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Branding or Problem Solving? What do Your Customers Care About?

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Services for Real Estate Pros with www.JKKPropertyInvestors.com

 

Branding or Problem Solving? What do Your Customers Care About?

Branding or Problem Solving? What do Your Customers Care About?

What’s your definition of success? Do you want to be rich, or do you want to be famous?

Personal promotion is much more expensive and less income producing than finding the needs of your client and meeting those needs. Self-promotion (branding) is difficult, costly and time consuming.

It’s much faster to meet someone’s needs than to build a brand.

Welcome to the New Marketing.

Today’s strategy – tell customers what you can do to solve their problem. Stand out from the competition by filling a need.

McDonalds is not hamburgers, but fast, consistent, clean, inexpensive. Nike is not tennis shoes, but attitude. FedEx is not delivery, but absolutely, positively, dependability. These companies don’t focus on their product, but create an experience, fulfill an emotional need. Starbucks doesn’t sell coffee, they sell an experience.

First rule? Don’t focus on yourself, not at first, anyway. Better to focus on building relationships with potential customers rather than trying to create a brand that everyone recognizes. People are far more interested in themselves than in you. They don’t care about your name, your pet, or your logo. Their only interest in you is what you can do for them.

Focus on your clients; their needs, their wants, their desires. This is what will hook them and make them your customer. Determine what you can offer to meet clients’ needs and market that.

Here’s something to focus on when creating your marketing: Statistics show that, at any given time, 3% of your prospects are currently in the market to buy your product or service and looking right now to get it. Another 6-7% are open to it, but not currently looking. The other 90% are divided into three nearly equal categories: (a) not really thinking about it now (b) think they’re not interested – but might be if you did a good job at presenting it to them… and (c) KNOW they’re not interested.

How much business are you leaving behind by not peaking the interest of those 30% (b) who might be interested if you did a good job presenting it to them?

Where is your marketing focus?

Read Your Own Marketing. How many times do you say “I” or “we.” If you rewrite your marketing to say “I” no more than once, how does that change your message?

Remember, the best marketing is never about you; it is not personal promotion. Don’t work to get your prospects to know you – work to get to know them. Then present an offer that motivates them to take action.

26,000 new products and brands are introduced every year. What does your marketing say?

Comments (7)

Erv Fleishman
Realty Associates - Boca Raton, FL
Luxury Prop Specialist Realty Associates

Brand me rich. Fame will follow. So, it all comes down to 


"Ask not what your country can do for you - ask what you can do for your country"

Substitute client for country.

Feb 15, 2012 02:37 AM
Karen Rittenhouse
www.JKKPropertyInvestors.com - Greensboro, NC
Real Estate Investor

Perfect!

Thanks for your comment, Erv.

Feb 15, 2012 03:24 AM
Kevin A. Guttman-Author, ReverseMortgageSpecialist
NMLS #384936 - Colorado Springs, CO
877-251-9709

It is true that everyone is tuned into: WIIFM. What's In It For Me? Thanks for the great reminder about marketing and branding!

Feb 15, 2012 03:32 AM
Atlanta's Home Inspector, David Lelak IHI Home Inspections
IHI Home Inspections 404-788-2581 - Canton, GA
Experience the IHI Difference

Love this, Karen! We all need to stop now and again and ask our clients what they want. The best way to keep them and then get referrals from them, is to satisfy their needs and wants. :)

Feb 15, 2012 04:57 AM
Karen Rittenhouse
www.JKKPropertyInvestors.com - Greensboro, NC
Real Estate Investor

Thanks, Kevin, David and Bonnie. It's a new day and a new way of marketing that I still don't see out there very often. Change your marketing and help your customer.

Feb 15, 2012 05:54 AM
Tammie White, Broker
Franklin Homes Realty LLC - Franklin, TN
Franklin TN Homes for Sale

Karen, I have really stuggled with this. While I do focus on the client and their needs, I feel like my brand should convey that in some way to potential clients. I haven't figured out a way to do both. Thoughts?

Mar 03, 2012 02:51 AM
Karen Rittenhouse
www.JKKPropertyInvestors.com - Greensboro, NC
Real Estate Investor

Tammie: Have a nice clean sign and business card so they know who you are, then work on them, not yourself. Write articles with information that buyers or sellers need. Mail or Email the information to them on a regular basis or, at the very least, create a blog where you can constantly give them helpful adivce.

Constantly ask questions. Create polls or surveys - what do you want? What do you need? What questions do you have? How can I best meet your needs? When buying or selling a home, what are your biggest questions or concerns?

That type of thing. As I said, they absolutley do not care about your "brand," your name, your logo. All any customer cares about is "what can you do for me?" And, if you only offer the same thing every other Realtor has to offer, why should they pick you?

Best of luck with your marketing!

Mar 03, 2012 04:12 AM