Hiring a Head of Real Estate Marketing: assessing marketing, sales and leadership experience

1. Separate three areas of responsibility

The Swiss occupational description for real estate marketing includes market analysis, marketing campaigns and supporting property sales through completion. For a leadership appointment, define the additional decision authority and people management responsibilities. A job title cannot replace a clear brief.

• Marketing: target audiences, positioning, sales materials, campaigns and agency management.
• Sales: qualifying enquiries, viewings, negotiations and coordination through completion.
• Leadership: team objectives, coaching, budgets and coordination with management and project development.

Choose the main assignment. Will this person sell directly, lead a team or direct the marketing strategy across several projects? Explain which responsibilities remain with other colleagues.

2. Assess project experience rather than keywords

Ask for an anonymised example from a comparable project. Record the property type, audience, project phase and personal responsibility. Letting an existing property does not automatically demonstrate experience selling a new development.

• What situation did you inherit, and which decision did you make yourself?
• How did you align the audience, price positioning and communication channels?
• Where did your responsibility end, and who approved prices or completed contracts?
• Which assumption did you change, and what evidence prompted that change?

Explore the outcome and the candidate’s own contribution. Do not request confidential customer lists, contracts or internal financial information from previous employers.

3. Connect marketing metrics to the sales process

A large number of enquiries does not explain whether the right prospects were reached. Ask candidates how they track the journey from initial enquiry through qualification to completion. Assess whether they can explain the data rather than simply report an attractive number.

• How do you distinguish a new enquiry from a qualified prospect?
• What information does sales need to take a useful next step?
• How do you investigate whether the bottleneck is the audience, the offer or follow-up?
• How do budget, project phase and market conditions affect your interpretation?

Avoid imposing a universal success rate across different projects. A measure needs a timeframe, a defined denominator and project context to be meaningful.

4. Make leadership evidence specific

If the position includes a team, personal sales results alone do not demonstrate leadership. Ask about a situation in which the person set priorities, provided feedback or resolved conflicting expectations.

• How large was the team, and who reported directly to you?
• How did you divide responsibilities between marketing, sales and external partners?
• What did you do when campaigns generated enquiries but qualification stalled?
• How did you reconcile different expectations from development and company management?

A short fictional case can support the discussion: a residential project receives many enquiries but few viewings. Ask what the candidate would investigate first and which information they need. Assess the reasoning rather than assuming there is one correct answer.

5. Checklist for a clear search brief

• Primary focus agreed: marketing, sales or integrated real estate marketing leadership.
• Property type, project region and current phase specified.
• Team size, decision authority and budget responsibility clarified.
• Working languages, attendance and travel expectations agreed.
• Three essential capabilities linked to concrete interview questions.
• Compensation range, decision-makers and feedback dates agreed internally.

Compare candidates against the same criteria and record open questions. An agency specialist may bring campaign expertise; a broker may bring negotiation experience. The right appointment follows from the assignment, not the most impressive title.