Marketing's Role in Shortening the Cash Conversion Cycle

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The old school “smile-and-dial – you can sell anything to anyone approach” that is common with print and outdoor advertising and high-pressure sales techniques, won’t make quota, at least not in the real estate sector. Just ask Shamir Duverseau, managing director of Smart Panda Labs, a digital strategy consultancy that advises real estate companies on how to sell to today’s buyer while cutting advertising costs and boosting cash-conversion. GlobeSt.com caught up with Duverseau to dig deeper into this topic.

How do firms reduce ad spend while shortening cash conversion cycles?

Cash flow affects the bottom line in any business and in real estate it is especially critical. Real estate developers leverage significant amounts of cash when building, developing or renovating, and these projects take anywhere from one to three years (or more) to close. Therefore, when development nears completion, it is imperative to accelerate incoming cash flow and shorten the cash conversion cycle (CCC).

CCC is the time, measured in days, it takes to convert investments in inventory and other resources into cash flow from sales. Shortening the CCC means you are more effective at developing, bringing in revenue, and meeting commitments to partners, banks, and loan providers. It almost always means that you are more quickly building the value of your organization.