USP?

Unique Selling Proposition.

Those three words carry SO much weight. They stood out from all the other words SO prominently when I first realized their signifigance as I was reading "The Millionaire Real Estate Agent", by Gary Keller. I must have read that book in 2004 or so and I never could get that concept out of my head.

Having a "USP", or Unique Selling Proposition, is a way to SEPARATE YOURSELF, to differentiate yourself from ALL the other real estate agents out there; your competition.  Although most real estate agents, to a certain degree, have some sort of USP, it seems to me the majority of them have never defined ExACTLY what makes them different. Unique.  They'd fail the test miserably if a potential client or customer asks them one simple question; "What makes you so special?"

You can laugh, but you can't believe the number of agents I personally see start to sweat when asked that question. Some start stammering, absolutely struggling to find a point of "uniqueness. A couple actually get angry and try to ignore or deflect the issue. Still, some others simply start rattling off what they can remember their particular brokerage has in terms of service, but very few, if any, have ever defined a USP of their own.

Ever since I started asking myself that question, I eventually knew I could never rest until I could answer that question, simply, directly, and with no "fluff". It was a process for me, I had to go through a couple of "USP's" before I could adopt one I felt comfortable with and believed in, and it also took a "leap of faith", with a decision to stick to my guns and embrace the USP, and go past a "point of no return", offering my USP permanently.

Let me add, in order to have a USP, there MUST be 3 points that need to be aligned.  They are;

1.  Your brokerage must agree to and accept your USP. They need to allow you to practice your USP. As long as your USP is honest, ethical, and workable, if your brokerage allows you to use it, great! If not, ask them to explain WHY. If the answer is unsatisfactory, you may want to consider switching brokerages.

2.  Define your USP by investigating. Your USP doesn't have to be something you alone created; that may be impossible to do with the limitations of real estate practice and law. However, if you investigate and find a USP someone else is using, at least have the common courtesy to ask the originator for permission to use their USP.  I did and I never regretted it.  My USP is the "HassleFreeListing" approach. Sell your house yourself and pay no commision! (Exclusive Agency) Fire me at any time (Easy Exit).  I found all the USP's I needed in someone else's website, from a Mega Agent in Phoenix, Arizona, Russell Shaw. I first heard of Russell through "The Millionaire Real Estate Agent" and subsequentally through a blog, Bloodhoundblog.com. As I said, developing your USP is a process.  Always ASK FIRST before you borrow or use someone else's ideas!  The last thing you need to do is create an enemy or cause bad feelings.  I asked and am glad I did.It's the right thing to do and by NOT asking it can be construed as "plagurism. That is plain wrong

Nothing stood out for me from all the other USP's I saw; most of them were cheap gimmicks. The "NoHassleListing" approach practiced by Mr. Shaw and his team was the ONLY USP I kept going back to. It was fresh and daring; Which leads me to the third point...

3. You need to take a "Leap of Faith" and take that risk.  I see from a lot of agents they feel a little "intimidated" if you tell them to allow the seller to sell their home themselves and pay NO commission or if you say to the owner "cancel (not withdraw, but CANCEL!) the listing anytime you want, for ANY reason (before they accept an offer, of course), no problem!" , a good amount of agents start sweating.  That's fine with me, I don't sweat because I understand and EMBRACE MY USP!  The trick is to have a USP that works! You're running a business, think "transaction to transaction" based and that's not a business; that's a job. 

I'm not going to fully explain my USP here; for more information, you can go to my site at YourHassleFreeListing.com and read more about it. Don't treat your USP like a secret, and don't be afraid to expose and flaunt it. If you're hiding it you probably shouldn't be using it. If it makes you SO uncomfortable to openly and proudly display it you probably should look for something else. Either that or you haven't yet taken that "leap of faith". You shouldn't care what other agents say, think, or do. I've had a couple of agents call me nuts, a couple look at me like I'm Satan in disguise, and a couple who just shake their heads and tell me to be more "traditional. When I hear from a seller and they tell me they CAN'T cancel their contract with their present agent-agency and feel "trapped", I know I'm on the right track. When you pick and embrace a USP, the words come naturally to you, and you believe it. When you believe it THEN you can sell it. 

Without a USP I feel agents either get "lucky" for awhile and sell but the unpredicability is a killer. Agents who are successful year after year almost always have a USP, although some probably don't even know it.  A USP can be as simple as YOU YOURSELF!  Your task is to put it in words.  What is the differentiating factor a potential client has when he or she is looking at you versus other agents? In market areas with at least over 1000 agents, I think it's IMPERATIVE for you to find your USP.

Think of it this way; would you rather have a USP, or would you rather be "part of a collective"?

Used by attrition by Creative Commons from User gundampilotspaz  "The Borg" Star Trek Experience, Las Vegas Hilton"