A post on LinkedIn this week challenged real estate professionals (and others) to state their USP – their Unique Selling Proposition. Some cited added expertise in some area, such as home construction, staging, etc. Others only mentioned honesty and integrity. One coach chimed in to say “Don’t talk about the things that are expected of every agent, talk about what makes you different and special.”
Naturally, that USP should be front and center in an agent bio, which is why I ask agents who hire me to write their bios to send me links to their testimonials. Although they fill out a questionnaire and tell me what they think is most important/better/different about their service, it’s often the testimonials that tell me what their clients think is wonderful about them. And after all, it’s what clients love about you that will keep them coming back – and referring others to you.
If it exists, I also go read what’s currently on an agent’s website – what they’ve said about themselves. What I usually find is that they don’t even mention what the clients think is special. If they do, it’s added almost as an afterthought at the end of the copy.
The same can be said for property descriptions. The one or two things that would make a property unique and/or highly desirable are often tacked on at the end of the description.
If you’ve been doing that, quit!
Figure out which is the horse and which is the cart – then put the horse first!
Next time you write about yourself, your service, or one of your listings, take the time to sort the benefits and features and put the most important ones first. They’re the horse. The other things could be important, but they need to act as a reinforcement to your primary, most important points.
If you don’t know what that is when you first begin to write, just go ahead and write anyway, as I suggest in this post. Once you have ALL of the benefits and features out there in front of you, think about each of them.
If you’re writing about yourself, consider which of your attributes or services would cause a client to choose you over someone who is almost like you, but who doesn’t have that bit of expertise.
If you’re writing about a house, consider which feature or benefit would cause a buyer to choose that house over one that was almost identical, but without that attribute.
Give your real estate marketing materials more impact by always putting the horse before the cart.
Image courtesy of vectorolie|freedigitalphotos.net
