According to the National Association of Realtors® (NAR) research 76% of all sellers contacted only one agent to list their property and 16% interviewed two. 59% of all buyers interview only one agent and 22% met with just two! That is the power of creating a personal or team brand. Are you the one who stand-outs out in the mind of potential buyers or sellers of luxury homes in your marketplace?
The Battle for Market Leadership Is Primarily the Battle for Mind Share Not Market Share
In any given category of product or service, a potential customer or client can usually only remember two or three brands or names. That is because, in a time-pressed world, we just cannot afford the luxury of investigating more options and keeping them all fresh in our minds. We need shortcuts for making decisions.
For example, ask anyone if they can think of more than two Internet search engines brand names. The majority will say Google and/or Yahoo then draw a mental blank. Google enjoys the #1 position in consumers’ minds with more market share than its closest competitors, Yahoo and MSN, combined.
In the category of colas, market leader Coke also outsells Pespi at a ratio of 2:1, even though the overwhelming majority of consumers prefer the taste of Pepsi based on the famous Pepsi Taste Test Challenge. The Coke brand (and what it means or represents to the consumer) won the battle of the mind that Pespi could not win on the battlefield even with a better tasting product.
The same principles of mind share apply to luxury real estate agents. Yet, the use of personal branding is almost entirely overlooked by agents as an essential strategy to gain mind share and achieve market leadership.
A personal brand is a means to instantly let people know what you stand for, what is important to you, what value you have to offer in a business context, and also how you are distinct from your competition. It describes the total experience of having a relationship with you. Essentially, a personal brand is a shortcut to establish trust in a business relationship, the kind of trust that only happens when two people believe there is a direct connection between their value systems.
People like to do business with people like themselves or the type of people they would like to become. Why? Because it feels good to connect with people with whom we “click” or resonate, those individuals who are on our wavelength. We naturally gravitate to and trust those who can produce an emotional impact that echoes our own core values and aspirations.
We all live in an over-advertised world where we are exposed to thousands of messages each day. A personal brand can break through the clutter and differentiate YOU in a crowded market. The easier you make it for people to grasp your core identity and the personal benefit they will derive from doing business with you, the faster you can establish new relationships and increase business.
Creating a personal brand accelerates business development because it quickens the process of building trust and helps you focus your time and energy exclusively on customers or clients for whom you are a match. It also sparks off a chain reaction of the most powerful form of marketing, word-of-mouth, which reduces the cost of traditional advertising.
The Virtual Luxury Agent Brochure/Website
An excellent example of personal branding as a means of achieving or securing market leadership in the luxury arena can be viewed at http://www.athomewithmarylou.com/. This is the virtual brochure/website of Mary Lou Castellanos of Sotheby’s International Realty in San Francisco, California. Her personal branding and marketing campaign won the Award of Excellence from the Wall Street Journal, Unique Homes Magazine and Unique Global Estates at the 2007 Luxury Conclave.
Mary Lou has harnessed the power of personal branding to be the stand-out in her marketplace. Many sellers of multi-million dollar homes have told Mary Lou that her marketing materials were the most compelling they had ever seen. Friends and previous clients proudly refer her by sending a link to her website or by giving out a physical brochure that precisely mirrors the site, graphically.
The return on your initial investment in creating a personal brand that is reflected consistently throughout ALL of your collateral materials can be realized almost immediately with just a minimum increase in sales volume. After that, it is a gift to yourself that keeps giving. Personal branding tools such as these offer you a sure-fire way to surpass your competition and secure market leadership in the luxury arena.
