Differentiating Yourself in a Crowded Marketplace

Are you communicating to all of your clients and prospects with a one-size-fits all methodology? If so, you may end up losing out on business due to an inability to capture the individual needs of your clients.

I have preached the value of niche marketing to my real estate clients for years, as a way of differentiating themselves in the crowded real estate marketplace, and yet still too many Realtors end up marketing themselves and their services as if all real estate prospects have the same needs and wants.



Differentiation is key.

Differentiation of yourself from other Realtors, that is, by demonstrating your understanding of buyer's/seller's needs and their areas of pain. People buy from people who understand them and that kind of differentiation is rare.

So how do you differentiate yourself? Here are some suggestions:

1. After giving a brief overview of what you do, hold back the rest of your pitch and start asking questions about how they currently handle the issue that your service addresses.

2. With your questions, help them to describe where their source of pain lies. (i.e. what is too costly, what is time-consuming and inefficient, what's not generating results).

3. Reiterate their pain and outline the implications of maintaining status quo.

4. Paint a picture of an ideal world for them that addresses their areas of pain (the world they would have if they used your service).

5. Ask them if they would be interested in learning more about what you have to offer.


Ultimately, a conversation that reflects your understanding of their needs is the differentiation that will capture their attention. It's important to listen to your clients & prospects before you start to sound like everyone else and you lose them.


Based on the article What Makes You Different?

Are you likeable?

Being likeable might mean the difference between a lot of business and none. Read below to find out what makes a person likeable, and find out what the 7 components of likeability are...

(excerpted from Broker Agent News)

What makes you likable?

We find a plethora of opinions as to the specific elements that contribute to likeability. Tim Sanders in his book, The Likeability Factor notes these 4:

1. Friendliness: your ability to communicate liking and openness to others
2. Relevance: your capacity to connect with others' interests, wants, and needs
3. Empathy: your ability to recognize, acknowledge, and experience other people's feelings
4. Realness: the integrity that stands behind your likeability and guarantees its authenticity


7 Components of Likeability

Through research and experience, these seven elements are integral for "likability":

1. Positive mental attitude
Likeable people exude a positive mental attitude. That does not mean they are silly or giddy. They don't ignore hardships or failures, but consciously reframe those difficulties and negative emotions to healthier positive ones. Positive means that you can find a better direction out of a problem, rather than wallowing in the problem or negative emotion.

2. Non-judgmental
The truly likable are non-judgmental. They recognize that everyone is trying to get by the best they know how, and they treat everyone with respect and understanding.

3. Open
Passing critical judgment is a sign of inflexibility, a highly unlikable trait. The opposite of that is what we call "openness." The truly likeable are open to new people, other ideas, and different ways of doing things. They demonstrate openness in their behavior, the tone of their voice and in their language.

4. Secure
Likeable people are, "comfortable in their own skin." They don't feel the need to talk over, correct, constantly make jokes or laugh nervously. They don't brag, talk incessantly or hide behind details or humor.

5. Vulnerable
One of the most likeable characteristics is vulnerability. People who can say, "I don't know," who are able to admit mistakes or show a sensitivity, are seen as more likeable.

6. Able to get outside the Self
Those whose primary focus is on themselves rate low on the likeability scale. Conversely, those who are secure in themselves and able to turn their focus outward rate much higher. It's part empathy - our ability to recognize, acknowledge and experience other people's feelings, which is a key attribute of likeability. This is more than the ability to be empathetic. It is the exercise of this ability. It is about becoming relevant. We become relevant in the lives of others when we learn about their interests, wants and needs.

7. Like me

We like people who like us. We also like people who are like us. As humans we are constantly seeking points of similarity. We look for and are attracted to people who are like us in terms of values, interests and experiences. Studies suggest we are also attracted to people who physically look like us.

More Exposure: Familiarity Breeds Likeability

Recent studies have shown that more exposure is sufficient to increase the likeability of a person (or an object). In short, we are more attracted to and tend to like people who are familiar to us. So, in a selling situation, if the prospect likes you a little when you meet the first time, he may like you even more the second time and so on. With that in mind, your objective is to continue to increase the numbers of exposure to your prospects.