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Why
Positioning is So Important
for Your Real Estate Success Throughout
your real estate career the term
"Positioning" refers to how
you're perceived by your clients and
prospects through the reputation and
image you've created of yourself.
Ideally you want your clients and
prospects to perceive you as the best
choice they could ever make in a
commercial real estate agent, before you
ever walk in the door and ask them for
the business. This creates tremendous
leverage for yourself and allows your
opinions and recommendations to be taken
with a higher degree of importance,
making it much easier for you to close
more business with everyone. And
when it comes to the subject of
Positioning, I don't think there's a
better example I know of personally than
the one that relates to my father's
Positioning throughout his career in the
business world. For over 30 years my
father worked in the aerospace industry
in the Guidance and Controls Systems
Division of a major aerospace company.
And it was his job to put together all
the presentations the company would make
to the top brass in the Air Force,
showing them why they should choose his
own company's inertial guidance systems
for their military aircraft instead of
those offered by the the competitors. Now
here's where the Positioning came into
play---My father was a man who
volunteered to serve in the Royal Air
Force in Great Britain during World War
II. Both he and my mother were born in a
small city in Scotland known as
Coatbridge, and this is where my father
was living at the time the War began.
During the War my father flew 101
missions, both air-to-air combat
missions and bombing missions, and
during his air-to-air combat missions he
flew one of the most legendary aircraft
in the history of military aviation, the
Spitfire. He was a Battle of Britain
pilot, and if you've heard the famous
quote given during the well-known speech
by Winston Churchill, "Never in the
field of human conflict was so much owed
by so many to so few," my father
was one of the men who for the rest of
their lives would always be known as
"The Few." Five
years after the Battle of Britain,
during February of 1945, my father was
taking off on a bombing mission in a
Wellington bomber along with two other
crew members. Immediately after takeoff
one of the plane's engines caught on
fire and he had to immediately crash
land the plane in a nearby field. And
when he was finally able to stop the
plane, exit it, and get away from it, he
heard the screams of his two crew
members. The impact of the landing had
fractured both of their their pelvises,
and they were unable to get out of what
had now become an airplane that was
completely engulfed in flames and
rapidly burning. And with all of this
going on my father ran back into the
plane twice, pulled out the two other
men, and carried them to a safe location
away from the plane. For
this my father was immediately retired
from military service and given a very
distinguished award in Great Britain. He
was awarded the MBE which stands for
"Member of the Most Excellent Order
of the British Empire," with both
the award and medal coming directly from
King George himself, George VI, the
father of today's Queen of the United
Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern
Ireland, Queen Elizabeth II. Now
let's look at how all this would
eventually impact my father's life and
career many years later in the business
world... First
of all, he spent over 30 years in the
aerospace industry here in the United
States, and he'd continually be making
presentations along with other company
executives to top Air Force officials
telling them why his company's inertial
guidance system was the the one the Air
Force pilots could really rely on to get
the job done for them. And if my
father's company really did their job,
and I'm sure they did, I'd have to
imagine they told these Air Force
officers in detail about everything I
just mentioned to you about his military
history. Because my father certainly
wasn't someone who talked about this
stuff himself. He was never one to brag
about his accomplishments in this arena,
and most of the people we know to be
heroes normally don't brag about what
they've accomplished in this arena
either. In addition, many warriors who
have lived through combat for many years
have no desire to live through it once
again in casual conversation. There are
simply much more enjoyable subjects for
them to talk about years later in their
lives. So
imagine now the top Air Force officers
listening to my father telling them why
his company's inertial guidance system
is the one their pilots can rely on,
knowing what my father had experienced
as a combat pilot himself, and knowing
he was decorated with one of the highest
honors imaginable for bravery and for
rescuing his two crew members from a
burning plane. In terms of Positioning
and building rapport in a business
situation, it really doesn't get much
better than this. As
an example, here's what the interior
dialogue may have sounded like from
time-to-time inside the minds of these
top Air Force officials: "This
guy flew 101 combat missions and was
dogfighting with the Germans. He flew an
airplane I would give my eyeteeth to fly
in myself, and on top of this he ran
back into a burning plane twice and
rescued two men, risking his own life in
the process. This guy knows what a pilot
needs in a combat situation, and if he
says this system is the best one on the
market for our own pilots, I believe
him." And
if any of the other aerospace companies
had only civilians with no military
experience talking to these same Air
Force officers, telling them why their
own company's system was the one they
should purchase for their military
aircraft, I'm sure it was much more
difficult for these companies to
convince the officers that they really
knew what they were talking about. But
keep in mind that Positioning is always
dependant on the context of the
situation. Had my father decided to
instead pursue a career in commercial
real estate brokerage, his military
history probably wouldn't have meant
nearly as much to his clients and
prospects. And they probably would have
tried to grind him down on his
commission just like they do with us,
too! So
in applying all of this now to your
career as a commercial real estate
agent, you have to find ways to Position
yourself in people's minds as the only
agent they should work with when they
need to get involved in a commercial
real estate transaction. And this is
tough to do if these people have never
heard of you before when it's time to
ask them for the business. So
do what you can to make yourself walk on
water. Have a strong and visible
presence in your marketplace with your
name on real estate signs everywhere. Be
prospecting 10-12 hours a week and mail
to your clients and prospects two or
more times every month. This is
definitely one of the best ways to build
your image with them on a regular basis.
And build relationships with the
reporters who write about commercial
real estate in your area, too. These
people need reliable sources for what's
going on in the market, and when the
newspaper represents you to be one of
the top experts in your area, people
will believe it! And make sure you save
these articles and utilize them in the
presentation packages you give to your
people. Positioning
plays a huge part in determining your
success in commercial real estate
brokerage. When people are already sold
on you as an agent before you walk in
the door, the most difficult part of
your job is already over. Learn how to
Position yourself as the best choice
your people can make in a real estate
agent, and you'll produce far better
results in your business with greater
ease.
Click
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top-producing commercial real estate agents. These interviews
are with industry experts
who show you exactly what they do to
continually make $500,000.00 to more
than a million of dollars a year.
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