, we edit and critique each one for about a month. When everyone is happy, we decide what we want to put it on. Conde offers a wide range of promo items:
Lacquered Boxes with Ceramic Tiles
Teddy Bears with Cute Shirts
Travel Cups, Mugs and Water Bottles
Plaques in all kinds of Shapes
Tote Bags, Wallets and Checkbook Covers
Signs, Flags and Banners
Clocks and Planters
And more! And all these things are customizable! We have the agent take a camera phone photo of every buyer at closing and we make personalized housewarming gifts for each family. It’s enormously popular and the agents are thrilled to send them.
After the specific items are decided, we order by the case from Conde and get a pretty good price break. Then Wayne takes the image and prints it on a special printer set up with dye sublimation ink. He reverses it, flips it over and prints it on DyeTrans Sublimation Paper. Then the paper is taped to the tile or shirt or whatever and put in a heat press. This is a big rubber plate with a hot plate that squeezes the tile and heats it for a few minutes. The image transfers from the paper right onto the tile. And they look fabulous!
Wayne does all this working only about 20 hours a month, and the owner and I are getting the hang of the equipment, so we can still run the office lean and mean during this recession. We are proud of our image in the community and we have more control over how we present ourselves to the community. I heartily recommend other offices explore this avenue.
I want to thank the folks at Conde Systems, in particular our saleswoman, Michelle Brown. She’s a knowledgeable lady who guides us in choosing the right equipment and products that make our Production Lab a success. And, here’s hoping Wayne McMullen has a long and profitable career, such a talented young man will go far in this world. If you set up your own system, we hope you find the same success.
