HomeVestors® of America, Inc., the company famous for its “We Buy Ugly Houses®” billboards, knows marketing makes a difference, and its unique advertising structure gives franchisees a way to benefit from each other’s efforts. By Heidi Lubrani
HomeVestors® of America, Inc., the company famous for its “We Buy Ugly Houses®” billboards, knows marketing makes a difference, and its unique advertising structure gives franchisees a way to benefit from each other’s efforts. “We are very different from many other franchises in that our franchisees actively work together in every market. Because of that, we all do well together,” explained Kevin Culkin, Atlanta-based development agent at HomeVestors.
“In every market, we form an ad council, because a big key to HomeVestors is our ability to cost-effectively advertise directly to motivated sellers who want to sell their house quickly, ‘as is,’” Culkin said. “We have leverage that individual investors don’t. Each month, each franchisee decides how many shares of advertising they want.”
“As sellers respond and leads come in, leads are distributed in rotation, but the key is that we have a sophisticated system that is calibrated each month so that we each get our pro-rata share of the leads,” he said. “This works great for us because we never compete on a lead or a house. In fact, we are a benefit to each other because of our combined advertising leverage.”
Culkin also described the long-term rewards of using the brand’s marketing strategies. “Our in-house ad agency has been working with us for 10-plus years. They embrace a circular ad-review process, which will analyze our response data and the cost-effectiveness of our advertising by media, both alone and in conjunction with our other media. This is why we believe our marketing is unparalleled to anybody else on the market,” he said.
Experts in forging community connections that result in leads, HomeVestors positions franchisees for success. “From direct mail to TV, radio, the internet and social media, they are all on point. Our franchisees can trust that the advertising that is coming out is all coordinated and an orchestrated effort,” concluded Culkin.
As a result of HomeVestors’ proven concept and commitment to franchisee support, franchise owners gain valuable knowledge, confidence and a sense of camaraderie that only help them grow.
Heidi Lubrani