Do you Reflect your Brand?

Joy Daniels Real Estate Group has worked hard to create our own business identity through our Brand.  One of the most important aspects of branding is consistency.   The same wording and graphic design elements for your business identity must be used in all areas of your promotional material.  Brand is the total representation yourself or your team that permeates through all levels of your company and will create associations with others and expectations.   All of you have heard “Perception is Realty”, your Brand reflects how you are perceived.   It is crucial for your perception to be great and your Brand can help to create that effect.

Defining your Unique Selling Position is the heart of your business branding and so all your other branding elements should flow from your Unique Selling Position.   Your unique selling position is where you define what makes you different, your competitive edge.   Ask yourself “what makes me different and better than any of my competitors?”   Being someone that doesn’t like to focus on “me” this was hard for me to do and I had to engage help from others who work with me and know me well.  The more you clearly you define your competitive strengths, the more likely you’ll attract the qualified prospects specifically looking for what you offer.   Use your unique selling position  and condense it into a slogan you can use throughout your branding.  You can see we use “Where teamwork, excellence and JOY come together” as our tag line.  We felt that our team was definitely something that made us different and better andthat our team performed with excellence and true positive spirit,  so we reflect our Brand.

Your domain name should be synonymous with your core business branding, so use it everywhere in your promotional materials. The goal is having your website name easily remembered and top of mind with prospects when they need a real estate professional’s services. So have it prominent in the letterhead on your 8.5” x 11” print stationary, sticky notes, note pads, business cards, quotation and invoice templates, and any fliers you send out.

You should be using the same template and graphic design elements for everything you send out,  regardless of whether they’re published on your website, distributed through email, or delivered in printed format.  Be sure to make your business name, logo, domain name, and your slogan (if any) prominently displayed. 

Studies have shown that most humans typically hold up to 3 brands per category at most in their minds. If you do not come up as top-of-mind in a category your market share or lack thereof, will usually reflect this important branding phenomenon. How many brands come to your mind in just 15 seconds when you think of:

• Smart Phones?
• Tissues
• Cellophane adhesive tape?
• Singing-only talent competitions on TV?

When you become widely known for your expertise and your competence, you find yourself in greater demand.  Your Brand will create the desire for others to use your services.  You will become identified with your Brand, and you will experience a significance spike in business.  If you already enjoy top-of-mind status, beware!  Do not get complacent. A challenger may be right behind you who is bent on increasing its brand recognition strength and market share at your expense.  It’s about high trust relationships and you need to be able to demonstrate your superior market savvy and address your core identity – you need to reflect your Brand.