It doesn't
matter how good your estate agency is, if nobody knows about it, knows how good it
is, the facts and figures, the features and benefits. .. nothing will happen,
so we start marketing ourselves our
firm, our services, giving the potential punters the facts, features and
benefits of our agency.
We try to make
people pay attention to us, we try to sell them on the facts, the features and
the benefits of our estate (lettings) agency … we try to change what they think
- so we can change what they do. (ie use our agency)
In a capitalist free market economy, we are totally inundated with people/companies trying to sell stuff, be that groceries, cars, and in our case, we are doing the same with our estate (and letting) agency services.
Everyone
trying and sell us stuff with the use of marketing messages, day in day out,
week in, week
out, year in, year out … and 99.999% of these messages, we as human beings choose to ignore.
out, year in, year out … and 99.999% of these messages, we as human beings choose to ignore.
So clearly facts,
features and benefits in isolation is not enough … here's the nub of spreading the
word that your agency is the best …. it doesn't matter how good your estate agency
is … because nobody cares. (Do you care about what makes the local accountancy
practice so good, its facts, its features, its benefits … I mean real care? No
of course not .. so why should people care about your agency?)
People don't actually buy into your idea of being the best estate agency in your town on logic …. No, they buy into how it makes them feel.
Do you know
95% of your decisions are made unconsciously
without using logic or reason …. so
trying to persuade someone to buy the services of your estate / lettings agency
with the facts, the features, the benefits is largely a waste of time
As each
year goes by, we all become busier and busier as human-beings. We are getting information
overload, from the TV, from the Radio, from the internet and especially Social
media .. We are all so busy and in all that noise … what do we do as a
profession?
Just keep adding to that din, adding to that information overload because all of us are trying to sell the services of our agency just banging on about the facts, the features and benefits … and our message isn’t being heard.
.. and that’s
really tough, because as an agent, you know you are the best, its just nobody
is listening to what you have to say … and reason why? Well the one question we
consistently forget to ask is ‘why will anyone care about this?’
Does anyone
care about my agency, my services, the fact I am no.1 agent on Rightmove and
have 7 offices .. no of course not
..only you and your Mum cares.
Some of you
hard nosed estate agents out there, those of you who consider yourselves logical
people, are thinking, “What’s utter tripe is this lad banging on about?”
… but let's
just think about this for a second
- Is paying £1.50 for Bottled water based on feelings or logic (its free out of the tap)
- Is paying £4 for a Starbucks - feeling or logic (you can always have an instant coffee)
- Is paying £19,300 for an Audi a feeling or logic based decision (when the same car with the same engine and spec sells for £16,000 at Skoda)
- Dozen Red Roses on the 14th February – logic says they will half the price a week later
- Moulton Brown - £19 for a tub of liquid soap – logic or feeling purchase
.. the list
goes on.
All I ask
you to do is think … “Why should anyone care about my agency?” .. because the ultimate
way of judging and answering that question would be this .. if you closed down
tomorrow .. would people miss you and your agency?
In future
articles, I am going to guide you on how to make people care about your agency
.. but in the meantime, have a great weekend.
Christopher