Engel & Völkers
Title: Marketing Manager.
Role: Responsible for Marketing and Advertisement Campaigns.
Insights: Specialised in Digital Marketing, Aided in Sales of 15+ Homes.
Engel & Völkers is a privately owned German company that, via a series of franchised offices, provides sales and services within the luxury real estate market. I had an opportunity to complete my internship at the Engel & Völkers Banner Elk Office - just a ten minute walk from my College dorm room.
Living in a small ‘one stop light’ town in the mountains of North Carolina comes with its advantages and disadvantages. Whilst it offers stunning views, endless outdoor activities, and a peaceful culture like no other, it doesn’t offer too many business opportunities. Luckily for me, I have past experience and a keen interest in real estate and if there is one business that booms in the town of Banner Elk, it’s the luxury real estate market.
Last September, after I had finished my classes for the day, I decided to put on my suit and go from one real estate office to the next and ask if they had any internship or work experience available. After visiting five offices and receiving five ‘No’s’, I drove past the brand new Engel & Völkers office and thought for the sixth time, I’ve got nothing to lose. It just happened that the marketing manager needed a bit of pressure taken off his shoulders and a student intern would be the ideal candidate.
What went on?
During my time at EV, I was heavily involved in multiple sales of homes worth over $1M; working in a tight-knit relationship with clients was something that I really enjoyed. Being from Northern Ireland, I was not what my clients were expecting when they came to buy their luxury home in the mountains; to overcome this, I had to build an intimate relationship with them which is something that has always come naturally to me. With all sales, clients have to put a lot of trust in salespeople, however, when seven figures are being parted with in the luxury market, clients are not only looking for a trustworthy salesperson, but they are looking for a point of contact and a source of local knowledge after the deal has closed. As a true people person, I loved this. My sales experience at Engel & Völkers has taught me that three things are needed to make successful sales: a relentless work ethic, an honest yet outgoing personality, and a strong network of contacts.
My time at EV allowed me to work with some admirable national firms such as : PlaneSense, Inc., QC Exclusive Magazine, and Business Jet Traveller, just to name a few! I spent a couple of months working with MOD Intelechy whilst assisting Engel & Völkers with their SEO and Google business tools. MOD Intelechy have also been working with the corporate team at Engel & Völkers in NYC to improve meta tagging and SEO for all shops. I was thrilled to find out that my work had been used by MOD Intelechy as a live example of how to properly utilise Google My Business and how to incorporate the correct keywords efficiently and effectively into the backside of the Engel & Völkers website template that is run throughout the franchise.
I was very fortunate to have the opportunity to get involved in this luxury market with an incredible international company like Engel & Völkers as it has allowed me to gain experiences and knowledge that will stand by me in countless situations, both in business and in my personal life. I have made a priceless variety of contacts and friends at my time at EV, many of whom are fortune 500 leaders and have become role models for me and have shown me a different prospective on business and on life.
As an insight of exactly what I got up to, my work life between May & August consisted of:
10 Marketing campaigns
15 Sales
19 Zoom calls
49 New contacts
4 Websites built
15 Listings shown
195 Social media posts
1.4k New social media followers
90k New website impressions
Whilst not all deals come to a close, unfortunately mine did as my student visa did not allow me to continue my internship when school started up again as I had reached my limit of internship class credit hours. My summer working for one of the most prestigious real estate firms in the world offered me opportunities far beyond what I could have imagined coming into the job. I was fortunate to be able to move up within the business from intern to marketing manager by the end of the summer; this made it even more difficult to part!
I was truly humbled to read the words written on my letter of recommendation from the broker in charge, Tricia Holloway. I have attached the letter below for you to read at your own convenience.