Author: Special Contributor

Real estate coaches agree — this is the most powerful way to build a personal brand

Special Contributor Leave a comment

The real estate world is crowded, no doubt about it. It feels like we are constantly being challenged to find ways that set us apart from the competition.

But here’s a little secret that Buffini & Company real estate coaches want to let you in on: When you enter the scene with a strong personal brand, things start to feel a lot more spacious.

That’s because personal brands have power, and when carefully crafted, yours will set you apart from the competition and make your business unique in its industry.

What’s in a Brand?

Basically, branding is your promise to the customer. Your brand outlines what the client can expect from your offerings. It’s what sets you apart from the competition and makes your business unique.

In a culture where 65% of buyers find a positive experience with a brand to be more influential than advertising, it is essential to define your personal brand and commit to it in order to build loyal customers. When you create a strong, recognizable brand that shows up in all of your real estate marketing and services, clients know exactly what to expect when they work with you (psst… this is huge if you want their referrals).

3 Steps to Building a Powerful Brand

In order to build a powerful personal brand, you need to identify what makes you unique and tie that into your actions. Trust us, it’s not as hard as it sounds! Define your brand story with these three steps:

  • Brainstorm. Write words that reflect your interests, attributes and skills and how you show up in the world. Remember, 89% of consumers stay loyal to brands that share their values, so make sure your own brand is based on concepts important to you! By the way, don’t be afraid to have fun with it. If your four-legged friend is a huge part of your life, find a way to include Fido in your branding! This lets clients see more of your personality right from the start.
  • Narrow it down. Select the phrases that differentiate you. Think about the words you would want your customers to associate you with. Would they refer you for your integrity? Your enthusiasm? Your knowledge? Combine words that play to both emotion and skill. Consider what your clients are already saying about you (great negotiator, exceptional energy, tells it like it is, etc.) to help you create this picture.
  • Write your story. Create a short sentence or phrase using your favorite words to tell your brand story. This sentence is what guides your brand — any marketing or actions you take should be able to relate back to this. For example, you might say, “Sam Jones is a powerful negotiator who is dedicated to serving clients before, during and after the sale.” Make sure elements of this brand story appear in your marketing materials and your actions with clients.

Actions Speak Louder Than Words

Real estate coaches agree: A brand is nothing on paper. It’s what you do to bring it to life that people remember!

The most sustainable personal brands are the ones tied to exceptional customer service. Go above and beyond to impress customers with unexpected extras so that your brand becomes synonymous with high-quality service in real estate. These actions include:

  • Mailing handwritten notes to check in and thank clients for their business.
  • Consistently sending valuable information by mail and email.
  • Delivering small appreciation gifts.
  • Hosting client appreciation events for your top referrers.

Actions speak louder than words. Bringing your brand promise to life with exceptional service is the best way to create loyal fans of your business. Turn those folks into customers for life, and you will always be their go-to agent for referrals.

Using the right tech to get in front of more clients

Special Contributor Leave a comment

By Candy Miles-Crocker

Good real estate agents make the job look easy. That’s because excellent real estate agents always seat their clients in the restaurant and never in the kitchen.

If you have ever peeked into the kitchen of your favorite restaurant, you likely saw chaos. It may have been organized chaos, but it was chaos just the same. The chef is calling out orders and the staff is trying to keep up the pace to get the food prepared and out the door — while in the restaurant, it is elegant, peaceful and without the slightest hint of confusion.

The “kitchen” is where the magic happens.

Real estate agents are constantly in the kitchen, but if you use the right technology, you may get out of the kitchen and into the restaurant. Or at the very least, your kitchen will be organized chaos.

Technology makes it easier to manage and systematize various aspects of the business. Let’s take a look at a few incredible tools you may want to consider.

Organize your day and stay calm

Without organization and systems in place, it is super easy to feel frustrated and out of control. To get all of that clutter out of your head, there’s a wonderful app you can download called Todoist. Todoist is intuitive to use and gives you the confidence that you haven’t forgotten something. Sync this app with your email and calendar to get reminders, prioritize tasks, delegate tasks and so much more.

With Todoist, you can focus your energy on serving your clients and generating new business, instead of stressing about what you need to do. You can even set up daily or weekly goals to help you stay focused and motivated.

Todoist is an excellent way to get more time in your day and have a little peace of mind.

Stay in touch

To run a thriving referral-based business, you need to keep track of your sphere of influence: your past and present clients and prospective clients. You will also need a system in place to follow up with all of your contacts. Most agents are horrible at following up. If the prospect doesn’t respond immediately to a text, email or call, the agent promptly writes them off.

Research has shown that people need to be “touched” at least seven times before they even remember who you are. After seven times, they might give you their attention, but it might take more attempts than that.

With that in mind, it’s important to have a tool that tracks who you have contacted and when. Follow Up Boss is a CRM tool that allows you to keep in touch in record time. Follow Up Boss can be linked to your Gmail or Office 365 account to automatically sync and log all of your email communication in one place.

You can set up email drip campaigns for new prospects and to stay in touch with past clients, as well as your sphere of influence. Set up your campaign to deliver valuable information, and people will look forward to receiving your emails.

Here’s a tip: Don’t make all of your emails about real estate. Remember, you want people to see value in the information you are providing. Make your emails timely. In the summertime, you may have an email about staying safe in the sun. In the fall, your email may be about prepping your home for the winter.

The beauty of Follow Up Boss is that you can set up various lists depending on the type of information you want to deliver. You may have one list for a particular neighborhood and another list for first-time homebuyers. Remember, one size does not fit all. Be creative.

Use video to stand out

A tried-and-true tech favorite of mine is BombBomb.

Everywhere you look, you read that people love watching videos. If you don’t believe me, check your social media feed. Video viewership is king, so why aren’t you making better use of it in your marketing?

This is where BombBomb comes in. You can shoot a quick video on your phone and text or email it to one of your contacts in a matter of minutes.

Let’s say you are in the neighborhood of a past client and notice a cool restaurant. Take a quick video of yourself in front of the restaurant and ask your client if they have been there and perhaps invite them to discover it with you in the future.

Or maybe you are doing pop-bys and stopped by a client’s house only to discover they are not home. Pull out your phone and take a video in front of their home to let them know that you have left a little something for them. Instead of calling and leaving a voicemail, leave a video message. It’s a great way for you to stand out from the crowd. Think outside the box and have fun with it.

There is so much technology out there that can make you more efficient, but it’s easy to go overboard and get frustrated. Just know that you do not have to use every tool out there. After you have determined what type of technology tools you need, do your research to see which tools you are most likely to use and go for it.

For more on real estate tech, see our courses on technology for real estate agents and technology to manage your team.