Monday, November 18, 2013

We're Looking for our next Eyetour Sales Associate











EYETOUR SALES ASSOCIATE – PART TIME  | POSITION OVERVIEW

November 20, 2013

Company Profile
Chatterson Drive is a boutique marketing and communications firm focused exclusively in the niche of Real Estate building and development. Chatterson Drive doesn’t use a cookie cutter approach to servicing clients, in fact the opposite is true. Opportunities and solutions are client-specific, whether it’s creating market research reports, creating and managing marketing programs or developing new marketing tools such as the Eyetour – Virtual Home Tour System; Chatterson Drive doesn’t just know real estate, we live and breathe it. Our philosophy?  It’s simple: Passion. Drives. Success.

What is Eyetour?
Eyetour blends state-of-the-art video production services with the latest digital technologies to provide clients with stunning high-definition Home Tours that engage and inform potential home-buyers, all at an attractive price point.

Eyetour Features
  •         Embeddable Video Player
  •         Exportable High-Definition Videos
  •         Dynamic Heads-Up Mapping Displays
  •         Informative Captions
  •         Chapter Jumps
  •         Virtual Furniture Staging
  •         Advanced Analytics and Monitoring
Position Summary
The Eyetour Sales Associate’s primary goal is to increase Eyetour’s client base by presenting Eyetour’s product offerings to Alberta’s Residential Building and Development industry in an engaging and enlightening manner.

Primary Responsibilities
  •          Engage prospective new clients in the Building and Development Industry
  •          Coordinate and book appointments to present Eyetour product offerings
  •          Present Eyetour Product Offerings to prospective clients
  •          Convert presentations into Eyetour sales
  •          Work closely with Eyetour Team to refine client presentation methods and      collateral
  •          Submit weekly traffic reports detailing appointments booked, presentations executed and sale conversions, among other Key Performance Indicators
  •          Meet or exceed targets set by Eyetour Team

Requirements
  •          Prior work experience and knowledge of the Homebuilder, Real Estate or Land Developer environment
  •          Professional manner and high level of comfort when interacting with all levels within the organization and with external parties.
  •          Technology, Web + Social Media savvy
  •          Excellent organizational skills and attention to detail
  •          Ability to work independently and within a team environment
  •          Class 5 Driver’s License

How to Apply
Please email your resume to careers@eyetour.ca. Only selected applicants will be contacted for an interview.

Click for more on information on Eyetour and Chatterson Drive.

Monday, November 19, 2012

How Canadians can stay warm + keep energy costs down in the winter

In the previous blog post we talked about Generation Y and their impact on the housing industry and proclivity for technology. Gen Y is more educated and exceptionally more tech-savvy than any other demographic, relying heavily on modern conveniences to not only save time and money but to stay current and ahead of their fellow neighbours. Bragging rights are big.
 With that in mind, here are two cool pieces of tech that’ll make life a little easier when the winters are harsh.

NEST THERMOSTAT

 Canadian winters can be rough on the wallet. The Nest Learning Thermostat can alleviate that strain by learning your ideal temperature setting when owners are at home and change them when they’re away to reduce heating and cooling costs. After a few days of use, the little disk-like device uses this data to program itself to adjust the temperature automatically. Nest Labs estimates saving 14 to 26 per cent off your heating and cooling bill each month depending on the size of your home and family, a big win when you’re already stretching the monthly budget with the holidays around the corner.
 Whether you’re living in a new single-detached home or an older renovated multi-use building, thermostats are all different. By identifying what you have and sending the info and a photo to Nest Labs, they’ll ensure compatibility and send you the correct parts for easy installation. Not only will it adapt to the ebb and flow of your family’s life at home, it has a touch screen for easy configuration and built-in Wifi so owners can control Nest from any computer, iOS or Android device. (nest.com)

WARMLYYOURS HEATED DRIVEWAY

Imagine never having to shovel your driveway. Done. Whether it’s a single or triple car garage the WarmlyYours snow melting system keeps snow off your driveway. The system uses electric cables under a bed of concrete, asphalt or mortar under pavers to melt snow and ice and while keeping wires hidden away. Owners can choose to get a control kit to either manually turn on the heaters or set it automatically with a mounted snow sensor that’ll detect snow fall and blowing snow and kick it on when needed. (warmlyyours.ca/snow-melting)

-Adam Trinh, Communications Strategist
Chatterson Drive Inc. 

#passiondrivessuccess

Tuesday, October 30, 2012

Why the real estate industry needs to pay attention to Gen Y?

The hot topic at this year's Urban Land Institute Fall Meeting was Generation Y: who are they, and what do they want when it comes to Real Estate? It's an interesting time for Real Estate; Gen Y isn't quite old enough to hold important decision-making roles in the industry, but they're about to become its largest customer. Every day it becomes more important to know what Gen Y wants, and how we can reach them.
 
"Gen Y" is the group of young adults currently between the ages of 17 and 34. Also known as the "Echo Boomers" and a handful of other names, Gen Y is the largest demographic in America; there are roughly 80 million living in the United States today. This number is expected to continue growing, as new immigrants usually arrive as young adults. 
 
Apart from the sheer size of the population, why should we care about Gen Y? Being 17-34 means a few key things: the younger Gen Y'ers are just starting their careers and are moving away from home, and the older members are at key positions in life with semi-established careers and are looking to buy homes. Simply put: they're in the market. 


GEN Y: WHO ARE THEY?

 Let's start with some recent U.S. statistics for Gen Y:
- 40% are married or partnered
- 30% have children
- An equal amount live in Urban, Suburban and Small Towns/Rural areas.
- 35% are homeowners
- 20% live with their parents
- 37% are renters
- 6% live in university/college housing
- 2% live in mobile homes
 Generally speaking, Gen Y'ers are savvy with technology and Social Media, they're always "connected", they're outspoken, educated, civic minded, somewhat pampered (they grew up without much hardship in the world), and optimistic. So optimistic, in fact, that 91% expect they'll make enough money to live the life they want, and 90% plan to become homeowners eventually.

GEN Y: WHAT DO THEY WANT IN LIFE? 
A shift is occurring between Gen X and Gen Y. Materialism is being replaced by "Experiencism"; Gen Y'ers prefer to pay for experiences and services over goods. A recent marketing survey showed the "ability to make me smile" is 33% more important to Gen Y'ers than to Boomers. 

One of the things that makes Gen Y smile is family. Maintaining a work-life balance is extremely valued: Gen Y likes spending as much time with family and friends as possible. Most like the area where they grew up, so they aren't moving far from home.
Interestingly, Gen Y is a generation of sharers. Sharing and rental programs are becoming increasingly popular. From car shares like Car2Go to tool libraries and even art and wedding dress sharing programs, Gen Y would rather pay for something only when they need it, and not hold onto it afterward.

GEN Y: WHAT DO THEY WANT IN REAL ESTATE?

 They may like to share goods, but Gen Y doesn't like to share their space. There's an increasing demand for studio and 1-bedroom apartments. Apartment size is less of a factor (far less important than price), and amenities such as gyms, dog walks, dog washing stations, bike racks, storage and common areas are in higher demand.

As more Gen Y'ers move out of their parents' homes and head to the Inner City (popular but surprisingly not as pervasive as expected), the use of cars is declining. This is an important factor when Gen Y'ers choose their neighborhoods; close amenities and transit accessibility are more important than ever.

Within homes, open spaces are important for the entertaining socialites, as is a space's flexibility and ability to be customized.

GEN Y: HOW DO WE REACH THEM?

As distrust in traditional marketing reaches an all-time high, and attention spans reach an all-time low, new tactics are needed to appeal to this demographic. Not only is a shift to a strong online presence necessary, but messaging strategies need to evolve as well. For starters, everything you do should have multiple stimuli, clean design, and get your point across in as few words as possible.
 
Finally, with Gen Y sharing information at unprecedented levels, great customer service has become absolutely critical. Peer reviews are more important than they've ever been, with 84% of Gen Y'ers saying online/peer reviews have some influence on a purchase decision.

While Gen Y may seem like an enigma to today's Real Estate professionals, reaching them will get easier as they start to move into decision-making roles in the industry. But if you want a competitive edge today, getting your finger on the pulse of Gen Y is essential.

#passiondrivessuccess 

Tuesday, October 16, 2012

ULI Fall 2012: CHDR Visits the Community of Stapleton, Denver


Fall Meeting in Denver, CO. Today’s Mobile Workshop brought us to Stapleton, a thriving master-planned community with some amazing features. Back in the 1980’s, the area was the home of Stapleton International Airport. Now, decades later, the airport is long gone and Stapleton is taking-off as the country’s largest urban infill, currently valued at over $2.1 billion.

Stapleton is an eclectic mix of multi-family, single-family, retail and commercial spaces blending seamlessly with over 1,100 acres of green space in a large 4,200-acre site. Gorgeous “Pocket Parks”  break up the rows of housing to provide a wonderful living and working environment, and amazing green initiatives are only a few of the great benefits driving the success of this community, now rated as the 9th best-selling master-planned community in the United States (up from 11th last year).
 
Part of Stapleton’s success is due to its unique situation. As the former site of the Stapleton International Airport, Stapleton had the benefit of starting fresh in the middle of several aging communities. This allowed the developer, Forest City, to begin with retail developments, which were in high demand in the area at the time. The bigger revenues generated from the retail side gave Forest City the financial leg up they needed to expand rapidly with their residential efforts. They’ve also been fortunate to secure further accessibility with a public transport line opening in January 2016.

But the community hasn’t been without unique challenges. Long-term jet fuel leakage pushed the City of Denver into a massive earth relocation effort. Cleanup for this project alone has amounted to over $120M in costs to the city. In addition, the large amounts of green space have created challenges in designing the community (green space disconnects “the grid”) and have increased Denver’s park space by 1/3 without a similar increase in population to support associated maintenance costs. 
The community has also had some challenges with their Affordable Housing Initiatives, planning 10% of for sale units at 80% of the average median income. This 80% AMI has resulted in a very small market of people who meet the lower-income requirements and can qualify for a loan at the same time. So far, Stapleton has only hit 5.5% of affordable units. 

Despite the recession, Stapleton is seeing strong sales. Forest City is predicting 500 home sales for 2012, marking it as their 3rd best year of all time for residential sales, and their best year for commercial investment. Home prices range from the low $100,000s to $800,000 to upwards of $1M for Estate homes.

Look for more posts over the coming week as we delve deeper into current and future trends in Real Estate.

You can find out more about Stapleton at www.stapletondenver.com
SCOTT WESTBY - Communications Strategist 
#passiondrivessuccess

Thursday, September 20, 2012

We're looking for our next Communications Strategist.

THE COMPANY | Chatterson Drive Inc. 
Does the idea of working for a young (4 years old) Calgary business get you excited? Chatterson Drive (CHDR) is a boutique marketing and communication firm focused exclusively in the niche of real estate building and development. Chatterson Drive doesn’t use a cookie cutter approach to servicing clients in fact the opposite is true. Opportunities and solutions are client specific whether it’s developing marketing programs or conducting market research studies, we don't just know real estate - we live and breathe it. Our philosophy? It’s simple: passion drives success. We live by our core values and we're wondering if they resonate with you too?  
  • PASSION for the work we do and the industry we serve 
  • COLLABORATION in everything we do                    
  • INTEGRITY in our community, our work and our industry 
  • INNOVATION in the many ideas + strategies we create    
  • GROWTH as individuals and as a company
  • FUN throughout the day, week, month and year

 THE OPPORTUNITY | Communications Strategist
Is your dream job the prefect smorgasbord of writing, social media marketing, traditional marketing, project management and strategy development?  Would you rather work as part of a small dynamic team rather than independently in a cubicle? If you answered yes to these three questions then your new career might be with Chatterson Drive.  CHDR is looking for an experienced Communications Strategist to join our growing Calgary team.

THE RIDE | Communications Strategist 
   Collaborate with internal team to create and execute strategic marketing and communications programs for a variety of real estate builder + developer clients 
   Manage, organize and coordinate day-to-day deliverables and activities 
   Act as the key point of contact and Account Manager for a select group of clients
   Coordinate and participate in the research, writing, editing and approval of all marketing and communications initiatives
   Work closely with internal team members to create + implement strategic marketing programs and projects
   Monitor daily media and current events and issues related to individual clients and the real estate industry
   Conduct industry specific research and produce reports for client projects
   Work collaboratively with the client to implement and execute a variety of strategic marketing and communications programs
   Create and execute client presentations and proposals
   Manage budgets and develop weekly and months client status reports and updates

MUST HAVE’S | Communications Strategist 
  • 4-year degree in communications or related field preferred.  2-year diploma will also be considered, MBA's welcome.
  • Minimum 2 years experience working in an agency, homebuilder or developer environment
  • Professional manner and high level of comfort when interacting with all levels within the organization and external parties
  • Exceptional verbal and organizational skills
  • Advanced writing + strategy development skills
  • Social media savvy
  • Familiarity and comfort working within a super cool Apple environment

GOT WHAT IT TAKES? | Communications Strategist
Resumes can be emailed to: 
For more information on Chatterson Drive visit:
or follow us on Facebook.

Successful candidates for interview will be asked to provide a writing sample. Only select applicants will be contacted for interview.
 #passiondrivessuccess