How real estate brokers and agents can offer added value

I recently purchased a jacket at Men’s Wearhouse and had an awesome experience that is an important lesson for real estate agents – and here’s why.

The woman salesperson was very knowledgeable in helping me pick out a sports coat. Okay, that’s expected.

But after I chose a garment, as I admired myself in the mirror and began to think how I looked a little bit like George Clooney, another salesperson walked up with a beautiful shirt.

It was a perfect match. Made the jacket even more exciting.

Then my original salesperson came back with a dynamite-looking tie. Wow – at this point I was beginning to think I looked better than Clooney. More like James Bond walking through a Riviera casino.

Sure. That’s their job, one would say.

But to me, the time and extra steps they took to make me look handsome in that jacket was a pleasant surprise. An added value.

In this competitive day and age, when real estate brokers and agents are under tremendous pressure battling large web sites or fighting requests to lower commissions, providing added value is more important than ever.

They say you sell price when you don’t have anything else to offer. So before you start lowering your commissions, you better find something else to offer.

What’s your 110%? Your overdeliver? Your extra mile?

Just like when you are building anything, be smart. Get the rights tools. A real estate tool like SpatialMatch can give you an easy and inexpensive way to offer added value.

For sellers, for example, when you approach them, you can tell them your usual spiel about how hard you will work to sell their home with open houses, agents tours, blah, blah, blah.

But why not add a free kicker? Using SpatialMatch’s neighborhood, lifestyle and IDX search engine, give them an example of pages you created that show buyers (and fellow agents) how close that property is to super-appealing amenities – the hottest golf course, three or four state-of-the art gyms, a cool mall,  a 12-screen  multi-plex movie theater.

For buyers, tell them you will go beyond finding them a home that meets their needs for x beds and x baths. Show them how you will use SpatialMatch to find  them a home that also fits their lifestyle – whether they like to jog, golf or gab in a Starbucks with a warm cup of joe in their hands.

For a seller or buyer, that extra effort is a pleasant surprise. That’s added value.

That’s how you get the business in real estate today.

To see a great example of SpatialMatch on a real estate site – click here – http://summerbrighton.com

For a demo on SpatialMatch, go here.