If, we, as the real estate community really understood the concept of branding and its importance, we would save a fortune by cutting the misplaced dollars we are spending in the name of “getting their name out there.”

Most of us are re-treads – people who fell into this business and came from some other background. In 15 years of asking, I’ve only found one person who grew up wanting to be a real estate agent (and she is no longer in the business). I can’t tell you how many people I’ve interviewed as a Broker that said the reason they wanted to be an agent was because they liked houses and people. If that is the sole reason they are here my advice to them has been – “Don’t get started in this business because in 6 months you will hate them both.”

Those that make it in this industry in today’s world are those that approach it with an amount of business prowess. Unfortunately, that isn’t taught in the “learn everything you need to know to become successful in real estate in two weeks” class. So, we throw the newbies to the vultures (vendors who sell BS products that do nothing but line the pockets of the vendors and serve as filler our nation’s dumps). We let them sling mud on a wall and see what sticks and hope against hope that they will be one of the very few fortunate ones who will survive the first three years.

Over time, those that emerge as mega agents realize that to truly win in this you must realize that it is a business not a career (and there is a major difference) and start learning how to become the “RainMaker.” Although we have dozens of proprietary campaigns to generate more leads, from time to time, we need to strip back to the basics and dive into the philosophy to align ourselves with the right thinking to launch our business to the next level. This week, it’s all about how to brand effectively so that you may maximize your ROI in any marketing or advertising program your engage in. From Al Ries, a master of marketing and branding in the retail sector, we take the lessons and apply the fundamentals to our real estate businesses.

One Secret In Branding is the Law of Credentials

We as an industry make claims to different things all the time. It seems everywhere I look there is another #1 or area expert. So many, in fact, that the whole notion has been diluted to the common denominator of average. The crucial ingredient in the success of any brand is its claim to authenticity. Consumers are inherently suspicious and look for holes in our claims. We want to distinguish ourselves and become the expert in our primary claim and be able to support it.

One of the fallacies in real estate is that we sell houses. 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…

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? What can you truly be an expert in?

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. And remember, the real power of credentials is not only self-proclaimed but acknowledged by others.

Every once and a while I get something that is just too good not to share. Dean is a fellow Master’s Program Graduate and is the CEO of one of the finest Ad agencies I’ve ever been exposed to. I received this article last week from him and thought it dovetailed into the branding series I just wrapped up. I hope you enjoy Dean as much as I do -

Does your company logo really make a difference?

Identity is powerful. Your logo will be front and center on every piece of promotional material you’ll ever create and it will enter the minds of millions over the lifetime of your business.

“Just how important is my company logo?” If this question crosses your mind once in a while along with the oh so seldom: “what if I get audited thought”, keep reading. Consider for a moment that you’ll spend an estimated 5% to 10% of your annual revenue on marketing materials where your logo will be boldly communicating - a negative vibe, a mute statement, or a commitment to innovation and excellence. Identity is powerful. Your logo will be front and center on every piece of promotional material you’ll ever create and it will enter the minds of millions over the lifetime of your business.

The fact is, we live in an extremely visual society. Giorgio Armani, Ferrari, Donna Karan, Rolex, Nike, and Dell are a few representations of identity, looking good, and performing well. These companies are spending millions of dollars and thousands of personnel hours protecting and building their identities. But they’re also making truckloads of money because we live in a society where looks matter, and looks influence buying decisions in the retail and corporate worlds. The difference between these brand-committed companies and many others is that those who invest in their identity capitalize on the power that design has to lure the mind in their direction.

Based on a small research sampling of around 2000 businesses, my agency discovered that 8 out of 10 small to medium size companies had a less than adequate logo while close to half the larger ones had a less than adequate logo. We qualify “less than adequate” based on design features such as obtrusive or dated colors, incompatible type treatments, dated type treatments, clumsy or awkward graphics and type, no conveyed meaning, poor size relation, and lack of easy reproduction. We judge using these factors, plus our 20 years of experience in branding.

We decided to take it a step further and survey representatives of the companies whose cards we reviewed. It was no surprise that we discovered those with well designed logos and identities had credible stories to tell about the impact their corporate image has made in their marketplace. They remarked that positive conversations would often be started when the recipient looked at their logo, their card, their brochure, their shirt, etc. Conversations where the brand played a role in winning new business were frequent as well. Administrative staff spoke confidently about their image, sales people said they would hand out more materials, and the sales process was improved, as were sales results in most every case.

On the flip side, we found that approximately 50% of those companies with a poor logo defended their ineffective brand. We also found adverse reactions and very little willingness to discuss the matter until we started talking to the sales and marketing people. They had plenty to say. “We hate our logo,” or “Our image stinks,” or “I’m embarrassed to hand out a business card,” and many more tiptoe slams against the brand (the company). We observed that not only was the logo unprofessional, but in about 90% of the cases, the rest of the company’s materials such as collateral and the Web followed suit and the sales staff was not motivated to present it.

At Strata-Media, we’ve designed logos for more than 1000 companies across the country, from small concerns to Fortune 500. Since our inception, we’ve never once had a client say they wished they didn’t re-design or upgrade their logo. There can be, however, timing issues when changing your logo. When you’re company relocates is a great time to change your identity because you will be re-printing most of your materials and putting up new signage. Launching a new ad campaign or producing a corporate brochure is great time because you can leverage the expense and exposure of the new printed materials and advertising. Repeated complaints from your staff are grounds to strongly consider a change. In addition to your company’s feedback, it pays to have a marketing professional review your company’s overall image about once every three to five years to ensure the brand is staying in tact. Strata-Media reviews at least 50 brands per year and every client who participates in the exercise says it was a valuable experience.

In closing, changing your logo is definitely a cost consideration, but in some cases it’s more expensive to keep an ineffective logo than it is to change it. There’s often at least one competitor with a stronger image, and that company, without question, will attract more business because of their brand and their commitment to the details. My recommendation: be that brand.

“It’s not enough to be the best at what you do; you must be perceived as the only one who does what you do.”

- Jerry Garcia

All good agents have some amount of obsession with developing their skills so that they can become the best at what they do.  Part of it is the innate competitive edge within sales people, part the natural bent to excellent customer service with those that spend their days endeavoring in a service profession.  But the GREAT agents have learned that excellence alone isn’t enough.  They understand that they have to position themselves not as an expert but THE expert. 

My guess is that there are more than a few other real estate practitioners in your market.  With a plethora of choices for your potential consumer, your success in real estate depends on standing out from the crowd.  You must learn the art of branding and positioning that allows your ideal clients to perceive you as THE ONLY one who does what you do.  It is one of the most important pieces of your business and your very survival depends on it.  

Every once and a while I get something that is just too good not to share. Dean is a fellow Master’s Program Graduate and is the CEO of one of the finest Ad agencies I’ve ever been exposed to. I received this article last week from him and thought it dovetailed into the branding series I wrapped up this last week. I hope you enjoy Dean as much as I do -

Fact: No major player in the B2B or B2C space makes a marketing move without research and planning. That’s why they’re the majors.

Ever hear of a company that launched a successful new business campaign without aqualified, measurable plan? It does happen, as does winning the lottery, but the odds are about the same. Fact: No major player in the B2B and B2C space makes a marketing move without research and planning. That’s why they’re the majors. They discover the path of least resistance and the path of highest probability and often know before a project is launched if it will succeed and how well. The good news is you don’t have to be a Microsoft® or Proctor & Gamble® to market smart.

Perhaps you’re thinking that research is expensive and marketing plans sit on shelves. A fair assumption; but the truth is you will profit immensely from the planning process if it is completed and executed correctly. Guaranteed!

The first step to serious brand and business development success is to discover the who, what, where, when, why, and how of your market and your competition. The next step is to form a measurable, quantifiable and executable plan… a realistic plan… one that will stimulate best thinking, make best use of your resources, identify new marketing opportunities, and turn them into manageable, measurable results.

The “Who” in the planning process clarifies with whom you will partner to develop and execute the plan. Who will the key employees be on your planning team and what will their roles be? Who are the necessary marketing vendors? Who are the affiliates, investors and consultants who will be needed for this collaborative effort? In the “who” equation, talent level is critical, so work with the best you can get.
Your growth and your sanity depends on it.

“What” implies your position in the market from a corporate or product/service perspective. Define and/or create value propositions that your audience can only get from you. And please, kill the “more of the same” that exists in your market by differentiating your brand.

The “Where” question identifies where you will market. It could be to the end-user, channel-partners,
affiliates, and people or groups that are talking to the same people you want to talk to. This is your database, and the phrase the “database is the business” couldn’t be more relevant than it is today. Ample time should be spent in this process as company turn-arounds and better bottom lines have occurred simply by identifying, stratifying, prioritizing, and approaching the proper markets.

“When” is simply the time frame to execute the plan, usually an annual event with specific tactical timelines for each project. The value of the timeline is that it provides foresight to integrate marketing mediums, translating into improved marketing effectiveness and the accountability needed to keep your plan and your people on track. A plan without detailed timelines is a fantasy.

“Why” gets into the vision of the company, the philosophy, the mantra. It shows up in the emotion of your people who hopefully, have been given a purpose worth 110% participation. For example at Strata-Media, our promise is that “our clients will never spend more with us than we make for them.” Hence, we’ve branded ourselves “The ROI AgencyTM “, and trademarked the phrase “Think ROITM”. It’s a mindset we establish with everyone who has contact with the agency and a commitment we can get our hearts around.

Lastly, “How” refers to the tactics you will use to develop the marketing mix of sales and sales promotion, advertising, public relations, and branding into a single integrated program for coordination at all marketing levels. Planning allows you to test these tactics and refine their use and their effectiveness, which means over time, you’ll be doing more of what works and less of what doesn’t and your marketing will be optimized.

To sum it up, if you want to market smart, you must create a plan, work the plan, measure the plan, refine the plan, and finally, reap the success that even the most basic plan will bring. “It’s not rocket science; it’s a simple commitment to plan.”