The Number One Tool for the Number One Skill

The Number One Skill to have in business is Marketing. And the number one marketing tool to have is the Unique Marketing Position (UMP). Why is marketing the number one skill to have? Because if the marketing is good, the sale is easy, but if the marketing is poor the sale is tough. That’s because most people have an extreme dislike for salespeople.

As an example of this, get a pen and write down the first 5 words that pop into your mind if I were to say the word “Salesman.” Any negative words? Do this with agents in your office. One of the reasons people struggle with the sales process is because subconsciously, this is how they feel toward salespeople and do not want to be seen this way. So, if your marketing looks, sounds, and feels like everyone else’s marketing, you may be forced into the role of “Salesman” by default in order to convince prospects that you really are different and they would be better off hiring you to represent them.

What is a Unique Marketing Position? It is a marketing message that keeps you, your product or your service from looking, sounding and feeling like everyone else’s. It elevates, separates, differentiates and distinguishes you from all competitors in your market place. It re-sets the buying criteria from which all buying decisions are made and allows you to totally dominate your market place.

Too many companies rely on “Me, too!” marketing messages that do very little to compel prospects to take action. Their marketing is filled with generalities and platitudes that are unbelievable and irrelevant to the prospect. “We’re number one in listings!”, “We’re number one in sales!”, “We have the best service.” As master marketer Claude Hopkins once said “Generalities and platitudes roll of the human understanding like water off a duck’s back. They have no impact whatsoever.”

If you want to list more, sell more, have people chasing you, referring you to their databases and buying from you over and over again, you need to have a Unique Marketing Position that makes you different.

Not only does your UMP separate you from the competition, it keeps you from suffering the painful “Commission-ectomy” that is sometimes prevalent in our business. Why do sellers ask Realtors to reduce their commission? It’s simple, really. Usually, but not always, it is because they are interviewing 3 or 4 agents in an attempt to decide which one would be best at marketing their home. In doing so, all the Realtors begin to sound alike. “We’re number one!”, “We sell more homes than anyone!”, “My service is the best!”. When this happens, the seller will do what most of us do when shopping for a product or service when they can’t tell the difference them: default to price. “How much do you charge?”

If you do not have a UMP, you become a commodity. As soon as you become a commodity, you become subject to pricing pressure. How do you develop your very own UMP? Your UMP is the answer to the prospects’ problems. What problems are sellers having? Interview them. Create a survey. ASK them. Remember, “If you want to know why John Smith buys what John Smith buys you have to see the world through John Smith’s eyes.” How do sellers see Realtors? What problems are sellers having with Realtors? Are you really different? Is your service really better? Do the Inside Systems of your company match up with the Outside Perception you are attempting to create? Have you surveyed your customers to find what problems they are having? Can you solve those problems?

Then tell them what you do that is unique and different. This will compel prospects to take the first step, which is to get on your educational time track and give you the opportunity to educate them about what you do, how you do it, why you do it that way and the benefit to them. Because as we all know, prospects are constantly asking “What’s in it for me?”

Example: There is no substitute for experience. Before you trust your home to just anyone, give me one hour and you will come to the same conclusion as your neighbors: “I’d be an absolute fool to hire anyone else, regardless of their commission!”

This article was written by Wayne Morgan, co-owner of The Texas Institute of Real Estate, The Business School for Real Estate Pros, and Author of “How to Get Rich in Real Estate… AND Have a Life!"