If business is slow, it could be time to update your image in the marketplace.
By Clare Curley
Midway through her brand re-launch, Paula Wertanen, CRS, with Berkshire Home Services in Portland, Oregon, sensed she was onto something. At conferences and events, people were greeting her by saying, “You’re that ‘Hey Paula’ girl”– a good sign, since the two-word phrase was central to her recent rebranding effort.
Revamping your professional image doesn’t happen overnight, but most agents should be able to recognize when it’s time for a change. For example, Wertanen watched her sales plunge 75 percent during the housing crisis; by 2010, it was time to sink or swim.
She began to incorporate the “Hey Paula” phrase and a more memorable, newly designed logo into her website banner, mailers, e-newsletters and signs. Wertanen was referred to a graphic designer who she was told could create a high-quality logo for a modest fee. Seeking something both retro and contemporary, Wertanen and the designer settled on a Bewitched-inspired likeness of Wertanen with a backdrop of area landmarks. To update her image and education alike, she dove into networking, held a focus group of friends and business colleagues and became a Senior Real Estate Specialist (SRES). In less than two years, her net sales had doubled compared to her highest pre-recession levels.
Evaluating Your Brand
Successful branding starts with a clear understanding of what you can offer and what your customers need. Wertanen already had a passion for working with the elderly before getting her SRES. Yet even the most seasoned REALTORS® should regularly review their professional strengths, values and purpose, and how they align with their customers’ needs.
Anything from stagnant revenues to client dissatisfaction could signal the existing branding strategy is no longer effective. In the real estate industry, problems tend to stem from these common mistakes:
- A lack of vision of your core offerings
- An inconsistent or outdated marketing package
- Casting too broad a net
- Not understanding clients needs
REALTORS® should identify the best sources for leads and focus on them. But many agents simply dont have the time or know-how to track the source of every lead and its eventual outcome. If some of your leads are generated online, Los Angeles real estate consultant Eric Bryant has a suggestion: Isolate them by creating a branded email and Internet phone number that forwards calls to your mobile phone. Bryant uses Google Voice for this purpose. Using unique contact information online, Bryant says, could help provide analytics on the effectiveness of your Internet presence.
You Are Your Community
Community is central to any residential brand, and agents should seek ways to evoke their communities online and off. If you drive hours to meet clients, however, you might be straining the boundaries of your branded area. “The biggest [branding] mistake is trying to bite off more than a local community,” says Bryant, who teaches Internet marketing courses.
For CRS member Madolyn Greve, ABR, with Callaway Henderson Sotheby’s International Realty, the greater Princeton, New Jersey, area she represents is her brand. She spends thousands of dollars annually on membership fees to at least eight community and industry organizations. This helps her trademark herself as the go-to real estate expert to thousands of people she wouldn’t otherwise meet.
“As far as branding goes,” says Greve, “It takes money to make money.” Because she sells multimillion-dollar mansions in the city where she lives, Greve maintains her image through her impeccable appearance, even during off hours. But she has also invested in new areas of expertise, one of the best ways to strengthen one’s brand, by working to earn additional professional designations and certifications.
Rebooting Your Reputation
As markets fluctuate, agents should survey past clients and research complaints to unearth the most pressing needs in their area. Check review sites such as Yelp and Trulia, then launch a broader search of local blogs and social media. All clients look for trustworthiness, a quality that REALTORS® can demonstrate in many ways. But if your brand is in trouble, outside consultation may be necessary to get to the root of the problem.
Increasingly, digital tools are providing the means for building a positive reputation. As more homebuyers turn to YouTube and Google for information, consider these two facts:
1. Helpful videos. YouTube beats out brokerage websites as a video research destination, and consumers increasingly rely on online videos to find out about unfamiliar communities.
2. Google Authorship. If you link content you’ve published online to your Google+ profile, Google Authorship will allow you to build a trail between your blog or website and your social media profiles, helping to publicize your writing.
Chances are you are doing something that stands out. A simple observation made a huge impact for Wertanen: “When people greeted me, it was always, ‘Hey Paula.’ They never said, ‘Hi.'” Although 2011 was her worst year economically, Wertanen says, “It was the best year because it showed me the power of focus, branding and building a name in a particular niche.”
Learn more about tried-and-true marketing techniques by attending
Business Planning and Marketing for the Residential Specialist (CRS 200).
