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?