If you took the time to figure out what your clients really want, and then helped them get what they wanted without any commitment or obligation, you would have a lot more success with your business.

Ask a Panda.

Assuming you could talk to the Panda, the Panda would tell you I am correct. Here’s why:

Let’s say my friend, Bob the Panda, just moved into your neighborhood, and Bob the Panda is really cool… You very badly want Bob to be your friend because of the benefit that can come out of your relationship with him… For the same reason, all your neighbors want to be Bob’s friend too.

You and all your neighbors will compete to become Panda Bob’s best friend. Whoever Panda Bob chooses to hang out with on Friday night, wins. So what makes you so special that Panda Bob will want to hang out with you on Friday night?

One neighbor invites Panda Bob to watch TV on Monday, and the Panda goes. Another neighbor offers to take the Panda Bob shopping on Tuesday, and the Panda goes. You offer to take the Panda Bob jet-skiing on Wednesday, and the Panda goes. The last neighbor offered to let the Panda Bob fly his helicopter on Thursday, and the Panda goes.

Shucks, the last neighbor wins! Right? Wrong!

It’s pretty clear each of you has out done the other, and now you’re accepting the reality that Panda Bob will choose to hang out with the last neighbor, the one who you perceive to be offering the highest value – but you’re terribly mistaken. Friday night comes around, and everyone is asking Panda Bob who he wants hang out with. Panda Bob says he’s going to drive over to the other side of town, to hang out with me.

Why, you ask?

Because I have “pull.”

Old-school marketing tactics don’t work well in today’s Web 2.0 environment, and that’s pretty obvious. Old-school means you’re “pushing” yourself. While “pushing” certainly still works, it is costly and time consuming.

Going back to the example, Pandas actually aren’t very fond of TV, or shopping, or jet-skis and helicopters. Like humans however, Panda’s find it hard to refuse anything that’s free! So you can go ahead and “push” yourself and your services to the Panda all you want, it’s not going to benefit you!

Of course it doesn’t bother me, because I have “pull” (in the form of bamboo). Panda Bob will always choose to come to me, because I have what he truly wants and needs. I leave trails of bamboo allover the city, leading right into my house, and can always expect to see Pandas sitting on my couch and begging for more when I get home. I don’t have to “push” myself to Panda Bob, because I have taken the time to find what he wants, and found a way to “pull” him in.

If you want a Panda to hang out with you on Friday night, you better have some bamboo. And if you want an investor to do business with you, you better have something an investor wants, like your own cobranded property management software.

Real estate investors know what they want, where they can get it, and they don’t have much difficulty finding it. Do you have what they are looking for?

PS: Our Property Management Software makes it easy for tenants to Pay Rent Online, and it is super cool.

Cooler than the president watching me on TV.

And that's pretty cool... Read more at our Blog!