The power of 3rd party endorsement

You know what makes you better than your competitors, but quantifying it to potential customers isn't always easy. Many times have I heard agents complain that customers think we're all the same, but this doesn't stop them trying to show otherwise in their marketing efforts.

Unfortunately, many agents attempt to do this by making spurious claims about being the "best local agent" in their marketing materials, often by using ghastly pre-templated mailers touted by print shops who purport to be marketing experts. As Seth Godin observed in his recent blog post about a Realtor in the US, those who make vague unsubstantiated claims in their marketing are treated with at best apathy and at worst mistrust. Even if you believe you are the best, you can't say that you are with credibility. But who could? Well, there are two things that can help to influence potential customers on your behalf.

Firstly, there is the judgement of your peers. The Estate Agency of The Year Awards was set up to recognise the best in the industry in quantifiable terms. The award winners over the past 7 years have found this endorsement to be of great benefit to their marketing efforts because it is independent and authoritative.

Secondly, there is the opinion of your customers. In the social media age, consumers are used to talking about their experiences with companies and sharing opinions online. You can easily find reviews and ratings online for virtually any product or service and social networking helps to amplify the influence that these reviews can have.

Consensus is a powerful factor of influence and although very few companies can hope for a 100% positive record, you do need the vast majority to rate you positively. eBay is a great example of this; it's pretty rare to see anybody below a 90% positive rating, so by comparison that means that if you are around the 90% mark, you represent the worst of the eBaying community.

Consumers are searching online for objective 3rd party opinion and just a couple more negative reviews than good could make you the 'maybe' agent rather than the 'definitely' agent. Too many bad and you're the 'definitely not' agent.

I've been persuaded to stop typing and start talking about this particular topic in more detail and will be presenting a series of lessons on The Academy on how to use social media to win instructions in the next few weeks, but for now, I would like you to consider how your services could be a "Blank" and how customers may exhibit behaviours similar to Dave...