Posted by David Bennett
Mon, 05 Jun 2006 21:22:00 GMT
Do you find it difficult to describe the services you provide to consumers? You’re not alone. The real estate industry is rich and complex and there are many service models, many aspects to a transaction, and many ways to approach each situation. In order to communicate the value of your business as a whole, you first need to find the common thread that runs throughout everything you do.
To help you get started, consider the triangle below:
The top level represents your brand value, your value proposition and your key marketing message (or messages) that apply to your business as a whole.
The lowest level represents the individual components of the services you provide to your clients and customers. For example, on this level, are such items as advertising on the internet, placing a yard sign, holding an open house, negotiating a contract, doing a CMA, etc.
The middle levels depend on your business model, standards, and levels of service. For instance if you list properties and sell properties both, the second tier might contain listing services, buyer services, property management, price opinions. The third level might be oriented toward your niche: sellers, buyers, investors, second homes, commercial, etc.
Each level should be a combination of the marketing messages from the level below it. The highest level should convey, obviously not in any detail, a description of what you do.
You can choose at which level you want to being selling to your potential clients and customers. The ultimate is to sell them at the highest level the first time around – that is give them the big picture early in your relationship. If you get stuck selling your value at the lower levels all the time, you will find that you have to constantly re-sell something every time you do business with that client/customer.
The reality though is that although you want to sell yourself at the highest level, clients/customers may often know what they want at the lower levels. Therefore, you do need to have your marketing message at all levels.
How to apply this to your business:
- Create a triangle and start at the bottom with the lowest component level services you could offer.
- Could any of these services be grouped into an easily describable higher level service? If so add this description to the next level. Do this until you have grouped all the lower level services. If a particular component doesn’t fit in anywhere, reconsider whether you should offer it. By the same token, if a higher level service group is incomplete, you probably need to add an element at a lower level.
- Repeat this process until you get to the top of the triangle.
- Now use the Key Message Marketing formula to create your messages for all the levels.
Posted in Develop Key Message, Model to Create a Value Proposition, Elements to include in your value proposition
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Posted by David Bennett
Wed, 07 Jun 2006 15:34:00 GMT
How to Build Your Credibility Through Testimonials
by Joeann Fossland, GRI, LTG, Master Certified Coach
Testimonials are one of the best ways for you to communicate your value to your prospects. A third party endorsement always carries more weight than you tooting your own horn. I find many agents pass up opportunities to build their testimonial pool.
Here are some suggestions to leverage your results:
- Listen for the testimonial. When someone says something in praise of your efforts, ask immediately if you can use their wording. Say something like,"I’d love to be able to quote you. We like to let others know how committed we are to delivering superior service." Set up a file for these comments.
- If you are with them and they say yes, just jot down what they said and ask them to sign it. Marilyn Urso, of Long Island Village Realty in Syosset, NY uses the time at settlement when the copies are being made to ask for a testimonial. She builds her advertising campaign around these endorsements.
- If they praise you in a phone conversation, send them off an email confirming what they said asking their permission for you to use it as a testimonial.
- In your pre-list package, include some testimonials matched demographically or psychographically to the prospect you are wooing.
- Create a book with all your testimonials in it. Take this on your listing appointments.
- Post testimonials all over your website. It would be fine to have one on every page relating to the topic of that page.
- Use pictures. Gary Scott with John Hall and Associates in Phoenix tells me he calls them picturemonials! Put the client in the picture!
- Even better, use audio! Record what they say. If you are carrying your laptop or tablet computer with you, take advantage of the built in microphone and let them say it themselves. This can be posted in a wav file to your website or sent in an email!
According to the 2005 Home Buyer and Seller Profile from NAR, relationships account for 71% of seller choice of an agent and 55% of buyer’s choice! You’ll find you build trust by using the experiences of real, live people and it will be easier to build relationship with the new prospect. Make it easy for people to know what you do well and why they should work with you! Plus, doesn’t it just feel good having people say nice things about you?
About the Author: Joeann Fossland GRI, LTG, Master Certified Coach is a dynamic speaker and business coach. Creator of THE REAL ESTATE GAME?, her coaching solutions enhance your effectiveness and life balance. You can subscribe to her free monthly newsletter, attend free monthly telephone seminars, and find out about classes delivered by email and personal coaching by visiting joeann.com. To learn more about having Joeann speak at your next event, please visit www.BrokerAgentSpeakers.com.
Posted in Testimonials, Develop Key Message
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Posted by David Bennett
Mon, 05 Jun 2006 17:15:00 GMT
It’s important when developing your value proposition that it be clear and concise.
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It’s best to start by brainstorming
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Focus on what needs your target demographic group have in common. This can be done by market research.
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What do they all want that your business can provide?
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What is important to them?
Once you’ve found the common denominating need, you can determine what it is that they are in search of and develop your value proposition around that need.
Keep in mind that the purpose of your value proposition is to identify and satisfy an unmet need that your target market possesses.
Why is the development of your value proposition important?
The answer to that question is easy. Your value proposition can equip you with the following benefits to your business:
- Create a strong differential between you and your competitors
- Increase not only the quantity but the quality of prospective leads
- Gain market share in your targeted segments
- Assist you in enhancing tools that will help you close more business
- Improve your operation efficiency
You can get started developing your value proposition today. Just remember that an effective value proposition describes what you do in terms of tangible business results. It draws interest and shares a success story within a few words.
Here is an example of a value propositions that gets your attention:
Our clients grow their business, large or small, typically by a minimum of 30-50% over the previous year. They accomplish this without working 80 hour weeks and sacrificing their personal lives.
Posted in Create a Value Proposition, Develop Key Message
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Posted by David Bennett
Mon, 05 Jun 2006 20:37:00 GMT
People don’t buy good service. They buy help for their problems.
Calm the Fears
The two biggest fears people have when making a buying decision are:
(1) they’re wasting their money by not getting the solution they really need, and
(2) they’re not going to get the kind of results they want.
The successful sales associate will address these fears at the outset and calm them by demonstrating the specific value of the proposed solution.
The problem is value propositions often view services with an internal focus. Tired of seeing credentials and histories, one customer tossed out an interesting challenge. "If you want to sell to me, address the things I wake up worrying about: Am I getting the best price or a good deal? This is a huge purchase. How can I be certain I’m not getting stuck with a dog? If you can help me with concerns and solve my problems, I’ll buy from you or let you sell my home."
The closer you can come to answering the customer/client’s concerns before they even ask about them, the more carefully they’ll consider your value proposition.
Show Me the Payback
A value proposition is the message that differentiates you from the competition and tells why your solution will help solve the customer’s problem. There are two principles to follow when crafting your value proposition.
- Focus on what the customer cares about. Suppose you have some data showing that your listings are sold with the fewest days on market and that they close on time. That’s only valuable if the customer wants a quick sale. If what they really care about is getting top dollar, you need to present the data that supports your claim you are the one that can get it for them.
- Quantify the value proposition with numbers. For some reason, they’re more persuasive than words. Even if the consumer doesn’t really buy into your analysis, the fact that it’s quantified tends to give it impact.
In trying to show value to customers, don’t mistake features for benefits. A common example of this tendency is to focus on your listings, your sales, your great service as a reason for the customer to buy from you.
Let’s say you have twenty years experience and hold the GRI, CRS, ABR designations. Their response may be, "So what?" Unless you can demonstrate you can find them the home that is perfect for them to buy, it’s meaningless. And even worse, a lot of other people can claim the same thing.
Stand Above the Rest
To stand out, you need to focus on your differentiators—things you do differently or that nobody else does—but always show how those differentiators deliver value to the customer. Differences based on processes or systems or methodologies are generally longer lasting and harder to overcome than your technology tools, your education or your experience.
Draw Them a Picture
Help them see how you are different. Pictures, charts, success stories can strengthen your image in your customer’s mind.
- Documented success stories make you believable and that leads to a more compelling value proposition.
- When you can present your data graphically in charts, you’ll add punch.
- Pictures talk even louder than numbers.
Finding the Payback
- Show the impact on revenue: The difference between selling with your assistance and FSBO sales. (The median selling price of FSBO homes was $210,000 compared with $255,000 for agent-assisted home sales.) or the effect on value of unrealistically priced homes
- Show what costs they will not incur by using your services – advertising, marketing, holding open houses, etc.
Quantifying the payback is more persuasive than just claiming your services are a good thing. If baseline measurements aren’t available, that’s okay. Offer an estimate or a projection based on market averages. Even if they dispute your numbers, you’re still discussing the overall value of your unique offering.
By connecting your payback analysis to what really differentiates you from competitors, you’re in a much stronger position: They can’t use the easy "Me, too" comeback.
Posted in Key Message, Develop Key Message, Elements to include in your value proposition
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Posted by David Bennett
Sat, 17 Jun 2006 16:50:00 GMT
Create Value In The Eyes Of Your Consumers:
Most home buyers and sellers throughout the country believe that real estate agents and brokers do little to earn their commissions. This is our fault because we should be educating them about how hard we work before ever accepting them as clients or customers.
Keeping my commission firm was a problem until 1983 when I started tracking of all the different duties required to earn my commissions. Then, I developed four separate lists of over 100 activities I do to close transactions for sellers, buyers, expired listings and FSBO’s. This literally astounds clients because most have no idea how complicated a real estate transaction really is.
My list for sellers runs 120 items and makes it clear that it takes a lot more than just putting a sign on the lawn and an ad in the paper to sell a house. It includes such activities as:
- Order and review a property profile.
- Develop a targeted marketing campaign that maximizes your home’s value.
- Tour your property from the "buyer’s standpoint."
- Develop "just listed" postcards.
- Reduce your liability by providing appropriate disclosure forms.
- Implement marketing activities.
- Respond to buyer questions about the property.
- Screen-out unqualified buyers.
- Negotiate on your behalf with agents and potential buyers.
- 111 other activities to get your house sold.
My list of value-building activities to help buyers purchase the home of their dreams is even longer because it’s more complicated than selling. This list includes:
- Explain the benefits of a Buyer-Broker Agreement to you.
- Provide a list of loan brokers who can get you qualified for a loan.
- Explain all the steps in the home buying process.
- Save you time by helping to narrow your search parameters.
- Locate appropriate properties for you to view.
- Act as a "sounding board" in your decision-making process.
- Write an offer which meets your needs and protects your interests.
- Negotiate on your behalf with listing agents and sellers.
- Obtaining the inspections you want and need for your home.
- 116 other activities to help you own the home of your dreams.
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My FSBO list shows owners the many things agents do that would be difficult for them to do themselves. My list for owners whose listings have expired shows them how to get their home sold faster and at a higher price.
When you create your own list, if a seller or buyer asks for a discount, simply show them the appropriate list and say, "Here are just some of the activities I must complete to earn my money. Why don’t you point out the things that you’d be willing to do instead of me. If you save me time then we can talk about saving you money because I earn every penny I get."
When confronted with a list that runs nearly ten pages long their eyes glaze over and they usually respond with something like, "You’re the real estate professional I expect you to do this work!" To which I simply say, "If you want me to do all of these activities on your behalf then you need to pay me what I’m worth. If you want to pay less, I’ll see if I can find someone who will do less and maybe they can save you some money."
Posted in Analyze Service Offerings, Worth your Commission, What are your service offerings?, Testimonials, Key Message, Develop Key Message
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