REALTOR® Magazine Online: Factors That Could Set Your Company Apart

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Marketing your brokerage
Analyzing the Business Climate

Setting Marketing Strategies

Analyzing the Business Climate

Creating Your Market Identity

Planning Your Advertising

Coordinating Company and Salesperson Marketing

Developing Public Relations Strategies

Enhancing Customer Service

Factors That Could Set Your Company Apart

Finding specific factors to differentiate your company from competitors helps you select a marketing position that will appeal to customers:

Education. Is your staff highly educated with multiple designations? Do you hold regular training sessions for associates?

Success. Are your associates top performers who have won awards? Do your company’s listings consistently sell for near list price?

Speed. Do your associates find buyers and homes for customers rapidly?

Services. Does your company offer special closers who know more about the transaction?

Marketing. Do you offer a special marketing plan for properties?

Technology skills. Are your associates skilled in technology, so that they can take advantage of Web marketing options?

Communication. Do your associates follow policies that encourage them to communicate with clients more effectively?

Ease. Do you offer special training to ensure that all forms and disclosures are completed correctly—keeping the transaction on track?

Style. Are you a small, family company that emphasizes friendliness and flexibility?

Scope. Are you part of a franchise, ensuring you can find the best buyers, wherever they may be?

Value. Do you emphasize reduced commissions or fee-for-service? Or do you focus on a high-service business?

Special expertise. Are your associates expert in helping a special market segment—such as second-home investors?

TIP: Ask yourself what benefits your competitors’ customers believe they receive from your competitors. Think about solutions to customers’ problems from your competitors’ point of view. If you know how your competitors think and act and why they appeal to their customers, you can learn from their example. —Adapted from Ed Rigsbee, “Position Your Business as a Partner to Your Customers,” in Air Conditioning, Heating & Refrigeration News, August 6, 2001

4 Positioning Musts

Once you’ve decided what differentiates your company from the competition—and how you want to differentiate it—use that information to position your company. A position must:

1. Be unique.
2. Be simple. Don’t try to list everything that sets you apart, instead focus on two or three of the most important factors.
3. Set you apart from the competition.
4. Provide a desired benefit to the clients you hope to attract.

TIP: You can use your competitor’s weakness (as determined in a customer survey) to position your company. Focus on the factors that you posses and your competitors lack, but don’t point a finger. Negative marketing can often backfire.

A Sample Positioning Worksheet >

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