Cushman & Wakefield is the world’s largest privately held commercial real estate firm. Hard hit by the global economic downturn, in 2008 only 19 per cent of its turnover was generated from occupiers – the remaining 81 per cent coming from investors and developers.
Challenge
In a bid to increase occupier generated revenue, it wanted to help businesses realise the opportunities for reducing costs and releasing value held within their property portfolio, but it needed to run the campaign on a limited budget.
In total, it spent £28,274 on a two-phase UK Occupier campaign. Phase one was designed to generate new leads from clients who already had a relationship with the business, and phase two sought to nurture new leads from previously unknown businesses, using market intelligence gained from phase one.
In both cases, the ultimate goal was to get both existing and potential occupiers to attend a seminar. Phase one formed an email campaign and phase two a DM campaign – both consisting of Top Ten Tips for reducing costs and releasing revenue from expensive property portfolios.
Solution
For phase one, various CRM systems were trawled to create a database of known occupiers, which was then segmented according to specific markets, namely retail business space and private equity. Emails were then sent to these contacts, with the Top Ten Tips differing according to the specific needs of each sector. A total of 1071 personalised emails were sent to individuals in client companies.
Cushman & Wakefield was able to monitor which of the top tips were the most popular by analysing click through rates. It then used this information in follow up telephone calls, tailoring conversations according to profiles. During this conversation, contacts were invited to one of a series of five seminars held throughout the UK.
The DM campaign targeted individuals at 3789 companies – all with at least 500 employees and a turnover of more than £40 million.
Four postcards, introducing the company and its market expertise, were sent over a three week period, followed by a personalised letter that came bundled with a sector-relevant Top Ten Tips brochure. This was then followed by a telephone call to the named individual and an invitation to one of the five seminars.
Results
Six weeks after the campaign ended, Cushmann & Wakefield had generated in excess of £1.5 million worth of business from phase one of the campaign, and £200,000 from phase two. The business has also increased its database of occupiers by 35 per cent.
