Question for you: If you could only have access to one pill for the rest of your life, would you choose vitamins or painkillers?
Sure, it’s great to have easy access to vitamins.
But painkillers are utter necessities.
When you work in sales, your customers expect you to have vitamins. To provide the basic skills and results needed to keep them functioning.
Or, put in REAL ESTATE world terms —
They expect you to provide a regular supply of low-stake educational advice when called upon, to know how to handle processes and contracts and compliance problems, to help them feel content in their buying and selling choices.
But what your people really want is a painkiller. A real estate service that will dramatically change the way they buy and sell, for the better.
A service that will keep them from losing hundreds of dollars or more in misplaced investments.
A service that will sweep in as the hero when the chips are down.
Understanding what makes your offer a “must have” painkiller versus a “nice to have” vitamin is the key to successful marketing.
Sometimes “trigger events” can successfully convert your offer from a vitamin to a painkiller for your leads, all on its own.
Here’s a real-life example of a transformational trigger event.
Back in 1984, cars didn’t have cup holders. “Car dining” was popular, but folks were sitting still. Eating in parked cars in lots.
That all changed when McDonald’s opened their first drive-thru on Route 66.
Suddenly, eating on the go became the obvious choice. Fast food was an overnight painkiller, an offer to save “on the go” American families and business professionals the hassle and time-suck of parked-car-eating.
Reacting to the change, the automative giant, Dodge, set out to make some industry waves of its own. The Dodge design team went to senior execs with a simple pitch:
“Our cars need cup holders. Drivers need accommodation to eat BEHIND the moving wheel and they need it now.”
The bigwigs didn’t listen. (ARE WE SURPRISED?) A frustrated design team countered, challenging the seniors to spend a day eating on the go in their cars.
When a sales executive placed a cup of hot coffee between his legs while driving, and then hit a bump in the road…
Let’s just say that he went back to his fellow seniors with a tale of scalding hot coffee and an understanding that something must be done.
So the 1984 Dodge Caravan included a cup holder. One design tweak catapulted their vehicle to “best-selling car” status in the US that year. They saw a pain point + sold the painkiller.
All the other major car companies quickly followed suit.
The rest is history.
Realtors, here’s your takeaway: Many of you already view your work through the lens of painkiller marketing, just on instinct.
You know that what you offer can save an immense amount of time, money and headache for buyers + sellers.
But if you keep selling your work like it’s a vitamin, you’re losing sales.
Realtor Vitamin Marketing sounds like: “As a professional Realtor, I help buyers and sellers achieve their goals easier, through my prompt communication and smooth systems.”
Sounds like a preventative service. Something I could be content with, sure.
Realtor Painkiller Marketing sounds like: “There are too many smoke-and-mirror-promise agents out there, who would love to sell your home…” (poses the competition as a risk)
“…But I know that’s not your style. What you need is a caring consultant with proven strategies that don’t make you cringe. Someone who knows how to cut through the transaction clutter and put more hard-earned investment dollars back in your pocket.” (promises them money SAVED rather than lost; presents a confident solution to realistic FEARS AND STRESSES, with specificity)
This is about positioning:
about moving from being a “nice to have” Realtor to a “must have” Realtor.
Which then translates to CONVERSION.
To your brand success always —
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.
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