Selling to the Real Estate Industry is Now Online

On January 13th we’re kicking off Thesis Driven’s newest virtual bootcamp: Selling into the Real Estate Industry.

This course takes a bottom-up approach to the art and science of selling to real estate owners and developers. We’ll dive deep into how vendors, technology entrepreneurs, and sales teams can hone their product messaging, reach new customers, and drive revenue growth.

The course will take place over five weeks from January 13th to February 14th, 2025. It’ll include a mix of virtual classes and small-group discussion sections. Learn more.

From proptech companies to investment sales brokers to vendors of all stripes, a significant portion of Thesis Driven’s readers spend their time selling into the real estate industry.

And with the right tools and strategies, vendors can dramatically increase their win rate. Across two days, we’ll use a case-based approach to the best practices of selling to real estate developers and investors. Specifically, we’ll tackle eight key topics:

• Identifying your audience: Companies: How to identify your top target customers, including an analysis of the different types of real estate firms, investment strategies, asset classes, and more.
• Identifying your audience: Roles: Who is your decisionmaker and what process must they go through? A look into the various roles in the real estate ecosystem and how they are all incentivized. Exercise: Building a Buyer Persona.
• Making the Financial Case for Your Product: Real estate decisionmakers are a financially-minded set, and your product won't get far without a strong financial case. In this section we’ll also cover the basics of real estate finance and key terminology you’ll need to know. Exercise: Building a Financial Case for Your Product
• Crafting the Message: A strong marketing message will break through the noise. With your financial case in hand, we'll craft a marketing message tailored to your target audience.
• Top of the Funnel: Inbound: The best leads seek you out. In this section, we'll learn how to generate inbound leads through strong awareness campaigns focused on both earned and owned media.
• Top of the Funnel: Outbound: Outbound lead generation allows you to take control of your funnel. From cold calls to LinkedIn campaigns, we'll look at best practices and tactics to reach real estate decisionmakers. Exercise: Building a LinkedIn Campaign.
• Nurturing and the Sales Cycle: Most leads don't convert on the first touch. We cover how to nurture leads through content, education, email, and more, building trust and growing engagement.
• Conversion: Finally, we take a holistic look at the sales funnel, learning how to identify sales problems and win the business. Exercise: Charting Out the Sales Journey

This is not a “sell me this pen” sales coaching course. Instead, we’ll take a clear-eyed look at the real estate industry, giving sales leaders the tools to hone a message that resonates with both the wallet and the heart. And the four exercises laid out here will give students the opportunity to get direct feedback on their specific product and sales funnel challenges.

While Felix and his product, Excel Grease—the subject we’ll follow through this case-based course—is a proptech founder, the program wasn’t written solely with founders or proptech companies in mind. Profiles that would benefit from this program include:

• Sales and Marketing Leaders;
• Business Development Representatives;
• Founders, CEOs, and GMs;
• Brokers and others regularly pitching real estate owners.

How does the online course work?

We know virtual learning can be a lonely experience, so we studied other online courses that actually work and implemented best practices here, including:

• Cohorts. Each student is in a cohort of no more than 8 students. These cohorts meet for weekly discussion sections with an instructor (Paul and Brad) to review questions and tackle interactive exercises.
• Sync and Async. Good online learning combines asynchronous (on your own time) with synchronous (at the same time) learning. In addition to weekly lessons and content, each cohort will meet synchronously once a week for discussion, questions, and group work.
• Practical Application. As with our live program, our online program ends with a capstone project in which students work in small groups to underwrite and develop a business plan for a redevelopment project. This kind of practical application is key for learning.
• Community. Learning works best in a group of peers. We’re aiming to keep the best social aspects of our in-person classes, running our programs on Circle and offering an ongoing peer group even after courses finish.

We also try to talk to every prospective student before they sign up. We’ll have to stop doing that at some point, but for now it’s important to us to have a 1:1 touchpoint with every person who joins to ensure they’re a good fit for the program.

Logistics and Price

The online bootcamp kicking off January 13th is $999. As we mentioned, weekly discussion sections are limited to 8 students each, so you’ll want to sign up soon to make sure you have a spot. Learn more here.

—Brad Hargreaves and Paul Stanton