You don’t sell houses. Let me say it again, you don’t sell houses; especially if you want a successful marketing campaign. Yes, you may have made over $500,000 in GCI this last year, even closed 38 transactions, but you don’t sell houses.

You sell your USP or Unique Selling Proposition. There are hundreds of thousands of agents in world today. If all you do is sell houses, then there are at least a few others that are willing to do the same thing. They may even deliver it with the same level of service and for a lower commission. What makes you better than any other? Why should a client hire you and pay you the commission that you are asking?

As an industry, we have been caught without enough distinction from one another which is why we face an ongoing war with “Commission Compression” – and before you get cocky on me and say “I’m not struggling with commissions” wait until the market swings back. If you thought it was bad before…

Here’s an example of my point - If I were to buy a new BMW 7i and one dealer had one the car for $80,000 and another dealer could get the exact same car for $72,000 which would I choose? All things being equal, price will become my determining factor. But let’s say that I just wanted to buy a car that allows me to get to and from work in a safe comfortable manner. What makes me consider an $80,000 BMW versus an $18,000 Kia? Price no longer becomes the only factor. BMW knows they aren’t selling a car or mere transportation; they are selling “The Ultimate Driving Machine.”

In fact, they’ve done quite well getting buyers to buy to satisfy the buyer’s own ego needs. And more interestingly, how many BMW owners would cop to ego being their primary reason for buying the car? With that said – let’s not beat up on the BMW crowd too bad, the same could be said about Lexus, Mercedes and others and they don’t have the distinction of being the “Ultimate Driving Machine.”

What is your USP? Is it that you return phone calls (which is become rare these days), or do you specialize in cash-flow oriented investors, or are you pet-friendly?

What are your strengths? What can and do you do better than anyone else? What are your values and if the truth be known, does your ideal client even know? What do you care about and hold most dear?

Market around those things and you will find yourself in the rare air of those agents who make the rules about how the real estate game is played and who hold the top %1 who dominate the marketplace.

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“Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education alone will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. The slogan ‘press on’ has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race.”

-John Calvin Coolidge

I had an interesting experience recently.  As I was checking out at my local grocery store I was greeted by the store’s newest employee.  As I stood in line, I kept thinking about how familiar her face looked, her mannerisms, her expressions, even her voice.  When my turn came to ring up and I looked at her nametag it all came rushing back…

When I first entered this crazy real estate business (in the mid 90’s) the market was very similar to how it is now.  Bright eyed and bushy tailed I had just passed my exam, went through my obligatory, Broker sponsored, two week “Everything you need to know to be successful in real estate” class and was settling in my new desk when a head popped over my cubby pony wall.

Little did I know that I was just about to meet my friendly, professional rival, no, my nemesis.   She quickly informed me that I could not market all these different areas that I was looking at on a map because “they were her areas.”   Never mind that I lived in the area, and I had never seen anything from her, nor had she taken a listing there in the last 30 listings, nor that the manager had assured me that we were in an “open farming office.”  So it started.  It was actually one of the best things for me and my new real estate business.  I have always been the kind who is up for a fight.  And fight we did as we took it out to the market place.  We both did well, although I, like the father in the movie “A River Runs Through It” who out-fished his sons, simply was a bit more blessed in the ongoing struggle for dominance on the sales board. 

As often happens in life, our lives diverged as my life took a turn into the Broker side of the desk in another market area, and hers went along “greeting” the new agents and selling homes and condos to her friends and family. 

I hadn’t seen her in at least 10 years.  And here she was, checking my groceries at the local market.   Smiling – but not really.  Her husband was well, her kids fine (her daughter a bit disappointed, because she wasn’t going to be able to go to the college she wanted because “mommy didn’t sell houses this last year.”  She resolved that she was going to be back in the game soon, but I know differently.   I know the down markets separate those of us who have chosen this field as our profession, from those who are in it for the fair weather.  I’m not criticizing those that have to get some side work to put food on the table, but do it in a way that doesn’t cannibalize your business.  I’m all for the stormy periods, because I know at the end of the journey, I’ll be left with a bunch of Pros. 

As my wife, kids and I climbed in the car we talked about how our decisions make all the difference.   We talked about the importance of delayed gratification, we talked about the importance of pressing on when times are tough and we talked about the truth in Coolidge’s quote. 

To all of you who are hanging tough, not because it is easy, but because you don’t have any other choice – I applaud you, I respect you, and I am with you. 

I have a saying that is permanently written on one of the white boards in my office.  As the projects come and go, the one saying stays as an overarching reminder. 

“What have you done to change the world today?”

I remember I had a professor in college that would ask that simple question of the students as he roamed the campus. I’m not sure how many students over the years were impacted by it.  But the first day I ran into him and he launched his signature question, He changed me – forever.  That question lives with me, no, it haunts me.

So every day, I attempt to answer the question that stares at me.  How have I changed the world today?  Most days it in small ways, some days I hit a home run.  But every day I attempt to leave my mark on the world around me by sowing into the lives God has chosen to place in my life. 

In real estate, we have an incredible honor to deeply touch those we work with.  We see people in the depths of despair, stress and worry.  We see them in the heights of elation as long held dreams are realized.  The one common thing in both circumstances is that we have an opportunity to leave our mark, good or bad, forever.  Be purposed in what you do and why you do it – you leave a legacy whether you realize it or not.

Some things are just too good not to share, just click on the icon – I hope you enjoy!