Well.. either most everyone is far too busy working with clients (not the reason I suspect), OR, most everyone is stumped by the question.
My question was:
What is your USP? What makes you different from your competitors — in ten words or less — and gives your customers a powerful, compelling reason to use your service?
Some of the responses were:
- I have the key to your new home at the price you want to pay.
- 100% HomeBuyer Representation 100% of the Time!
- Protecting your bottom line is our business.
- Exclusive Buyer Agent – Don’t invest in real estate without one!
- Three important words in real estate: exclusive, buyer, agent.
- Real estate “no spin zone” – an Exclusive Buyer Agent.
- Where HomeBuyers Make and $ave Money.
- Sellers NEVER, Buyers ONLY!
- The Home Buyer’s team, always on your side.
- I have a ‘Heart’ to be an Advocate** for HomeBuyers.
(** Advocate-to zealously work on your behalf always.
Let’s be brutally honest here for a moment, can we?
If you were an un-educated home buyer just beginning to think about buying a home, and just beginning to research real estate agents online (or off-line for that matter) Do ANY of those above USP’s cause you to say, “Hmmm… now that sounds like an agent (or company) I need to check out..” ? Do they?
I’m not here to condemn, criticize or complain, just trying to stir some thought process here folks.
I think, ALL TOO OFTEN, we all get very complacent and stuck in our ruts of thinking that just because we offer a unique and top notch service to home buyers, they are all going to automatically know it, just because I call myself an EBA.
It’s no fluke that EBA’s EVERYWHERE are having bad years. The terrible press, the constant news about how bad the real estate industry is, the constant bad publicity with the sub-prime mortgage markets, all of these things are lending themselves to everyone (in most markets) seeing their lead flow decrease dramatically over the past few weeks and months.
Add to that, the fact that we (and I say we in general terms) are not exactly screaming our USP’s to the buying public and causing them to come running to see us or sign up at our websites for more information… and it’s no wonder that traffic is down.
Yet, at the same time, some brokers are having their best year ever… and recent news proves that record numbers of people are buying real estate right now in spite of all the bad news about how the home buying sector sucks.
One of the things that continues to amaze me after all these years is the number of brokers who don’t even promote their own blog or website on every single thing they do or send out… including, business cards, email signature lines (a big missed opportunity) letterhead, all print ads, phone on hold messages, and the list goes on and on and on.
I see it everyday… people who put up a website, and think the world will come flocking to their doorstep (their home page)…. and it just doesn’t happen.
“What’s wrong with my site?” “What am I doing wrong?” “Why am I not getting any leads?”
All very legitimate questions, but also questions that should be causing you to re-examine how you’re treating your business.
Over the next few weeks, I am going to continue this thread here, trying to instill in everyone a different mindset. One that will cause you to look at what you’re doing (or not doing) in your business, and make you begin to think more about how you can compete better with today’s Internet, and what you need to be doing next to stay on the cutting edge, and how you need to be marketing today in order to stay competitive.
As EBA’s… we all too often get caught up in the fact that, yes, we know that what we do is best for the consumer, but how can we get that word out there, so the consumer knows? That’s a question EBA’s have been asking since day one. And although I don’t claim to all of a sudden have the magical answer… I do believe I have some ideas that, if put to use, will help you turn the rest of 2007 into one of the best years you’ve ever had.
You see, I am a firm believer that when real estate (in general) slows down or hits bottom, THAT is is the time to ramp up, not pull back.
Conventional thinking among most brokers is just the opposite. Most start pulling back and cutting back when sales or leads are down, and that is the quickest way to sure death in your business you could go!
Keep reading here, and please.. continue to post your ideas and thoughts. I don’t want this blog to be a one-way conversation of just me. I appreciate your input, and appreciate your thoughts. I know we have a lot of very smart individuals as clients, and I appreciate you being out there on a day-to-day basis… battling the battle and struggling to survive in a down market. Let’s all share that wisdom, and make this blog a very active forum for idea exchange.
I’m also going to be changing this blog in the very near future so that you will be able to subscribe to comments, giving you the ability to receive an email anytime anyone comments on one of your comments. Stay tuned for that.
In the meantime, as you prepare for this upcoming Memorial Day Holiday weekend… I’d like to personally thank you for your continued support and loyalty… and beg you to put your thinking caps on and be ready to expand your thinking over the coming weeks and months as I share some new stuff with you here. 🙂
Have a great holiday weekend! Take some time to relax and enjoy!!
Ed