While shopping around for a realtor, I’ve noticed that much like many applicants, colleges, and private counselors, they all sound the same. I’m sure that each has particular neighborhoods, price ranges, and characteristics in a client they feel particularly well suited for, but they aren’t willing to say that. They’re probably too afraid of turning people off. So instead of drawing in the people best matched for them, they try to appeal to everyone (and likely end up appealing to no one).
It would be so refreshing to find just one who said something like:
I’m not your realtor if you…
…want a house that's not in the following zip codes…
…intend to spend seven figures on a house…
…hope to wait more than six months before you buy…
…are interested in land, condos, duplexes or tear-downs…
…would not appreciate your agent showing up to a listing with a couple of the best meatball sandwiches ever made within a 100-mile radius of Seattle…Here's what I do really well and who I do it for…
That would stand out. It would turn off the people least likely to engage and draw in those who are good fits. No splashy marketing. No cheesy, photo-shopped headshot—just honesty and authentic personality without trying to appeal to everyone.
We have our Collegewise students do this when they fill out college applications and write essays. Tell the truth. Be proud of your accomplishments and open about your weaknesses. Sound like you, not some contrived version of you that you hope will impress colleges. If you picked schools that fit you, you don’t need a marketing strategy to impress them. You just have to be yourself.
If I accused any of these realtors of being just like their competitors, I imagine they’d take issue with that. Whatever their retort would be is what should really be on their website.
Here's a great article from the Heath brothers on this topic.