This segment of our book “On Ramp: Your Social Media Road Map” talks about defining your Unique Value Proposition and how real estate agents can communicate the way they help clients achieve their home ownership dreams, and the feeling their clients have after they have worked with their agent. This section was fairly difficult for Aaron and Christopher to write, and we would really like your input about what areas resonate with you, or how we can improve this post (as it is part of our future book). Please let us know in the comments your thoughts, or feel free to email or tweet us.
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What Makes You Unique?
Sometimes this is referred to as a unique selling proposition, unique value proposition or a personal value proposition. The title here really isn’t important, what’s important is that determining your unique value proposition will be the #1 asset for your business. If you look at the target customer you’ve written on your canvas as well as their specific problems. Think about how can you showcase this in a way that lets someone immediately know whether they are a good customer for you or whether one of their friends might be a good referral.
Many real estate agents don’t spend the time to identify this UVP for themselves. In doing so, they ensure that they cannot differentiate themselves in the market. Often times they end up marketing themselves as the #1 selling agent or as having the most listings in a certain area. This alienates potential customers as it talks specifically about the agent and not at all about the customer, their pain points or how you resolve those pains for them.
Start by taking the #1 problem on your canvas and translating that into a statement that showcases what the customer will be feeling or experiencing AFTER you provide your services.
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Example UVP for Bill: I am a Tucson, Arizona native and a father, focused on helping new parents feel confident while making the huge leap from being a couple to being family. Even while living on a single income I ensure they feel financially stable and are not worried about their future. What makes Bill unique and valuable to these new parents is the fact that he has just gone through the same transition that they are going through. He can be a trusted advisor to the parents rather than just being a real estate agent to them. |
Since the idea of writing a unique value proposition tends to be a bit complicated, we’d like to offer another example which is quite a bit different from Bill’s situation.
Example 2: Luxury real estate agent focused on aging couples vs. CEOs
Julie, our luxury real estate agent, has chosen to focus on aging, high income earners with expensive properties (over 2 million dollars) that would like to move into something smaller as their children go off on their own. Because of the unique needs of these clients, she tends to be a one person marketing department, pooling resources like great property photographers, videographers to capture the fantastic views, and connections to magazines that feature these types of properties.
Her unique value proposition would be: “I use my strong marketing skills and broad professional network to help new “empty nesters” begin to enjoy their retirement years. Often times this requires eliminating house cleaning, maintenance and other chores”.
Note that in these examples we have not attempted to cover all of the problems that the agent can solve for our target customer, only focus on the biggest areas of customer pain. In these fictitious cases the real estate agents have gone through this exact situation personally. They are able to apply this personal experience to not only better understand their customer, communicate effectively with them, but also to provide a unique and hard to duplicate solution. This isn’t a requirement, but it certainly makes things easier.
If you decide to focus on a customer that is different from yourself you will need to spend the time to understand the customer in great detail.
From conversing with her target customers both in person, and through social media, Julie has discovered the main problems that both of these groups experience, and is able to specifically address these in blog posts she writes, and how she communicates with them. As she interacts with her chosen niche, she gathers stories and examples to communicate through social media. By communicating what she is learning, and being open using social media, she can build trust with people reading her posts.
Consumers have access to SO much information online. How can you add unique value above and beyond this? Are you an information facilitator or do you want to be the central hub of information for your clients? How can you build a strong, long-term relationship that ensures you’re top of mind with them during key moments of truth?
Whether you are the hub of info your clients go to, or you are an information facilitator, how do your clients feel after they have worked with you, and you have solved their information needs? What does their world look like after you have sol
As an agent you are bridging the gap between what the buyer can do online on their own. You understand the homes, areas, etc, much better than any search engine. By contributing their experience, understanding of the current market, and valuable connections to people that can get things done, these agents can stand out among the rest.
Here are some questions you can answer to test whether your UVP is solid or not:
- Does it focus on a single customer and their biggest pain point?
- Is it written in specific language?
- Does it use the language of your customers?
- Does it describe what your customer’s world will look like after they use your product or service?
- Does it ignore HOW you will make the customer’s life better?
- Is it concise enough that you can speak it in 10 seconds or less?
Test your UVP out on some of your existing happy customers. Do they feel it accurately represents what you mean to them? What made your solution work well for them?
