DIFFERENTIATE OR DISAPPEAR
Company Brand vs. Personal Brand
I have written on several past occasions about the power of branding in building a successful real estate career. However, the subject of branding in the real estate industry consists of two separate aspects. On the one hand, there is the company brand, and on the other hand, there is your personal brand.
As an agent, you have relatively little influence and control over the creation, development and reputation of your company’s brand. While you may be content to limit your promotional efforts to piggy-backing on the corporate brand by identifying yourself simply as an affiliate of your company, you risk losing your own individual identity and becoming little more than a clone of the company. In the eyes of the public, you could become a faceless extension of your company’s brand, and whether you are chosen by a prospect or someone else in your office gets the call, its all the same to the client because he or she chose the company rather than the agent. Furthermore, the design, development and maintenance of your personal identity become, by default, the responsibility of the company’s management.
Your personal brand is another matter: it is up to you to create your brand and see to it that it is advertised, promoted and associated with you personally. You will be creating an identity separate from that of your company so when a prospect asks the key question, “Who do we know that we can call to help us with selling (or buying) our home?” it’s your name and not your company’s that first comes to mind.
Many large firms balk when their agent-associates strive to build their own identities because the companies have so much invested in their corporate brands. They want their agents to become an army of advocates for the company’s brand. If the agents build a name for themselves in the process, that’s icing on the cake, but the primary goal is to have hundreds of listings, signs, ads, business cards, etc. blanketing the area with the company’s logo prominently displayed.
There is also a secondary effect from too much exposure of the corporate brand in a market area and that is it becomes difficult to distinguish yourself even if you have the freedom to do so. When the public is bombarded by the corporate logo, they forget that it is still individuals with whom they are dealing. Agents’ individuality disappears into the corporate identity. Also, especially where agents do not have protected farms, all “For Sale” and “Open House” signs have the same corporate look and feel and the casual observer is generally unaware who the agent is. And they probably don’t care, because in their minds, it is the company that has the listing, not the agent. That is why entrepreneurial brand-savvy agents often choose a smaller “boutique”-style firm over the high profile conglomerates. They know that in real estate sales it is far better to be a big fish in a small pond than a minnow in the ocean.
Put yourself in your prospect’s shoes. If you were looking for an agent, wouldn’t your primary concern be with your personal relationship? Wouldn’t you want an agent whom you like and trust? Wouldn’t you want an agent who hustles and gets the job done properly and efficiently? Wouldn’t you want an experienced agent, a smart agent, an agent with a proven track record of success? Of course you would! But if you choose an agent based solely on the reputation or visibility of his or her company, how could you be sure you were getting someone with those characteristics? You must focus on the strengths of the individual, not the company! The successful career-oriented Realtor who has built an outstanding reputation by communicating his or her strengths to the public through effective personal promotion is the one you will most likely choose.
What do you do if your manager insists that you place the primary emphasis on the company name and logo in all of your advertising? How do you create and promote your personal brand if you are required to have secondary billing? I suggest you become a committee of one to change the corporate culture. Since it is in everyone’s best interest – yours, your associates’ and the company’s – to aggressively promote the individual, encourage other agents in your office to join you in requesting a change of company policy. Prepare a detailed campaign by which you intend to promote your own brand and present it to management. It will be much easier to get a change of policy if you have a concrete example of your proposal.
If you encounter resistance and are thwarted in your efforts to become a local celebrity, you have another very viable option – join a boutique firm where you can promote yourself unfettered by bureaucratic calcification.
Jason Hartman, CRS, GRI, CSP is the author of “Become The Brand of Choice – Make Your Name A Powerful Brand and Earn Millions” and President of Empowered Investor International. For more information visit www.JasonHartman.com or www.BrandofChoice.com
