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Foxtons

Published by
peter
at February 27, 2006 in Design - Understand your customers.

Entrepreneurs with brilliant ideas about how to market and accelerate their business can sometimes find it difficult to break the mould, stick their necks out and follow gut instincts when everyone around them seem to be reading from the same cookie cutter design & marketing ideas handbook. Breathe for air!

Flashes of inspiration give way to uncertainty and a desire to stick to known quantities replace innovation.
Last week while passing by Foxtons estate agents in Kensington I came across a brilliant example of innovative and brave marketing that inspired and amazed me.

Foxtons Cafe

Here was an estate agent which

  • didn’t have the usual clusters of A4 sheets in the window jostling for attention
  • Had none of the usual clusters of A4 sheets covering the walls INISDE the office either

but chose instead to make the focus of their interior

  • several clusters of large comfy seats and coffee tables
  • a large refreshments bar (which seemed to stock trendy Italian sparkling water).

So what do these cafe style estate agencies tell us about Foxtons?
Well, as someone who is interested in design and marketing it tells me that they are finely tuned into their customers needs and are willing to innovate* in their market.

But more importantly I believe the question should be
What do Foxton’s cafe-style offices communicate to their customers?

  1. We know whats important to you
  2. We know people purchasing property worth a few million pound don’t stand at shop windows perusing A4 sheets
  3. We know you’re savvy enough to have used our (excellent) web site
  4. We know when you’re ready to talk to us that you’ll appreciate a coffee or a trendy Italian sparkling water
  5. We know whats important to you

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I have no doubt that Foxtons are reaping the awards of such a clever and important idea as outlined above.

As this blog progresses you’ll hear me talking about understanding your customers needs and demonstrating this understanding across all your business marketing (albeit primarily through your web site) for a successful relationship with your customers.
Ultimately I believe people are more likely to do business with companies whom they feel understand them. Nothing ground breaking there but it speaks volumes to your clientelle about how ‘tuned in’ you are to them.

If you’re an Entrepreneur and a business owner/manager and think you have a truly great idea that noone else is doing but goes against the grain of every traditional marketing and sales rule you know then think about Foxtons and what they are doing today.

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* Yes, cafes have been part of most US and Canadian bookstores for several years but it’s still the books that fill the windows.