Image and perceptions is probably the single most important factor in your real estate success. If your prospects and clients don’t see you as the expert, you can kiss any business or referrals goodbye! Let’s face it; the real estate market is one of the most competitive markets to be in. You face competition from all angles. So how does one compete with so many similar agents selling the same houses? There are two battlefields you can compete in: Service and Expertise.

Of the two, the most valuable and competitive asset you can have is EXPERTISE! It has high-perceived value with a moderate/high competitive barrier. So it only makes sense to exploit your knowledge, wisdom, and local experience as you can. This brings credibility to your personal brand and your business. Here are a few tips to boost your expertise power:

1. Give specific examples of personal experience, cases, and solutions you’ve provided to clients. Don’t just tell people you’ve been in business for 15 years; cite your ability to solve their problems, negotiate offers, and answer their questions.

2. Gain the trust of your prospects. Most prospects will trust you if other people have trusted you; so this is where you whip-out your testimonials and past client cases. Testimonials add highly valuable social validation. Build a book of testimonials or cases. Place them in a binder or post them on your website as a digital PDF download.

3. Help your prospects get to know you, understand more about how you can help them. Educate them on your service, expertise, and insider/local knowledge. Give them something to remember you by. The worst thing you can do is expect your prospect to take the initiative to seek you out.

4. 360 Connection! Connect with your clients in every way possible. In my marketing firm we call this “360 degree touch points.” This means phone, mail, in-person, email, Twitter, Facebook, video, and all other forms of exposure. You never know what media your prospect will respond to most.

Knowledge and expertise is POWER! USE IT!It’s the most under utilized most valuable asset you have in your business. Becoming the expert will take your brand and personal perception skyward. Exploit your expertise in your pitches, presentation, brochures, real estate flyers, and online. Soon you’ll be chasing less and selling more!  
 
— Reuben —