Be honest. Does your customer place value on the word “Realtor?”
Better question.
Do we?
Neither of us (consumers or agents) uses the term as a differentiator. It doesn’t garner respect or influence a consumer’s hiring decision and certainly doesn’t elevate or change a bad actor’s behavior (even if it’s supposed to.) It’s a ubiquitous term.
While NAR’s marketing department is busy dying on this hill, productive agents are pivoting as fast as prima ballerinas.
We have to. Our reputations are on the line - which means our livelihoods are at stake.
Agents realize that a standard company-provided website, a business card, and an “R” trademark don’t do it. They don’t get you hired.
They certainly don’t “articulate your value” or differentiate you.
In the 1980’s? Maybe (and that’s a soft maybe.) Today? The job is to own psychological real estate by expertly solving someone’s problem. That requires positioning yourself inside a crowded and noisy marketplace in meaningful ways. It requires sticky messaging that gets seen and heard.
Brokers and agents' future marketing efforts will categorize them as either service providers or selective strategists. The service providers are in a race to the bottom, while the selective strategists are in a race to redefine.
The selective strategists are hard at work answering some deeper questions, the most important of which is, “Why should what I provide matter to someone else?”
Why should a consumer hire you?
Why should the industry read or listen to your advice?
Why should a new or seasoned agent affiliate with your firm?
I’m not suggesting these are quickly answered and they may feel downright uncomfortable. But they’re the only questions worth answering right now.
And here’s why.
The problems we solve vary. We r’nt the same.
It’s why a common refrain heard from every broker is, “articulate your value.”
The key word being your.
It implies your answer should be unique.
This tired “Who we R” campaign is ironic because it tries to make us the same.
Don’t be fooled. Our future success rests on being different.