It wasn't more then a year ago I was sitting down with a Vice President of a real estate company and we were talking about something that all of us are told to shy away from. The foundational question of the conversation was rather simple. Does God belong in real estate? Before you answer this question with a simple yes or no, think about it.
Almost immediately the first company that was brought into focus was Keller Williams. Keller Williams has been said to have a strong spiritual component to its core values. They even define this on their website. My VP friend told me that she thought they were just selling God to steal the best agents. I told her that this may be true, however, it was another discussion to define if this is right, wrong and/or effective.
There is no question that all of us have strong opinions on both sides of this argument. I ask you, for the sake of this post to look at a more shallow view of this subject. Is marketing your belief system a good idea in real estate?
The short answer to this question is absolutely. Marketing is, after all, about finding like-minded individuals that are able to see value in your product and/or service. Is it not? In marketing guru Seth Godin's
new book, "Tribes" he says a business needs two things to form its own tribe.
1. Like-minded people
2. A way to communicate
In the God case in which we are talking, God can be the interest of the like-minded people.
So why do so many people say it's wrong? Well, for starters, people are afraid of offending others and losing their business. The truth is you will never be able to please all of the public all of the time. Quite frankly, you shouldn't try either. And here's the thing. If you can't tell people about who you are and what you represent, how can you call yourself authentic? (I've written about being
authentic a bunch)
Is it effective? Just ask Keller Williams. They seem to be recruiting agents just fine.
Matthew S. Gosselin is the author of My Blue Goose, Exploiting The Wow Factor In Real Estate Marketing. The book can be purchased on
MyBlueGoose.com or
Amazon. Stay tuned for more information about his new book, "Stand Out, Stick and Stay. Transforming Real Estate Marketing"
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I think may people see it as "peddling your faith"- that you are just doing it to get business. I certainly don't preach to our clients/customers, I don't have a Bible on my desk at the office. But is God in my business? Of course. God is in me and therefore in everything I do. He is in how I treat people, how I run my office, and how I act. And if it seems appropriate, I talk about it.