Luxury Real Estate Marketing: There is no “I” in Team

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Luxury Real Estate Marketing Tip: "Farm to Table Marketing"

August 9, 2012

A key trend in luxury marketing is the concept of “farm-to-table marketing”. There are important clues here for marketing luxury real estate. It is not just about offering the facts. It is about telling the story that adds color and engages the emotions.

Farm-to-table marketing in the arena of fine dining while traveling and also for local restaurants is based upon the premise that consumers want to know the point of origin from which their food comes. Chez Panisse restaurant in Berkeley (who pioneered this trend decades ago) credits menu items by mentioning the local purveyor. Here is an excerpt from the appetizer section of their menu: “Cannard Farm rocket (arugula) and chervil salad with buttered radish and onion toasts.”

In applying farm-to-table marketing, your luxury real estate message should include the overall story of the home you are selling. The potential buyer wants the “back story” which allows them to become enchanted with the property. When they purchase it, it becomes the story they tell their friends and their reasons for buying the home. For instance, if the home is a rammed earth home, a video on the making of this type of home would make an excellent adjunct to the presentation of the listing on your website.

A few years ago a “rastra block” home was sold in the California wine country. A rastra block is made from recycled Styrofoam. This home had photo voltaic cells and solar panels. The entire house was a story of “farm-to-table” origins. The property site itself was originally a stone quarry that produced the stone used to build the streets of San Francisco. The home has recycled architectural elements from France, Africa, and Mexico.

By breaking down the property’s story and telling sub-stories of its various elements through ancillary rich media, i.e., photos and video, you can engage more buyers. You also have a surefire way to standout from your competition.

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Luxury Real Estate Marketing Tip: Be Consistently Remarkable!

August 6, 2012

Being at the top of your game as a luxury real estate marketing professional requires being consistently remarkable. Market leadership requires it.

When was the last time you felt uplifted by a customer service experience? How many people did you tell about it? Did you go out of your way to acknowledge this to the service provider and or their superiors?

You may consider this a random act of kindness. But, it is just as important as leaving big TIPS (to insure prompt service). And, it keeps you focused on being remarkable, yourself.

People tend to pass along, to others, their negative experiences at a significantly higher rate than their positive ones. So what can you do to ignite a chain reaction of positive buzz about YOU? Be remarkable in some way that stands out from your competition. Then be consistent at being remarkable!

Being consistently remarkable is a true sign of a market leader. Trader Joes exemplifies this principle, brilliantly. TJs, as many loyal customer refer to the company, is a privately owned, specialty grocery store with 365 stores in 31 states. Their company culture is very strong. They take great care of their people and they have a knack for consistently selecting great people.

One of the most consistently remarkable attributes of this fine company is their esprit de corps, otherwise known as team spirit. You always feel uplifted by the high positive energy among the employees. Everyone pitches in to help each other, too. Job satisfaction must be very high as we often ask the TJ staff if they enjoy their job. The answer is a resounding yes,, every time.

Discover what you can be consistently remarkable about in your luxury real estate marketing practice. Then, practice deliberate acts of kindness by letting others know that you appreciate their remarkable service. This keeps you focused on being remarkable, too.

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Marketing Luxury Real Estate: The Luxury of Clean Air with Spats

August 3, 2012

There is nothing like a flowering plant to cheer up a home and exude luxury. One of our favorite plants is spathiphyllum pictured above. It is an easy to care for plant as it requires what we lovingly call "benign neglect!" And it cleans the air.

What is wonderful about spats is that these plants clean indoor air of many contaminants, including benzine, formaldehyde and other pollutants. One plant cleans approximately 108 square feet. It needs little sunlight and watering when the soil is dry. And it is a great closing gift!

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Luxury Real Estate Marketing Tips: Three Tips to Unleashing Social Media Power

July 30, 2012

Are people following your luxury real estate marketing blog? Are they watching your videos? If you do it right, you can build an entire personal brand and a large audience around your blog and videos. However, if your content is ordinary, meaning unoriginal or generic (content available on many sites and from many other sources) or just outright boring, you will not stand out as a worthwhile read.

You may at some point become number 1 on Google, (thanks to your SEO and the Google’s robots that drill the web), but will that number 1 equal referrals and new buyers/sellers? Will the reader of your posts bookmark or subscribe to your blog, and come back to read your next installment? Google has been besieged by complaints that they are ranking sites with “canned” content higher than those with meaningful “original” content. Google has responded by making changes in their algorithms that are aimed at sites with what it calls "low quality" content: just enough information laden with keywords to appear in search results. If your luxury real estate marketing web pages or blog posts fall into this category of low quality, beware! Your natural search engine ranking could slip.

Here is a recent example of the power of original content. According to an article in the Wall Street Journal, last Monday, an eight year old novel, Cloud Atlas was ranked 2509 by Amazon. On Friday, it moved to 7. The meteoric rise was attributed to Apple releasing the trailer to the movie on its iTunes website.

"Almost as soon as the trailer went up, we saw chatter on Twitter and sales on Amazon really jumped," said Jane von Mehren, publisher of trade paperbacks for the Random House Publishing Group, a unit of Bertelsmann AG's Random House Inc.

“To cash in on the renewed interest, Random House has ordered a new paperback printing of 25,000 copies, to hit stores before a special movie-tie in edition of the book is released in September." WSJ

The trailer which is 6 minutes long is a buzz worthy video, which translated into sales and results. How can you translate your blogs into referrals and leads? Here are 3 tips:

1.      Write content that is useful, relevant, fresh, and informative for your marketplace

2.       Write content that is uplifting and newsworthy

3.       Write content that is comment worthy, follow worthy and share worthy

Generic luxury real estate blog content indicates that the blogger lacks imagination and therefore lacks the marketing savvy required to win listings or sell expensive homes. Remember this: robots have no sense of humor; they leave no comments and do not share. They do not get uplifted. But, they do know when your content is fresh or original! Focus in on those tips and see how you can improve the quality of your content, and you unleash the power of Social Media.

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Luxury Real Estate Branding: Do You Need a Brand?

July 17, 2012

Do you need a brand for your luxury real estate marketing business? You need a brand if you are in pursuit of market leadership in your chosen niche. A clearly articulated brand facilitates referrals and decision-making on both sides (sellers/buyers) of the real estate game.

Like it or not, we are branded from the moment we are born. Brands are labels; they are a shortcut and a time saver for the mind. They are so obvious that we take them for granted. They become invisible.

The moment we look at someone, our mind’s computer begins to assess and pigeonhole. The more we are pressed for time the more we rely on snap judgments.

With products and services, once we pigeonhole a product or service in a category we equate the category and the brand. And, we only have room for a few products or services in each category, at least from the standpoint of being able to readily recall the brand name. The goal of branding is to achieve top-of-mind status in that short list of products or services within any given category.

To stand out and reach the top of the list you have to make it easy for others to communicate about your brand to others. That is the challenge of branding. It is all about making a compelling case to be at the top of the mental list, in your category, for your target market. If they are convinced that you should be at the top of their list, you must empower them to convince others.

Think of a brand that you like. What would you tell someone about it? How did that brand get to the top of your list? Getting to the point where one wants to refer you requires a continuous strategy and marketing plan that secures your brand recognition and your dominance in the marketplace.

Tiffany’s is the quintessential luxurious American brand when it comes to engagement rings. That is an example of equating a brand with a category. In the minds of young women about to be engaged, Tiffany’s is the place to go. It is at the top of the list in the engagement ring category. Tiffany’s has cultivated that top-of-mind status through brilliant strategy on all fronts. Last year, they premiered their now successful interactive site, What Makes Love True, solidifying their position as the premiere place for engagement rings.

Are you on the top of the list in your category for marketing luxury real estate? Or, do you need a brand?

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Luxury Real Estate Branding: What Color is Your Tomato?

July 16, 2012

In order to understand branding in the realm of luxury real estate marketing, it is important to understand brand categories. If market leadership is your quest, as a luxury real estate marketing professional, the key is to select a brand category or sub-category in your marketplace that you can dominate.

Here is a simple illustration of brand categories. The above picture shows a variety of heirloom red tomatoes with yellow stripes. If all of real estate could be classified as a tomato, then the heirlooms could represent luxury real estate. In the kingdom of heirlooms, there are many heirloom varieties.

This photo shows a darker red heirloom with green stripes, and beside it is the yellow heirloom with red striping. These three varieties could be classified as sub-categories in your marketplace. If yellow tomatoes represent luxury condos, the opportunity here is to be the king/queen (the yellow tomato) of the luxury condo market.

The differences in the DNA makeup of these categories are minor, but the characteristics in terms of shape, color and flavor are distinctive. The heirloom tomato’s target market is discerning tomato lovers in general, but each customer has their preferences. The key to branding is to clearly amplify the difference so that the customer looking for sweet, low acidic tomatoes, for instance, can quickly be matched with the right brand, yellow tomatoes.

Buying from or listing with a dedicated specialist gives your client confidence, that they are dealing with an expert. Branding therefore, accelerates the selection process in a sea of choices, and saves time for everyone.

What color is your tomato?

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Marketing Luxury Real Estate: The Agelessness of a Championship Mindset

July 12, 2012

Photo by Lucy Clark

Unlike some professions marketing luxury real estate is a game you can play at the level of market leadership at any age in your professional career. However, It takes the mindset of a champion and the championship mindset is ageless.

Both Serena Williams and Roger Federer have proven that point at this year’s Wimbledon Tennis Tournament. Serena became the first woman over 30 to win a Grand Slam title since Martina Navratilova over 20 years ago. And, she did so against odds that she would not return to the sport due to health problems. Federer looked like he peaked back at the Australian Open in 2010. Now, he is number one in the world, again.

What motivates a champion? What did these two tennis champs have to prove to the world? Sure it feels good to the admiration of peers and fans alike. But, a true champion has a core inner conviction to be the best he or she can be.

Market leadership is a game that requires strategy to gain or sustain the championship level. First, it requires identifying the winning formula to out think your competition. Then, it requires the consistency of repeating the winning formula over and over again.

But, without the mindset of a champion there is no strategy that can get you there. What is that mindset? It is a mental state devoid of self-doubt. It is a singular focus on a desired outcome that necessitates quickly releasing contradictory thoughts, accessing memories of previous triumphs and maintaining the perspective of what is at stake.

In our professional practice, as brand strategists to luxury real estate marketing professionals, we work exclusively with market leaders or their challengers. Our clients are those who already have the mindset of a champion or are reaching for it regardless of their age. Like Federer and Williams, they are true inspirations.

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Personal and Company Branding: Is Your Slogan Engaging?

July 9, 2012

As a luxury real estate marketing professional do you have an engaging slogan? We have mentioned in a previous post, that using effective slogans as a personal branding and marketing strategy for real estate agents is an excellent way to differentiate you from the competition. The entire purpose of using a slogan is to engage your target market and get them talking about you.

Here is an example of a brand and a slogan that we noticed while dining in the town of Mathews, Virginia. One glance and you know exactly what type of business this is and who their ideal customers are. It is brief, succinct and to the point. And, it is humorous which captures attention.

Is your slogan engaging?

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Luxury Real Estate Marketing Tip: "Real Books" In Luxury Home Design

June 29, 2012

As a luxury real estate marketing professional, it is important to keep up with the trends of luxury home design. Although kitchens, man/woman caves, master suites are still considered as leaders in exceptional home designs, the home library is emerging as a “must have room” in luxury homes and apartments. Architectural Design magazines have dedicated a large portion of their recent issues to library designs, featuring many luxury homes with exceptional libraries.

The idea of having a home library can be traced to Roman times. A sign of a well respected Roman was demonstrated by his library regardless of whether he could read or not. It was a symbol of status and intelligence. Today’s home owners are designing llibraries as an expression of their personality, a retreat from all the usual home noises, a way to display their book collections, and a comfortable place to curl up to read a book.

With the advent of digital readers, and the closing of many of the larger book chain stores (Borders and Barnes & Noble), it seemed that “real” books were doomed to extinction. However, used book stores are reporting a large uptick in sales to a new customer base: 30 plus years old. These young homeowners are walking in to buy books by the foot, or specific collections to display in their newly designed libraries. They want their children to experience “real” books. Rare book dealer Donald Heald a 40 year old New York company has noticed that his clientele now also includes a growing number of individuals in their 30’s.

"If you want to own a great atlas of London from the 18th century, that when you hold it in your hands you're transported, there is no app for that," Mr. Heald says.

The trend for a library in the home is also appearing in median home prices. Many home owners are building shelves for books. DIY shows and magazines are giving detailed instructions on how to build shelving and library nooks. From a book lovers’ perspective, it is reassuring that all things digital do not always rule the home roost.

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Luxury Real Estate Marketing Tip: Keep Your Message Brief

June 27, 2012

As a luxury real estate marketing professional it is important to communicate who you are and what you do with words and imagery. Your collateral materials and web site should articulate the essence of your brand in a nanosecond.

We often attribute the quote of “A picture is worth a 1000 words” to Confucius. However, research shows that this attribution to Confucius was given by an advertiser named Fred Barnard who said he called it a Chinese proverb, "so that people would take it seriously”. As time went on, Confucius was credited with this adage. Mr. Barnard promoted the use of images on the sides of streetcars as part of an advertisement. His sentence was “One Look is Worth a Thousand Words (1921 trade journal, Printer’s Ink.) In another ad in 1927, Mr. Barnard used the phrase, “One Picture is Worth Ten Thousand Words”

More research reveals that in the novel Fathers and Sons written in 1862, the Russian writer Ivan Turgenev wrote, “A picture shows me at a glance what it takes dozens of pages of a book to expound.”

Here is an example of a picture is worth a thousand words. The entrance to the small 6 acre Dog and Oyster Vineyard in Virginia is flanked by two corkscrew sculptures each measuring 40 feet. There are no signs needed to express what is happening here.

So keep your message brief, your pictures bright and expressive so you don’t need 1000 or 10,000 words to say it.

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Luxury Real Estate Marketing Tip: What is your “VA” (Value Added)--Part 2?

June 25, 2012

To distinguish yourself as a luxury real estate marketing professional you must be able to instantly articulate how you stand out from your competition You must be able to answer the question: What is your “VA” (Value Added).

Most of what used to differentiate you, such as integrity, competence and local market knowledge is simply not enough. These attributes have become the commodities of the trade in the same way MLS search, via IDX, has become a commodity on any broker or agent website.

For purveyors of luxury goods and services the #1 challenge is commoditization. Sooner or later, without offering a strong Value Added service, you will have to resort to competing just based on price. Look what is happening in retail!

An increasingly large numbers consumers are doing their shopping research at retail stores but do not actually buy there. Instead, they comparison shop for the best prices online (sometimes right in the store with their smart phones). At sites such as Amazon, they can purchase the same product for less in one click and also get free 2-day shipping. Or, perhaps, the consumer discovers that the same item is on sale at a competing store just a few blocks away.

BACK TO THE FUTURE

During a recent business trip to the East Coast we were able to spend some time checking out the specialty shops and boutiques in Georgetown, Washington D.C.. There, we discovered the Keith Lipert Gallery who specializes in contemporary, affordable fashion jewelry and decorative art. Lipert travels the fashion and cultural capitals of the world to find distinctive pieces that are often crafted by small family-owned businesses. His clientele is both sophisticated and international, people who not only appreciate his adroitness at discovering unique hidden treasures, but also appreciate his extraordinary personalized service.

As customers peruse the displays of fashion jewelry, Lipert will approach them with an item that he feels would suit them and insists they try it on with his assistance. There is no pressure here. He just wants to make your shopping experience extraordinary, like it used to be in Europe and still is in some cases. It allows him to engage his customers in a dialogue that does well beyond self-service.

This “back to the future” customer service approach plus his offering of unique items that cannot be found elsewhere is his VA. What is yours?

To read what is your value added, Part 1, click here.

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Marketing Luxury Real Estate Tip: A Picture is Worth a 1000 Words!

June 24, 2012

As a luxury real estate marketing professional it is important to communicate who you are and what you do with words and imagery. Your collateral materials and web site should articulate the essence of your brand in a nanosecond.

Here is an example that was pointed out to us by our clients in the Virginia Chesapeake marketplace. Notice how the building columns are designed. What a wonderful way to capture the attention of your target market with humor and bring a smile to everyone's face.

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Luxury Real Estate Marketing Tip: What Is Your “VA” (Value Added)?

June 20, 2012

As you approach the realm of market leadership the difference between good and great service in the field of marketing luxury real estate cannot be measured by the degree of competency and integrity. The fundamentals of successfully engineering real estate transactions are the same; you cannot get away with incompetence and lack of integrity for very long. So how do you differentiate yourself from your closest competitors if market leadership is your quest?

The answer is the value that you add. Added value is the extra service that you offer that your competitors do not include in their winning formula. Here is an example.

There are many aviation brokers who provide the service of buying, selling or leasing private jets. We recently met an aviation broker who put his company in a class unto itself by offering his clients an extra service that they cannot find anywhere else. His firm targets Fortune 500 companies exclusively and offers them a consulting service to help them analyze the most cost efficient way to allocate their resources for private aviation

As expert number crunchers in this very narrow niche they position themselves as trusted advisors rather than mere brokers and immediately set themselves far apart from their competition who just broker planes. They basically break even in terms of being compensated as consultants. But, they are awarded the business as brokers because they thoroughly understand the specific needs of their corporate clients. As a result, they can represent their clients’ interest far better than their competitors. At the Fortune 500 level the rewards are obviously worth it. This formula simply would not work for the private aviation needs of small to mid-sized firms.

This aviation brokerage firm identified an uncontested market niche that they could satisfy better than anyone else in the world of private aviation for Fortune 500 companies. As a result they create added value as consultants by saving these large companies a significant amount of time and money. Their analysis provides an objective criteria for making private aviation decisions to buy, sell or lease planes.

They do not need a clever “sales pitch” to ace out their competition. They do not need to lower their brokerage commission rate to win business. Nor, do they need to know the right people who can get them “in the door”. Their consulting service is the answer to the prayers of their clients. They are the perfect match to the real needs of their clients.

As a luxury real estate marketing professional can your “VA”,or added value,be?

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Luxury Real Estate Marketing Tip: We Cannot Wait to Spoil You

June 19, 2012

In our travels to Connecticut to work with one of our clients we stayed at a charming Bed & Breakfast Inn. Before we arrived we received a welcome letter that said, “We cannot wait to spoil you”. And, indeed we were spoiled in so many ways! Let this be your mantra for providing extraordinary service with exceptional care as a luxury real estate marketing professional.

One of the many ways in which we were spoiled was a plateful of little “mid-night snacks” that awaited us when we returned to our room at night, with a personal note. The first night it was some nibbles of rhubarb crumble. The next night it was tiny morsels of brownies. The husband and wife proprietors were extremely gracious and made us feel very much at home.

The last night we were there we went to a great seafood restaurant that was located within a seaside hotel (not ours). Before our entree was served, a fire alarm sounded and the entire restaurant had to be evacuated.

The “fire drill” was not a bad experience; nothing serious actually happend. Instead we had the opportunity to meet some of the other patrons of the restaurant who were delightful. For our inconvenience, however, we were comped coffee and dessert.

Think of running your luxury real estate marketing practice like a B&B or a great hotel How can you provide this level of extraordinary service, in your practice? Think hospitality vs. real estate. Then let your clients know that you cannot wait to spoil them.

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Luxury Real Estate Marketing Tip: Meet the Henrys!

June 12, 2012

As a luxury real estate marketing professional you need to understand the Henrys. HENRY is the acronym for “High Earner, Not Rich Yet”. This level of affluent has an income of $100,000-249,999. What is of note is that the Henrys’ have increased their spending in the luxury sector, and they are probably the ones that have contributed to the uptick in home purchasing.

According to the Luxury Market Report by Unity Marketing, Henrys make up 80% of the affluent marketplace, which is equivalent to 21.3 million households in the United States, a significant number in the luxury market. Their resurgence as buyers of luxury goods is a positive sign for the economy. They are the spenders in the category referred to as “accessible luxury”. Brands in the accessible luxury pantheon include Coach, Ralph Lauren, Tiffany, Kate Spade, Vera Wang, Michael Kors, Tommy Bahama, Restoration Hardware, Ann Taylor, Banana Republic, and Williams Sonoma.

The mood of the Henrys is positive about the economy and optimistic about the future. They will spend on experiences such as travel, the highest luxury spending category, because they identify themselves with what they have done more than what they own. When they buy a home they want to hear the “story” of the home and the experience they will have living there. In selling a home to the Henrys, stay away from the sales pitch and emphasize the emotional experience they will derive from their new lifestyle.

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Luxury Real Estate Marketing Tip: Do You Speak Vastu?

June 7, 2012

Photo by Samrat 35/Lotus Temple in New Dehli, India

As a luxury real estate marketing professional it is important to stay focused on the luxury market and its trends. One of the emerging countries in the world is India and its appetite for luxury goods and services has been insatiable. Our nation’s Asian Indian population has exploded over the past decade, far outpacing the growth of other Asian groups, according to 2010 Census figures. So if you are working with an Asian Indian individual or family, you need to know about Vastu.

In Sanskrit the word “Vastu” means dweller/dwelling. It is India’s form of FengShui. “In Indian architecture, the dwelling is itself a shrine. A home is called manushyalaya, literally, "human temple". It is not merely a shelter for human beings in which to rest and eat. The concept behind house design is the same as for temple design, so sacred and spiritual are the two spaces.” From Wikipedia

Add Vastu to your vocabulary as we say in The Language of Luxury. Get Fluent, Get Affluent.™

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Luxury Real Estate Marketing Tip: Staying Unforgettable with Quality Cues

June 5, 2012

Quality cues are indications of quality in packaging, displays, product features, collateral materials, website design, messaging, etc. The more quality cues you can offer in your luxury real estate marketing practice the more your personal or company brand will become distinctive and unforgettable.

Here is an example of a quality cue we noticed when we visited the newly opened REI (Recreational Equipment Inc.) store in Santa Barbara. We immediately noticed the door handles picture above. They are actual mountaineering pick axes with resin encased heads and points for safe usage. This quality cue reinforces their motto, “Get outside, yourself”. It also communicates that they are known for a wide variety of quality outdoor gear and equipment, and great service.

Here is another example from one of the luxury real estate marketing professionals we have met. This individual always hands their client the keys to their new home on a Tiffany key ring in the iconic blue box. This gesture is a WOW moment for the new owners, and one that will be remembered and talked about.

For luxury real estate marketing professionals, small things can make a big difference in terms of standing out from your competition. These small things add up to make you unforgettable. What are some small things you do to make you unforgettable?

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Marketing Luxury Real Estate: Luxury Camouflage in Beverly Hills 2

May 31, 2012

This photo is what Van Cleef & Arpels deemed appropriate for their remodel on the corner Rodeo Drvie and Dayton Drive in Beverly Hills. Unlike Bulgari, Van Cleef Arpels' jewelry is classic in its luxury appeal. It is an old world French jewelry company, founded in 1906 on the venerable Place Vendome in Paris. The brand is known for its signature mystery settings where the prongs are concealed. Van Cleef & Arpels' customers have included the Duchess of Windsor, Grace Kelly and Elizabeth Taylor. Their remodel facade is subtle and understated like their mystery settings.

Last month we wrote a post illustrating how remodeling is creatively camouflaged in Beverly Hills. We featured the Bulgari jewelry store who, in keeping with their brand identity, had designed a bright golden opulent camouflage while remodeling their store. True to their identity, the store board was colorful and attention getting. We feel it is spot on its brand signal. It is perfect for who they are.

Every company has its point of attraction for their target market. It is clear how two brands selling jewelry have a different approach because they understand their ideal client. We happen to like and appreciate both because of their clarity in communicating who they are. What do you think?

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Marketing Luxury Real Estate Tip: Are You Playing Chess or Checkers

May 30, 2012

Brand strategy for luxury real estate marketing professionals is all about achieving top- of-mind status. That takes superior, long-range, strategic thinking. But, what is at stake? The lion’s share of the business in your market place or a niche therein, that is what is at stake!

Who Needs Brand Strategy?

The only players who have a use for brand strategy are the ones who are bent on gaining or sustaining market leadership Incumbents or Challengers. Everyone else is fighting over the crumbs, doing the best they can. To seize or maintain the lion’s share you must think strategically.

Have you been watching the NBA Western Conference Playoffs with San Antonio and Oklahoma City? San Antonio is proving to be in a league of their own. Their teamwork is impeccable and their strategy is brilliant. They just won 20 straight games! Kenny Smith, the retired NBA star and TV announcer, covering Game 2 said something that explained the difference between the two teams: “San Antonio is playing Chess while OKC is playing Checkers”.

Chess or Checkers?

That comment perfectly summarized what we have been saying about brand strategy for luxury real estate marketing professionals. If you are bent on the “unabashed pursuit of market leadership”, it is imperative that you become a master of brand strategy. Like Chess, brand strategy requires well-thought-out, long range thinking.

You can make a lot of money by mastering internet marketing strategy by being the first to capture buyer leads. Many incumbent market leaders are very vulnerable in this department because they are not up to speed yet and, in most cases, it is still a buyers’ market. But, in the long run it is the agent, team or company who consistently wins listings that makes the most money. Being a master of both disciplines, is the surest way to become the dominant player and significantly outdistance your closest competitors.

Even though it appears that you are playing on the same game board, the true market leader is playing Chess, while everyone else is playing Checkers. However, If you want to challenge the market leader you need to outthink the incumbent at their strategic level and beat them at their own game. The battle may ultimately be a fight for market share. But, you first have to win the battle for mind share. And, that takes strategy.

Are you playing Chess or Checkers?

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