The main objective of an advertisement is to get across the one reason why people should do business with you. Agents accomplish this by providing a benefit statement of some kind. This statement provides the unique reason why a customer should call you first. But many times, the benefit statement gets lost in the rhetoric and sounds too much like the hype promoted by other agents. Instead of standing out, you blend into the pack.

Rarely are your ads going to presented in an environment where you are the sole advertiser. It is much more likely that your ad will be lost in between other bigger, smaller, better, poorer ads by agents promoting the same services you are. So how can you stand out?

When you call yourself a "Top Producer" or "#1 Agent" you may think you are saying something that no other agent is able to say about themselves. But, you are in for a surprise. Not only are they saying it, they are saying it to death. Want proof?

Take out your phone book. Open the Yellow Pages to the real estate section. Look at the first display ad and write down any "benefit statement" or unique "positioning statement" you find. Then do the same for each ad.

Does this list look familiar?

• "Million Dollar Producer"
• "Full Service Discount Company"
• "Your Realtor for Life"
• "Friendly, Knowledgeable, and Ready to Assist"
• "Personal Service Guarantee"
• "Our numbers make the difference"
• "America's largest..."
• "#1 Agent in 1999"

Those statements came out of my phone book, and I'd be willing to bet that your phone book looks just the same. With so many agents and brokers saying the same thing - perhaps we should consider the possibility that none of us are saying anything.

What many of these agents are doing is advertising what they think is important - size and rank for example. But are these things top of mind for your customers? By advertising your rank, you are advertising your importance and your success as an agent, but have you spoken to the needs of your customers? Your ad implies that you would be the best agent to choose, but why? Advertising general advantages such as size may encourage one kind of consumer, but there is a good chance it can discourage another who may feel their small or first-time purchase won't be "important" enough for you to devote your schedule to.

Instead of making your ad a monument to your own ego, change your advertising to include more specific benefit statements, statements which translate the grandiose into the practical. Make them action-oriented. Think in terms of what are the practical benefits of your services for your clients. How do you serve your clients? Will you sell the home in the seller's time frame? Do you guarantee savings as a buyer's agent? With the right kind of word choices you can still get the point across about how great you are, and hit the right nerve with the client, too.

For example:

• "We sell a home every 36 hours. How fast do you want to move?"
• "Our buyers save an average of $4,576 when they buy a home. What will you use your money for?"
• "74 potential buyers call us daily. Let us put our marketing to work for you."

See the difference? These statements energy and momentum that can be put to use for the consumer's benefit. Spelling it out makes the definition of what you can do for your clients much easier for them to understand. Make your advertising clear in terms of benefits for the consumer, and you will find the calls that you get are from people not only know what you can do for them but they know they are also ready to do business.

Published: June 23, 1999

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