The makeover2 takeover contest is officially over and now the three teams left, sweat it out until Inman News Conference. The last assignment was for both the apprentice and mentors. The assignment was to convince the judges, what it was about us that establishes value to your clients. What differentiates us from the masses of other agents in our market, what qualifies us to earn the trust, respect and support of our clients?

To say I’ve been spent last week, musing on this is an understatement. Heck I’m still thinking about it.

What distinguishes you from the rest of agents in your market area?

Many of you have looked at the video’s from Jeannette, Midori, Desiree, Brian, and Kim, and all I can say it personally I thought they were all unique and different. We also had to write a one page Word document on that topic and submit it. Here is part of the document that I submitted, I won’t blog the whole thing because it is too long and you would not read it all. (tee hee)

One question that is frequently asked is, “How are you going to get my home sold?”

I explain the difference in what I do and what the “typical” Realtor in Ann Arbor does. (This is your Unique Selling Proposition)

1) Pricing their property correctly is the most important thing I do. I spend about 6 hours on each CMA. I am able to tell them the market conditions in their area, their specific neighborhood, their school district and the absorption rate. I don’t want to list their home; I am committed to selling it. I explain that to help them sell, I will interpret for them what the market data has shown. Yes, they have access to ALL the listings but they don't have the knowledge to interprete them in most cases.

2) I go into great detail about my Search Ann Arbor Houses search site. It is a pay per click site. Very few Realtors in Ann Arbor do this and it makes me different. Their eyes pop open when I explain what I spend to bring buyers to them. There are times I open up the site and actually show them all the buyer leads. I let them know that each prospect (6000) in my data base will get a notification when their home hits the market. I explain how my 6 buyer agents follow up the people who register on one of my sites, calling them back within the hour.

3) I have them look at Google and find the back links to a listing that I am currently marketing. They see a home in their neighborhood, with links to my 3 blogs, 4 websites, national web-sites, (Trulia, Zillow, Keller Williams, Harmon Homes, Homes.com, Oodle, Google Base, Yahoo Real Estate, PropSmart, LiveDeal, Hotpads, YouTube, V-flyer, Real Estate Shows.)

4) I give them a quick run down on Search Engine Optimization and how it works and why I have a good position on Google. I explain I do this to push their home into as many portals that a consumer might be searching on.

5) I give them a list of references to call. I say, “Here call these past clients, and let them tell you if I did what I said I would do.” “Ask them anything you want to”. In 2007, 63% of my business was referred from past clients, or repeat business. 37% was from buyers and sellers who found me on-line through my blogs or web-sites.

6) I sign an Unconditional Listing Guarantee in front of them, so they know they can fire me at anytime.

Rarely is the question asked of me, “Will you negotiate your commission?” Occasionally, it is.

Here is how I answer, “No, I do not negotiate my commission. But, I don’t blame you for asking.” (big smile on my face) If they pursue it further, I will go back to the services I provide. If I was not confident in what I do vs. what my competitors are doing, then I would waffle. I am respectful of every business model and give them the freedom to work in whichever model they feel will best serve their needs.

At this point in my career, I have only lost one listing based on the commission and the sellers ended up doing it themselves by hiring a Fee for Service Company. We ended up writing an offer, negotiated directly with the seller and closing the home.

Declaring Your Value

I have found that value, is a relative term, depending on the sellers needs. What are they looking for? What is valuable to them? Is it technology, is it a team concept, is it a time factor, is it your years in the business? It could be anyone of those things and more. Listening to them, answering their questions determines if we bring Value to them.

What distinguishes you from the rest of agents in your market area?