What’s the difference between you and another Realtor? How do differentiate yourself from the herd of competition out there?
Let’s face it, this country has no shortage of real estate agents, but the truth is that the best way to stand out is to break the mold. If you are content being like every other agent you are going to HATE this post. If you like doing things differently, you are going to love this.
This post is about how to break the mold and get more eyeballs on your business. This is about doing what everyone else IS NOT by constantly improving your offering and communication with your audience!
While writing this post, I turned it into a mini marketing course with links to additional podcasts and blog posts to further explain the points being made. If you dig what I’m saying, I encourage you to click through each artcicle and podcast. I have almost 3 years of research, interviews, and directly doing what is explained below.
This is not your typical blog post.
Take your time going through it. I do promise that you’ll have a different outlook on marketing your business if you consume all of it.
?Cheers to 2018!
Let’s get started shall we?
Break The Mold #1- Use Video
Whether you like it or not video is here to stay and is probably the most impactful way to standout in 2018!
BUT…
Video is not a lead generation strategy, it’s a brand building strategy. There is a major difference between the two. Building your brand will help your conversion.
People do business with agents they know, like, and trust. Video allows you to put your brand out there so potential clients can get an idea of how you roll. It allows people to check you out before they actually engage you. This is the main reason I have a video at the top of every page of any site I manage. I use it as a way to build rapport and gain trust.
Trust me on this, people want to get an idea of who you are before they engage you. Video that humanizes and personalizes your brand can do half the selling for you as it builds trust and credibility.
Don’t believe me?
I want you to look at your last 10 closings. Did you feel like over 80% of them were with people you really enjoyed working with that you would also hang out with?
That’s because you attract like people, we all do. Video allows you to put your brand out there and attract like people.
“Be you…nobody else can”
Here’s the breakdown of how communication is transferred from person to person. I see many agents get scared to get in front of a camera because they don’t know what to say, but the truth is it’s more important in how you say it.
60% of communication is transferred through your tone.
30% of communication is transferred through your body language.
Only 10% of communication is based on the content or what you say.
This means people are going to forget 90% of what you said and instead remember how you said it.
Your videos can also double down as a brand building strategy to keep you in front of your database. It helps keep your brand on top of mind so it makes it more difficult to be forgotten.
Here are some more articles and podcasts you can check out if you are serious about adapting video into your game.
Blog Posts
How To Get More People To Watch Your Real Estate Videos
Why Video Is The Best Real Estate Branding Strategy
5 Real Estate Video Marketing Lead Generation Ideas
6 Ways To Use Video Email To Sell More Houses
Podcasts
Green Screen Videos Make You More Interesting
The 5 Types of video Content To Create
Break The Mold #2- Add Strategy To Your Process
Your real estate license allows you to legally sell real estate, but that doesn’t make you a sought out agent. Your strategy should justify your commission so it becomes irrelevant. It’s very simple.
“Don’t be a Realtor, be a marketer who specializes in selling real estate”
If your listing marketing plan consists of popping a sign in the yard and listing it on the MLS, that is not a marketing strategy, it’s the status quo.
People do that with Red Fin and a hoard of other companies for much less than 5-6% commission?
Your goal should be to create value within a transaction that creates a better end result or a buyer or seller so people are thankful for how much money you make.
Have you ever had your clients think you didn’t make enough money on a deal? It’s a great feeling!
Think about it this way. Michael Jordan was one of the all time greats. If he didn’t practice or work on his shot, I highly doubt he’d have the success he did. Jordan busted his ass constantly improving his shot so he could be the best. So my question to you, is what have you done to evolve your strategy?
What’s your strategy or unique selling proposition?
What exactly do you do in a transaction that flat fee brokerages can’t?
Do you have a back up pricing plan in case the initial offering does not create enough traction?
Are you pre-marketing the house to increase exposure?
Are you building up anticipation to your first open house?
When working with buyers, what is your value proposition other than searching the MLS?
Are you really a good negotiator?
The skills consumers expect from their real estate agent today involve all of the above. Yes, consumers want you to be ethical, but they expect that! Ultimately consumers want you to do all the work and create a better end result for them.
We call this having effective Transactional Marketing Systems in place. Transactional Marketing Systems do 3 things;
- Enhance the consumer experience.
- Leverage your existing transactions for spin off business.
- Over deliver on the service you give, which in turn increases the likelihood for future repeat business and referrals.
Your main goal of each client should not be to close the deal, but to transform them into a referral source. Realtors who play the long game are the ones who last in this business.
The long game is based on forming, nurturing, and maintaining relationships.
If you’d like to know more about Transactional Marketing, check out my FREE library of content here ?.
More Transactional Marketing Ideas.
Break The Mold #3- Focus On Building A Strong Personal Brand
Only 4% of consumers picked their agent because of the company they were affiliated with.
WHY?
Because people do business with agents they know, like, and trust.
Quit marketing your brokerage’s brand and start building your own.
Your brand is what other people think of you, but your visual branding is how they REMEMBER you. Your brain processes images 60,000 times faster than text, thus making what you promote visually more impactful than anything you say verbally.
Do you have a visual brand or logo that tells your story?
In a business where over 60% Realtor business generated from referrals, repeat clients, or already knew the agent, personal branding SHOULD BE THE MOST IMPORTANT MARKETING ACTIVITY YOU DO.
Want to know how you get a lot of referrals?
Brand the living daylights out of your business so you can establish name brand recognition amongst your database as their go to agent. When this happens your name is more likely to be brought into more conversations as your brand remains on top of mind.
Let me give you some examples of some recent rebrands we completed.
Which do you think would be more memorable?
Agent Name, Realtor or what you see above?
“What you can show visually is more impactful than anything you can say verbally”
One you consistently begin visually branding your business, you’ll start to notice things like this begin to happen;
- People will start finding you vs. you chasing them. 10-15% of your database is moving this year, but at the same time 100% of them will come across at least one referral opportunity this year. Keeping your brand at the forefront keeps you top of mind.
- You will attract more online business. Your brand will reflect who you are and if you are promoting it online, you will begin attracting like people. In other words, it makes you more interesting.
- People will walk up to you. I know an agent in Santa Clarita, Mike Bjorkman, who is a master brander! He can’t go to dinner in his own town without knowing someone at the restaurant. It’s because he’s built his brand over the last 20 years and played the long game.
- Instill Confidence. Building your personal brand instills confidence. I’m not sure why, but it just happens. People seek confident agents.
- You’ll Build A Referral Army. You’ll know when you have built a decent brand, because you’ll stop feeling the need to prospect for business. It can provide consistency to your business as you’ll build an audience out of your relationships vs. a database. The difference is simple. An audience pays attention and takes notice to what you say while a database is just a spreadsheet of contact information. In other words you build influence, which is the ultimate goal of any brand!
Want to know more about personal branding? I call this Referral Marketing. Here’s over a year’s tips on marketing strategies that build your personal brand in 2018!
Enter the Referral Marketing Library
Break The Mold #4- Focus On Enhancing The Consumer Experience
Other Realtors are not your competition, the less expensive options are. In the last 12-18 months we’ve seen a lot happen within our industry that suggests outside companies are trying to cut us out of the equation.
Zillow, Red Fin, Purple Bricks, and many others have introduced and pushed “less expensive” options down the public’s throat and they are making an impact.
The public is slowly being fed a bunch of bullshit. They are telling consumers that Realtors suck at their job and they might as well save money on the listing side by taking their flat fee service.
What’s really happening is that flat fee services typically provide flat fee service. I’m not saying every flat fee service is mediocre if that, but that many are. Good service comes with higher pricing as it does in any business.
Yesterday, I went to Super Clips to get my haircut instead of my normal more expensive barber. The reason was that I wanted to be in and out because I had somewhere to be. I didn’t need the shave or all the extra fluff. I just needed a haircut.
Just because I went to Super Clips this one time doesn’t mean that I won’t go back to my more expensive barber.
This is how I view flat fee services. Make sense?
I believe that flat fee income creates flat fee agents. The cream of the crop will always command a 5-6% listing for consumers who want it. These less expensive options have a market and will most likely continue to exist, but there will always be a demand for a better experience.
“Less expensive options enter the market place when a lack of value is present”
There’s a popular quote and forgive me if I butcher it, but it reads something like this… “People don’t remember what you did for them, but do remember how you made them feel”.
Sit back and look at your buyer and seller workflows and ask yourself how you can provide a better experience. You’ll be amazed at how the smallest touches make such a powerful impact. One thing I learned very early on in my career was that it was the smallest things that most people would think go unnoticed that led to my next big deal. Small touches make a LARGE impact!
If you want to get a further perspective on why I am making this in my top 4 is because it’s happening right beneath our eyes. Check out some of this content ?.
Blog Posts
Are You A Sales Person Or Business Owner?
How To Compete Against Flat Fee/Rebate Brokerages & Technology
The Death Of The Real Estate Sales Person
The Future Of Real Estate Brokerage
Why You Need More Than A Real Estate License To Compete
Is The Real Estate Industry In Trouble And Nobody’s Listening?
Podcasts
Zillow Vs. The Real Estate Industry
The Man Behind Taking On Zillow
Are you going to stand out in 2018?
What you think? Go ahead and comment below ?.