Caroline here.

I may actually be crazy. Or MAYBE I was just crazy hungry when I sat down and spontaneously started writing this an hour ago, in a Panera Bread (duh), with their mission statement plastered on the wall in front of me and my obedient laptop.

Scroll down for my rewrite, and you decide.

(And I guess the real question is…do you like the PICK 2, Frontega Chicken Panini + Mac n’ Cheese menu option as much as I do for a Thursday night work session at Panera?)

Let’s do this thing…

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THE PANERA BREAD “FOOD POLICY” MISSION STATEMENT

“We believe in raising, serving, and eating food that is good and good for you…”

REWRITTEN FOR REAL ESTATE:

“We believe in understanding, serving, and celebrating real estate that is good in its value and good for your goals…”

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“Food should be clean. No artificial colors, preservatives, sweeteners, flavors or anything you wouldn’t want to serve your family…”

REWRITTEN FOR REAL ESTATE:

“Real estate should be clean. No artificial promises, smoke-and-mirrors pitches, unfair expectations or anything you wouldn’t expect from a loyal family member who has your back.”

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“Food should be honest, which is why we are transparent and always let you know exactly what’s in your food…”

REWRITTEN FOR REAL ESTATE:

“Real estate should be honest, which is why we are transparent and always let you know exactly where you stand in your journey with us, and why.”

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“Most of all, food should taste great and be made the way you like it, with this or without that.”

REWRITTEN FOR REAL ESTATE:

“Most of all, real estate should give great results and give them the way YOU want them, with this or without that.”

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“Since we’ve started, we’ve been on a journey to make food, as a whole, better. And you can be sure we’ll never stop.”

REWRITTEN FOR REAL ESTATE:

“Since we started, we’ve been on a journey to serve home buyers and sellers as whole people, better. And you can be sure we will never stop.”

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“If you’d like to join us, have a seat and enjoy. FOOD AS IT SHOULD BE.”

REWRITTEN FOR REAL ESTATE:

“If you’d like to join us, have a seat and enjoy the journey. REAL ESTATE AS IT SHOULD BE.”

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HOW PANERA GOT IT RIGHT

I did some research. The original Panera Bread fast casual restaurants were conceptualized to be bakery-centric and strictly bread-focused.

Their original mission statement had a tunnel vision focus on one product offering — waaait for it — BREAD.

It’s noteworthy that Panera is credited as the driving force behind the artisanal bread craze in the United States. Sure.

But equally as noteworthy? — that, as the chain expanded, so did its mission statement. It eventually pivoted to THE CUSTOMER.

Over time, the original all-about-bread mission was abandoned in favor of a more holistic “food statement” that provides both psychological guidance and practical guidelines for sourcing, using, and serving the food as well. In other words…

Panera realized it wasn’t just about bread.

It was about VALUES, PEOPLE, and BIG WHY’S.

There’s something here for you, too.

The faster your messaging pivots away from your real estate service, and toward your customer, the faster you’ll start attracting + converting more people who feel seen, heard, and honored in their choices.

Finally, we can look at two key points in Panera’s mission statement and apply them.

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“CLEAN INGREDIENTS” + “TRANSPARENT MENU”

Panera promises to empower its guests to decide how THEY want to eat.

How does your real estate value prop make your audience feel autonomous and able to connect with honest, nourishing experiences that give personalized options?

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“POSITIVE IMPACT”

Panera believes its guests deserve to know not only what is in their food, but where it comes from and how they’re impacting the food system. Do your buyers/sellers have a window into how your company gives back? Why you take certain ethical stands? How are you a pioneer on the conscious real estate front?

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Really, that was fun. And if it gave you something to munch on, too, let me know in the comments.

Cheers to you,

P.S – What’s BLUEPRINT, again? 

We’re a gaggle of designers, writers, and creatives on a mission to change the branding narrative in real estate.

We offer a signature branding service and the industry’s most elegant and high-converting digital products to help modern, stylish Realtors do three things:

➝ Communicate their worth;

➝ Become the obvious choice;

➝ Tell the right stories to stand out + SELL more.

We love new friends, so hop on our email list for more value content, take our wildly popular real estate personality quiz, or follow us on The ‘Gram to join the family.