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1)
Differentiating Yourself from the
Competition Do
you ever get the feeling that you're up
against so many competitors nowadays
when you're going after business, that
it's difficult sometimes to stand out
from all of them with your clients and
prospects? Oftentimes what
differentiates an agent or their company
in the eyes of their clients and
prospects may not be very much at all.
That's why it's important to do
everything you can to gain a competitive
edge whenever you see the opportunity. With
this in mind, there's a top commercial
agent I know who's done a solid job of
this by writing and posting very
professional articles he's written for
his clients and prospects to read on his
Web site. Now I wish I could give you
the direct link to his Web site to read
these articles so you'd understand
exactly what I'm talking about, but the
agent has asked me specifically not to
direct other agents to his Web site. He
simply doesn't want his competitors
knowing what he's doing. But
imagine having an agent Web site and
posting articles there that you've
written, discussing important subjects
your clients and prospects will want to
know about to fully protect themselves
before entering into a real estate
transaction. Do you see how having them
read a series of articles like these
could begin to differentiate yourself
from the competition? So many other
agents are out there just making note of
when to call their prospects again in
their contact management software, but
you on the other hand can be building
your image in your prospects' minds so
they're already sold on you when the
time comes to choose their agent. These
articles should be both professional and
well-written, and should ideally have a
tone and feel to them as if you're one
of the ultimate authorities in the real
estate industry on advising people on
these subjects. What we're talking about
here is building your image as much as
possible in these articles by how you
write them and how you present them. And
since there are very few commercial real
estate agents doing anything like this
at all, it will be easier to position
yourself as the ultimate authority on
these subjects by utilizing an approach
very similar to this one. In
choosing the commercial agent they'll
work with, people want someone with
certainty who they feel knows everything
imaginable to protect them in their
upcoming transaction, and the better you
become at planting this image in their
minds, the more successful you'll be. If
you don't have a Web site and have no
intention of creating one, you can also
write articles like these, have them
printed on high-quality paper, and mail
them to your prospects over a specified
period of time. You can even mail these
to your prospects on a regular basis
throughout the year, too. This will have
them build a stronger image of you than
simply receiving the "just
listed" or "just sold"
announcements you send them. While these
announcements will still keep you in
front of your prospects when you mail
them, they won't normally differentiate
you from your competition very much. The
only exception here is if your clients
and prospects receive a lot more of
these announcements from you than they
do from your competitors. Greater volume
and frequency in this situation can help
them to remember you much more than your
competitors. So
when you're constantly finding ways to
differentiate yourself from the pack,
you'll soon have a competitive edge over
the other agents. And this can certainly
lead to a greater improvement in the
amount of business you close also. 
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