The Publisher’s Page: Chasing cars

We all make sales goals for ourselves. For 2010 my goal is to sell a car manufacturer or retailer to advertise in REM.

We have had car advertisers before. A long time ago a car leasing company did a campaign with us but in recent years we have not had much advertising related to the auto industry. I have tried to understand why. I once spoke to someone who worked for a car maker, who told me he knew the way these guys were thinking. He told me their advertising budgets are so big they look to sweep everyone, not just real estate professionals, with big TV buys and major print books like Time magazine. They don’t want to target a specific audience. Okay, I guess.

On the other hand, I don’t understand why they would not advertise cars in REM. When you think about all the tools that are critical today for real estate professionals, one thing that has not changed over the years is that they must have a good reliable car.

There are, of course, exceptions. I met a sales rep from London Ont. about 20 years ago, who took clients to see properties on a bus. That would be pretty innovative today. I also know that selling properties in high density urban areas often necessitates subway rides. Aside from those exceptions, almost every sales rep drives a car.

So there is our goal. I hope that between Dennis Rock, John Cooper and I we can catch the eye of the car industry this year. You will be able to measure our success every month by looking through REM’s pages. By reading this column in the back of REM, you already know we didn’t manage it this month. We have 11 more chances so wish us luck. And by the way, if you know anyone in the car business, please let me know their name. I sure would like to talk to them. There’s no prize but you will receive some serious gratitude.

Cars today have gone through some fantastic innovations and impressive technological developments compared to the cars I first drove so many years ago. You could compare those old cars to the old information systems and communication technology that all of us old dogs used to work with so many years ago.

My first car was a 1959 Chevy Biscayne. Back in the day when I first worked for a real estate newspaper, I was driving a 1965 Acadian Beaumont. Things sure were different then.

There is one piece of technology that every car is built with today, but is not used even though it could be so practical. It’s called a speed limiter. I’ll bet you’ve never heard of it. It is a device that can be set to limit the speed of a car.

They are used in trucks today to prevent them from speeding on the highway. They are also set in performance cars to prevent them from blowing up. Believe it or not, limiters are set in cars such as Mercedes and BMWs at about 190 m.p.h. to prevent drivers from going faster and blowing up the engine and themselves.

It astounds me that we do not implement that technology now. We could begin by easily making it mandatory for young drivers to only drive cars with limiters set for safe speeds like 50 km per hour. We could also set out bylaws that restrict taxis from speeding. That might make our roads safer. It really is stunning that we do not put this technology to use.

I often am chided for not using all the abilities and technologies available to me on my computer or even my cell phone. There is so much more I could be doing with the technology right in front of me. I understand the frustration others have with me as I explain that it is difficult for me to learn all this stuff.

A car limiter, on the other hand, is a whole different thing. You take it to the shop get it set and it is done. Nothing more to do. The car is unable to go at an excessive speed. The only thing holding us back on this is politics. For the life of me I cannot understand how anyone can be against implementing this technology. What is the hold up?

Then again, I can’t understand why car manufacturers and dealers aren’t falling over themselves to reach the real estate community by advertising in REM.

We’ll see if we can change their minds. I wish you every success in 2010!

Heino Molls is the publisher of REM. Email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .