Expand business with untapped diverse markets

African-American families share some similarities to Asian and Hispanic families, according to research by the Gonzales Group.

Tony Brown, a Philadelphia Realtor® and past chair of PAR’s Diversity Committee, said, “African-American consumers are similar to other ethnic groups in their approaches to marriage, family formation, gender roles, parenting styles, tightly extended family units and matrilineal organization of the family.”

In 2010, it was estimated that 40 million African-American consumers would have $1 trillion in buying power, according to market research publisher Packaged Facts, a division of MarketResearch.com.

This is yet another untapped market of homebuyers, Brown said. “In order to expand our markets, we need to consider doing business with diverse consumers and understanding their needs,” he said. “They might not be receptive to existing sales techniques and traditional marketing approaches.

“African Americans believe that someone who understands them culturally would not judge them through a filter of negative stereotypes,” Brown added. “Successful agents will let go of their own biases and understand that they will need to learn more about the multicultural consumer and their culture.”

Brown said real estate professionals interested in broadening their understanding of diversity and expanding their market share need to:

• Build and expand their understanding of cultural differences to serve clients better and fairly
• Learn how to offer unique and appropriate services to these growing groups
• Understand and enjoy other cultures as they build relationships; a prerequisite for working with most international or immigrant clients
• Understand and appreciate other cultures through open lines of communication.

“We must be conscious of the fact that the multicultural consumer has been taken advantage of during the financial crisis and the well being of the multicultural consumer is seldom a factor how businesses make a profit,” Brown said. “With so much distrust, a lot of work in the areas of education, counseling and foreclosure prevention will be necessary and help protect the multicultural consumer while building a working relationship based on trust.”