Is Your Branding Grateful?
As a coach for clients who are building their brand, I believe that three things are essential when building a brand, especially for those who work in the real estate market: being transparent, being grateful, and just being a good human being.
As you know, real estate markets have been in a state of flux over the past few years. The COVID-19 pandemic has brought many to a place where they are looking for glimpses of hope and healing. Real estate experts have a unique opportunity to step into the forefront of this healing process as trusted financial guides.
For some, the life of a real estate expert can be filled with stress and anxiety if they are not careful. The pressures of dealing with clients, wholesalers, lawyers, contractors, family members while building your own business while keeping up with social media can be daunting.
Even those who have been in the business for decades are opening their eyes to the fact that now is a good time to bring more humanity back into their business.
To do this, you must embrace transparency as a way of life and not just as an aspect of your marketing strategy. This means being transparent with your clients, being transparent with your potential clients, being transparent in all aspects of your business - including being transparent with yourself.
The Power of Gratitude In Branding
One of the most effective ways to demonstrate your transparency is through gratitude. Gratitude is a powerful way to build trust, and as a result, a trait that I believe every successful real estate expert should cultivate.
Why is gratitude such an effective way to build trust? Because it shows you are human and not just a machine or 'robot.' People love the idea of working with other people, not machines! The more transparent you are, the more people will connect with you and do business with you.
I myself have experienced opportunities of gratitude in the past month alone. Welcoming a beautiful new child into the world this past month brought me to a place where my business dealings seemed a lot less critical than they were a month ago. It also brought me to a place of being more aware and mindful of my surroundings, my clients, and the people I do business with.
In those moments when "business" took a temporary back seat to the miracle of birth, I found myself profoundly grateful to the industry that has helped me to build a career and fill my house with love.
That gratitude has overflowed into my various social media and marketing campaigns. I could never have built my business anywhere else but in this incredible space with incredible people!
Gratitude is a compelling way of branding yourself because it enables you to connect with your community, your clients - even with the industry that has given you so much.
Building a Brand of Transparency
So for those who want to build a brand of transparency, here are some concrete steps you can take:
1. Be Transparent in Person
Whether you are meeting with a client for the first time, negotiating with a potential client, or even attending an expo to promote your brand, remember that people are hardwired to be suspicious.
Be aware of this fact and carry yourself in such a way that they can see that you are transparent. If someone sits down with you and interviews you over a short period of time, they should be able to learn everything they need to know about who you are as a person.
2. Be Transparent with Your Clients
Many have asked me the best way to communicate with your clients after their purchase has been finalized. While there is no one right answer, being transparent and honest is always the best answer. Share with your client how you feel about them and why they should choose you over another agent.
3. Keep up Transparency During Negotiations
When trying to get top dollar for a property, many will try to use fear as a tactic to extract more money from their clients. This really erodes the sense of trust that should be created through transparency. Keep up your confidence and show your clients they can trust you to keep the negotiations transparent.
4. Promote Transparency with Social Media
Having a social media presence is no longer just nice. It’s mandatory.
What you do on your own time determines whether or not people will tolerate you when you are "on the clock." Promote transparency by being honest in your social media. If you are having a bad day, tell them! Allow your clients to see behind-the-scenes and get to know you better.
5. Bring Transparency into Your Marketing Materials
Your website should be a stepping stone towards building trust. It's the ultimate "virtual handshake."
Have your mission statement, values, and philosophy on display where potential clients can see them. From their first visit to your website, they should know what you stand for and why you are the real estate agent for them.
6. Bring Transparency into Your Emails
Even after someone has purchased a property through you, it never hurts to touch base with them.
Emails are a great way to stay at the forefront of their consciousness and offer value on more than one level. Make sure you bring transparency into your emails by first talking about who you are as a person and why they should be grateful for doing business with you.
Bringing this sort of transparency into all of your business dealings can be a daunting task, but something as little as being honest with your clients at face value will do much to build an enduring brand.
How Will You Show Gratitude This Holiday Season?
The holidays provide an incredible opportunity for you to infuse your branding with gratitude.
This Thanksgiving, be mindful of all of the things you have to feel grateful for and share that sense of gratitude with your clients. Look at your business from a different perspective this holiday season and make it a special time of year for everyone involved.
Don't be shocked if the gratitude you feel and express during this holiday season is reciprocated with love from your clients. Gratitude breeds more gratitude, and that's a beautiful thing!
Check out our new Podcast!
Don't Forget: You Aren't Alone in Your Brand Development
What are you doing to strengthen your brand's online presence and communication?
We'd love to hear your ideas and feedback!
I want to know where YOU show up on social media AND whether you already have a working email list! I invite you to go to my last post on Instagram at @confidentclosers and like and comment on my last post. I want your comment to be the name of whatever platform you show up on the most and either a thumbs up or a thumbs down to let me know whether you have an active email list as of today. My team will look at all of the comments and pick one to have a complementary strategy session with. We’ll take a look at your branding, your direction and we’ll tell you where you are excelling, where you could improve and we’ll even tell you how to do it. This session is worth $2500 and I can’t wait to meet you!
Visit the Confident Closers Blog, and bookmark it to make sure you don't miss this and many other fantastic resources we are making EXCLUSIVELY FOR OUR CLIENTS! You can see my articles as well as the recent ones I've been featured in like the article last month for Women With Vision that I was honored enough to guest for.
