Create added value to lure buyers

Create added value to lure buyers

The Jakarta Post, K. Basrie, Jakarta

Analysts and marketing experts believe that no new apartments
will be constructed this year and that sales of units will remain
sluggish. Developers, on the other hand, hold a different view,
saying that the once sluggish market will now start to grow in a
positive direction.

Businessman Burka Setiadi (not a fictitious name) has just
recovered from a serious headache.

The pain started a few days ago when his Rp 2.3 billion
(approx. US$223,300) well-secured and equipped mansion in the up-
market area of Pluit, North Jakarta, was severely inundated by
murky waters during the recent flood. The only thing he, his wife
and adult children had in mind was to sell the house quickly, of
course at a good price.

Refusing to waste time and prolong the headache, Burka
immediately came to the conclusion that it was time for him and
his five-member family to move to an apartment which could
accommodate his needs: ample space, well-furbished, easy-to-
reach, and in a flood-free area.

In the beginning, he could not believe his eyes when he
visited several apartments at major spots in the capital and
found that the basement and ground floors of the apartments were
also flooded.

After several days of hunting, a broad smile appeared on his
57-year-old's face when he finally saw an apartment unit of his
dreams. Today, he's just waiting for his Pluit mansion to be
sold.

Panangian Simanungkalit, a property observer, said that some
rich Chinese living in Pluit and Kelapa Gading do not only stay
there for economic and security reasons.

They, for example, have the belief that living near a coastal
area often called "the head or mouth of a dragon will always
bring them luck", Panangian said.

So, it's hard for them to leave their property, which has been
badly inundated. "They want to return again," he added.

Just as the growth in property sales throughout this year
remains unpredictable, the sales of apartment spaces in this
country is also in question.

But marketing guru Rhenald Kasali of the University of
Indonesia has these golden words of advice: "There's always an
opportunity in any condition. If there's optimism, there must
always be pessimism."

According to him, it is high time for marketers in the
apartment sector to put added value into their strategies to lure
buyers.

"We all know that many rich Indonesians purchase apartments
only as an investment, not for living in," he said. "Instead of
buying houses in places like, for example, in Sentul, West Java,
and leaving them unoccupied and dilapidated, why not invest money
in an apartment where maintenance services are already included
in the package."

And marketing directors should be innovative to highlight
added value to lure buyers.

"I, for instance, wonder why (the management of) Rasuna Said
Apartment in Kuningan ignores the ugly and cluttered view around
the complex," Rhenald explained on Monday.

A number of old cracked parts of the apartment buildings could
be seen which could give a different impression about the
apartment itself even though its rooms are quite good.

"This image has to changed. They have to change the image of
the site. And it's the marketing staff from the apartment sector
who really know the business."

Rhenald gave one suggestion.

"The marketing department could for instance work together
with Citibank to approach the Citibank Gold members, who have
extra savings and usually live in Jakarta's suburbs, to invest in
their property."

"Tell them that this is not purely a great investment for your
money but will provide an excellent experience for them, their
children and family to stay in a luxurious apartment in the heart
of the capital," he said.

Krishnan Rajendran, a visiting professor at IPMI management
institute in South Jakarta, stressed that facilities, location
and security system were vital for expatriates, the major
apartment occupants in Indonesia.

According to Roy Goni from the RKS management consulting firm,
the industry should admit the apartment business in this country
is now at the survival stage.

"We have to remember that all the existing apartments here
were constructed during the boom period in the early 1990s. So,
now when the economy is going down, they are going in the same
direction," he said on Monday.

That's why many apartment operators are only carrying out a
survival strategy, by offering, for example, attractive weekend
packages.

"In reality, according to me, there is no other way for the
apartment marketing department to market their product. It's
difficult, at least for the time being."

Roy must be too skeptical; or perhaps he's challenging the
market players.