Customer Profile
Marshall Land Brokers and Auctioneers is a family-owned Nebraska company that specializes in farmland, ranches, recreational land, rural property, and auctions. The business traces its agricultural-market roots back to 1945.
Demographic Information
Age: 50–75
Gender: Typically male, but both men and women own and sell agricultural property.
Location: Primarily Nebraska, especially rural communities and agricultural areas.
Education: High school, trade school, or college.
Occupation: Farmer, rancher, agricultural business owner, retired farmer, or landowner.
Income: Varies because agricultural income and land ownership can be very different from regular household income.
Marital Status: Often married with children or grandchildren.
Household Size: Usually two people at home with adult children who may live elsewhere.
Psychographic Information
Interests & Hobbies: Farming, ranching, livestock, hunting, fishing, agricultural equipment, community activities, and spending time with family.
Values & Beliefs: Family, hard work, agriculture, honesty, land ownership, and leaving something behind for the next generation.
Lifestyle: Has spent much of his life working around agriculture and may have owned the same land for decades.
Personality: Hardworking, practical, independent, and careful about who he trusts.
Motivations: Getting a fair price for his property, making retirement easier, settling an estate, or transferring assets to the next generation.
Challenges & Pain Points: Determining what the land is worth, deciding whether to list or auction it, finding serious buyers, marketing the property correctly, and dealing with a transaction that may have a lot of financial and emotional value.
Behavioral Information
Buying/Selling Behavior: This customer is not making an everyday purchase. Selling a farm or ranch can be one of the biggest financial decisions he ever makes, so reputation, experience, relationships, and trust matter.
Service Usage: He may use Marshall for a traditional land sale, land auction, equipment auction, or help marketing agricultural property. Marshall says its family has conducted more than 6,000 auctions, while Miles Marshall has been involved in marketing and selling more than 1,000 farms and ranches.
Online Behavior: Uses Google and Facebook and looks at online land listings and auction information, but may still prefer phone calls and face-to-face conversations for major decisions.
Customer Journey: The landowner decides it may be time to sell, asks friends and neighbors about brokers or auctioneers, researches the company, contacts Marshall, discusses the property and selling options, and then chooses a marketing or auction strategy.
Goals and Objectives
Short-Term Goals: Find out what the property is worth and decide on the best way to sell it.
Long-Term Goals: Get a strong return on the land, retire comfortably, settle an estate, or make sure the family’s assets are handled correctly.
How Marshall Helps: Marshall specializes in agricultural real estate and auctions and combines local agricultural knowledge with newer marketing technology.
Objections and Concerns
Potential Barriers: Commission and marketing costs, fear of selling below the property’s value, emotional attachment to family land, and uncertainty about whether an auction or regular listing is better.
Common Questions: What is my land worth? Should I auction or list it? How will you advertise my property? How many buyers will see it? How long will the process take?
Influence Factors
Family members are probably one of the strongest influences because the land may have been in the family for generations. Neighbors, farmers, attorneys, accountants, agricultural lenders, previous customers, and the company’s reputation can also influence the decision.
Customer Persona
Name: Bill
Age: 67
Occupation: Farmer and landowner who is beginning to retire.
Goals: Bill wants to slow down and sell part of the farm he has owned for years. He wants to receive a fair price for the property and make sure the sale helps provide for his retirement and family.
Challenges: The property means more to Bill than just money because his family has owned and worked the land for years. He doesn’t know whether an auction or traditional listing would get the best result, and he wants someone who understands Nebraska agriculture rather than a regular real estate agent.
Personality: Bill is hardworking, practical, and fairly traditional. He does his research but puts a lot of value on reputation and word of mouth. He wants to work with someone who understands farming and will communicate with him throughout the sale.
Persona Quote: “This land has been in our family for years, so I want someone who understands what it’s worth and handles the sale the right way.”
Sources:
https://marshallauction.com/meet-the-marshall-team/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/marshall-land-brokers-auctioneers