Transform Transform April 2014 | Page 5

will ever meet and (2) your client will begin to see you as a member of her team trying to reach the same goals and aspirations as she is, rather than just another Real Estate Agent trying to sell her a house. One way you can do this is by connecting features of the new home your showing to benefits. For example, you can show a great photo of the house and then one of the highly–rated elementary school down the street and say, “When you’re living here, Johnny and Susie will only be a block away from their new school, which by the way, has one of the best average test scores in the county.” 3. Your Brand Is Not Your Marketing Plan With the dozens of new technology tools and selling strategies available for Real Estate Agents to use today, it’s tempting to focus on them when you are sitting down with a potential client who wants to list her home. If you are really good at putting together and writing a MLS listing, or great at taking photos and running funfilled open houses, don’t define yourself with these marketing strategies. All of the agents who are in competition with you have the same tools at their fingertips and a few of them may even be better at using them than you are. Don’t misunderstand me. I’m not saying that you shouldn’t mention these tools to your client as some of the methods you use; I’m simply saying that you should focus on you and the results your expertise has brought to others and will bring to your client. That’s your brand. That’s what people buy. In subsequent articles in this edition we will touch on some other important branding strategies and issues. 5