Do You Really Need A Brand?
Consider what it would take to set your Real Estate Business (or any other business) unique customer experience apart from your competitors. As it is so true in many other industries, it is critical to establish your brand and capture your market share to define what it is that sets you apart.
We all have our favorites brands. Our favorite places to shop, our favorite type of car or transportation, our favorite clothes to wear, our favorite wine or beverage, our favorite menu selection from our favorite restaurant, all the way down to the favorite words and phrases we use to describe ourselves or our environment. Your business plan, logo, web site, and your operations model are no different. They need to represent what your core values are as a stand-alone monolith for what your business is all about. Even when you are not there, to explain what it means.
It is not so much as what you sell, or how you sell it, or how much it costs. It is more about the value of doing business with you and how that makes your customer feel when they do business with you. We have all had those experiences in our lives. That first time encounter at that hidden nook, off the beaten path, where have found the exceptional service that has instantly formed us into permanent loyal customers – forever. The opposite is also true. I remember one particular restaurant visited on date night with my wife. Nothing went right at all. The service was impersonal. The meal was unappealing and lacked presentation, and the food was at best average. This type of impression actually leaves a harder impression when we left to return – never again!
So what do your customers feel when they do business with you? Are they given that one-on-one personal attention that makes them feel special, or are they just the next in the long line at the drive through. More important still, is their second visit, third visit, and so on consistent with that first visit; or is it even better because now you have established the relationship and you understand your clients’ unique criteria?
This is all kind of touchy-feely stuff to think about. But think about it. Why do your customers even come back to you at all? Why should they? What do they get doing business with you that they don’t get from a host of other related businesses out there on the market just like yours? The unique answer to these questions specifically for you, define you.
So What’s Your Story?
Every one has a story. A purpose. A unique value proposition that makes the day arise with anticipation to get out there and do whatever it is that you do. Call it what you want to, but at the end of the day, it is all yours and no one else will have the same story to tell as you do.
So what is the reason you do what you do? Remember, this is all about building your brand. Why you, why now, why not your competition, why even bother at all? It is not about the money, or at least it shouldn’t just be that. There is always a bigger picture involved. Telling your story will reveal why what you do is so important to you, and to your customer. In doing so, you will find out more about yourself in the process. This is the essence of that “something special” you have to offer to your clientele that no one else has to offer.
Hope. Love. Security. Comfort. Stability. Peace. Joy.
These are all intangible things that money cannot buy. But when your customers do business with you, this is how they may “feel”. So coming back to the well, your business; is not just about because they are thirsty again. They can get a “drink” from any of your competition, at any time, and maybe even at less of a cost. They are coming back specifically to your fountain of value for the feelings of refreshment and satisfaction they have come to associate with you – your brand.
Yes, this does dig deep into things that most people do not consider of when they open their business. The average business owner thinks in terms of how fast can we get to market, how cheap can we make it good enough, and how much can we make for a profit. This is why their business is at best average. In fact, given a three-year time span, a large majority of these companies will be a vapor, only a glimpse of a past memory, or at worst, their worst financial nightmare.
I do not care if you are a butcher, a baker, or a candlestick maker. Everything, everything you do must reflect upon you and the level of integrity in which you provide that service or product to your customer. Your business operations manual must think of everything. And then deliver consistently, every time.
This article is the introduction from a free report I have written especially for Real Estate Investors titled “Branding: Special Report For Real Estate Investors” at the link http://www.bhbgroup.com/BHBweb2009/rei_report.html. Download the full FREE report for the step-by-step process for defining and building your brand.
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Warmest regards,
Brian Lucier
Belaire Property Management
Regional Property Manager
(978) 448-0669
info@belaire.co
www.belaire.co
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